Skip to main content

PURAN SINGH DA DHABA & MAGANLAL CHIKKI

 PURAN SINGH DA DHABA & MAGANLAL CHIKKI

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

02/VII/2021

 

            The other day I was watching a programme related to roadside eating joints on one of the channels. They took us to Ambala. I am not sure how many of you would be familiar with that place but it is a huge Army and Air Force cantonment. It is one of the few places which has two railway stations called Ambala Cantt and Ambala City.

 

            While travelling to play our inter school cricket matches with Sainik School, Kunjpura, (Karnal) and Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai a little ahead of Ambala, we used to halt at an eating joint at either Murthal or Ambala Cantt. Dad used to be the cricket Coach, and I used to represent my school team. School boys loved this break midway to our destinations.

 

            Bang opposite the Ambala Cantt railway station, there used to be a Dhaba called Puran Singh da Dhaba. It was famous for its non-veg preparations, especially mutton. I had the privilege to taste that mouth-watering dish from the mid-seventies till 2003, when I was posted in Punjab and had to frequently visit Ambala on official duties. The taste hadn’t changed an iota.

 

            On my way back I used to get those delicacies packed not only for home, but for my colleagues posted with me in the Brigade Headquarters. Finger licking is a mild way to describe that taste. A little too spicy but no one could stop eating, even if one did ssssssss, sssssss and sweated away to glory.

 

            Our school bus could find easy parking space anywhere around this Dhaba, but over the years that place being bang on the GT road, NH 1 later and now probably has a different number became Choco block after a flyover came up infront of the dhaba. Parking space for a car used to become a problem.

 

            Puran Singh’s workforce was so efficient that within minutes items were delivered. The fun used to be sitting and eating in the Dhaba, served with piping hot tandoori rotis and asking for extra gravy, even if your tummy was full. Their staff used to make special seating arrangements for us as we used to be in uniform.

 

            It was surprising that over the years Puran Singh da Dhaba had so many branches mushrooming alongside, that to identify the real one became an issue. Puran Singh da Dhaba, Asli Puran Singh da Dhaba, Sachha Puran Singh da Dhaba, Nakli Puran Singh da Dhaba. Their logos and sign boards were almost the same. For a man in transit, it was difficult to differentiate. No one even bothered to check, till they served those lovely delicacies.

 

            The real Puran Singh died and his son was automatically handed over the charge of that Dhaba. His nephew, who worked closely with Puran Singh was part of the management & wanted to take forward his legacy as a ‘hot head’. He could not maintain customer relationships.

 

            The son, very docile and soft spoken, held onto the reins. Some of his workers found this an opportunity to establish parallel Dhabas adjacent to theirs and named it the same. Soon other workers too broke away and opened their own joints. With the population explosion, all those Dhaba’s started flourishing. If we walked into any Dhaba they would say that they were the real Puran Singh. The others are fake, or duplicate, or not adhering to the recipes of the bygone era.

 

            How do you believe who was saying the truth? It was only the old timers or the lucky people who somehow landed up at the original place could enjoy the tastiest mutton I have ever had on this side of Ganges. Of course, not forgetting his Chicken curry and Keema-Kaleji. My mouth is watering as I key in these words.

 

            The same phenomenon we found when we used to visit Lonavala. If in Lonavala, there is no way you could leave without visiting “MaganLal Chikki”. From NDA, we hiked on cycles to Lonavala in 1984 and had the privilege to taste that yummy chikki. We had one guy called Rajpurohit and there was only one shop which did not call itself MaganLal but Purohit Chikki. Within minutes Jeevan befriended them and the rest of us freaked out on all possible eats they offered and in good quantities.

 

            After twenty-five odd years when I was working again in Maharashtra, at least twice a year we used to visit Lonavala. From Khandala to the other end of Lovnavla there was only MaganLal and MaganLal chikki. To find the real MaganLal shop one had to have an insider who could guide you to a place behind the railway station to get hold of various Fudges besides luscious Chikki.

 

            The spread of this PS da Dhaba and ML Chikki around the town was definitely an ‘insider’ or a ‘breakaway faction; who wanted to establish their hold on the patented brands.

 

            Is there any similarity of what is happening in Maharashtra today? I wonder!!!!!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© NOEL ELLIS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINGER ON YOUR LIPS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/IV/2025   What has happened to Pakistan? While India is doing Fauji Exercises, Pakistan has mobilised for what! I agree that the people of India want revenge. But, from whom? Our PM has only said that “we will not leave the terrorists and their supporters till the end of the Earth”. He has never said he will sort out Pakistan, or has he?   It has been hilarious watching discussions on Paki social media channels. They seem to have already given up. Our RM meets the PM and Pakistan starts shitting bricks. They talk about jazba and gazwa, and start telling us about their nuclear arsenal. 160 I suppose. By the way we will send across one equivalent to your 160 if need be.   There is a saying, ‘Chor ki Dari main tinka” literal meaning is, a straw in a thief’s beard. However, the deep meaning is that a guilty person reveals his guilt through his behaviour, even unintentionally. Clearly, “a guilty conscious needs no accuser”...
18 comments
Read more

IF THERE IS A WAR…...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/IV/2025   I remember the 1971 war as a small child. We were in Kapurthala Punjab, very close to the Pakistan border. It was an evening in December, I do not remember the exact date. While returning from a friends house, the declaration of war was done as I skipped along the ‘Thandi Sarak’ of Kapurthala.   The gist was that a vehicle with loud speakers was telling people to head home as an "emergency" had been declared and war had started. I ran as fast as I could, shivering with fear and my heart beating unusually fast. Though I was a lap baby when the 1965 war had taken place, it appeared serious business now.   Overnight, Dad and other Uncles started digging trenches infront of our homes. Carbon paper was no dearth in a teachers house, so mom got into an overdrive to stick them to the glass windows. Though the glass had been painted during the 1965 war, some broken panes had been replaced. Mom told ...
6 comments
Read more

A PERFECT GARDENER

    Most of us are parents and grandparents now. All of us have brought up our children and now are looking after Gen Z. We gave our children and their children the best of best.   With that as an opening remark, let me shift focus to gardening. I am no expert on parenting or gardening. We went with the tide of highs and lows. The churns and turmoil. Even if we consider ourselves as perfect parents, can we be perfect gardeners?   The answer in both cases would be a big NO. When you look back, there is something more which could have been done. Things could have been done differently. There is no perfect template which can fit all.   One saw the kid take baby steps, then their growth stage and then they matured and ready to bear their own children. What is in store in the future? No one knows.   Having said that, let me return to the topic of Gardening. This would interest gardening enthusiasts. Are you a perfect gardener?   My p...
4 comments
Read more

A BREAK FROM BLOGGING

    Christmas week is a busy week and spills over to the New Year. Friends and family get together, rejoice, make merry and strengthen bonds. It is cold and wintry, the reason to indulge in relishing plum and rum cakes and pakwans, dry fruits and puddings and be at peace.   However, too much rest to my ‘finger tips’ was catching with me both with the laptop keys and the ‘click button’ of the camera. Sometimes, it is good to take a break or if one can call it a ‘fast’ of a different sort. It is a good time to sit down, chill, run down and reflect on things which are now memories in the year coming to an end. How time flies!   We had a dinner planned for my chaddi-buddies and their families last evening. We were looking forward to having fun and lots of laughter. However, in all this milieu, some little things had to be done like feeding the fish on the roof, lest I miss out.   As I opened the roof door, my eyes lit up when I saw a white breasted k...
8 comments
Read more

TAKE A PAUSE

  One thing I have realized that spending time with nature brings so much of mental peace. A small bird can just cheer you up. Her tweet can lift your mood. The sheer joy one derives from watching then come and play in your garden, feed, and bathe is just elevating. All those who do it know what I say and a request to those who haven’t must try it.   Morning time is the most hectic for the birds. They all know that their feed will be there. Their tweets and chirps are indicators of the happiness they enjoy. I am sure in between their tweets they chirp to thank us too.   Evenings are another kind of high. These days their feeders go empty by evening. The water bowls too are nearly at bottom levels, not because of their thirst but now they bathe in the bowl more often. The water sprinkled while they shake their bodies flies off emptying the bowl.   In the evening, when I go to the rooftop there is a different kind of hustle. A few sparrows, a pair of dove...
14 comments
Read more

RUNNING TO TOWN

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   24/IV/2024   As they say, “Jab geedar ki ‘maut’ ati hai woh Shahar ki taraf bhagta hai”. (When a jackal wants to die, it runs towards the town). It simply implies that when someone is in ‘deep trouble’, he takes certain wrong steps and gets into agony himself. It also means that if correct actions are not taken timely, then chances are things go wrong.   Another implication of this idiom is that when someone wants to ‘avoid trouble’, he choses a wrong path or when one faces difficult times, he goes looking for advice and solutions from wrong people and places, jeopardising his own existence.   Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this straight away applies to our troublesome neighbour Pakistan and specifically to the thought process and mindset of their Army Chief General Asim Munir, who revealed it in the lecture he gave to the overseas Pakistanis recently.   I say this in the context of the ‘massacre’ and ‘savagery’ these dastards did in Pahal...
8 comments
Read more

TALE OF A CERTIFICATE

It was way back in 1979 that I became a ‘matriculate’ with a ‘first division’. One required 60% marks for it and I got 60.14%, one mark over the threshold. This I came to realize only yesterday when I had to produce that certificate after almost 46 years.   Those days, first division meant you were the cream. No one talked about percentages or marks. All that mattered was I, II or III Div.   The first time I realised that how important this certificate was when as a young Captain in the Indian Army with three years service, I got a notice from the Army Headquarters to “show cause” why my services should not be terminated as they did not find my matric certificate attached with the mandatory documents required to be submitted to UPSC.   Earth moved under my feet. I was from a Sainik School where all documentation was sent by the school administration. How could they have missed out? Why me, was the question?   Panic and fear struck together as I had ...
6 comments
Read more

A SPEECH

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   19/IV/2025   Imagine when your “sir ka jhoomar becomes gale ki haddi”, then what happens. That was one Jumla I picked up from the Pak Army Chief’s speech which he delivered in Islamabad to Overseas Pakistanis. They are dual citizenship holders. Their ticket it appears had been paid by the state of Pakistan, I reckon.   An Army Chief addressing a gathering of people who at the very first instance decided to “Pakistan se Zinda Bhag” is uncalled for. If I read correctly between the lines, it was not to impress his countrymen but somehow convince the audience to remit dollars to ensure he and his ilk get their salaries, a plot of land on retirement and an assured pension. Rest of the countrymen can scavenge for all he cares.   Above all, the PM of Pakistan and his cabinet were in attendance. The Chief’s political ambitions were clear and his speech was a subtle message to them that the Army is ‘THE Mai Baap’, as he flexed the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

MYSTERY OF THE MISSING FISH

  Stray cats are on the prowl in our lane. Residents feed them a variety of food. From Roti to bread and milk is their diet. The way they are bloating is an indicator of their health.   They have been also feeding on the roti we spread for the birds. They eat roti only in case of an emergency. It is birds the cats are after. We haven’t seen them catching one but knowing cat behaviour, they would not miss a chance.   What I do not appreciate is that they jump into the grain bowl. It is a shallow earthen pot hung with wires on a protrusion of a dried branch. Even if there are ten birds feeding on the feeder, it doesn’t shake. Imagine, when a big chubby cat jumps onto it. They have dropped that pot several times and broken it.   We do not mind cats basking on our veranda chairs, but how does one tell the cats not to leave the birds alone. Like the birds are looking for a meal, so are the cats. Nothing like a juicy sparrow or a bulbul or a fat dove.   These cats wer...
6 comments
Read more

ARMY CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR

ARMY CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   16/I/2026   I was watching the excerpts of the ‘Army Day Parade’ held in Jaipur. The show put up by the Army was exemplary. It reminded me of the Chinese Military parade, ours was far better. I wish I could have witnessed it in person.   What impressed me was the showcasing of the ‘Bhairav troops’ in their ‘combat regalia’. Especially the Sikh troops. Camo painted faces, Khaki pagris and the call of Bole-so-Nihal could shake up the enemy in his grave.   What caught my attention was their boots. Keeping their tasks and deployment in mind in various sectors, those boots would be wind proof, water proof, light weight, comfortable, flexible, durable with enhanced grip and ankle support.   The contingent was not in ‘Tez chal’ but ‘daur ke kadam taal mode’. Which implies, they do not walk but are always on the run to annihilate the enemy. Their boots had to support their operational requirem...
4 comments
Read more