An Indian Village Trip: Jalebis and Memories

An Indian Village Trip: Jalebis and Memories

In December 2020, I visited my village in, Uttar Pradesh, to bring my mom back to Bangalore. She had stayed in the village because of the nationwide lockdown. I spent about 10 days there, so I had time to explore nearby places.

One famous spot in Pratapgarh is Ghuisharnath Dham, also called Ghushmeshwarnath Temple. It’s a very old and popular temple. It’s open every day, but Tuesday is special because it’s considered the luckiest day to visit. On Tuesdays, the temple gets super crowded, and lots of small shops and vendors set up stalls nearby. It feels like a big village fair!

I planned to visit the temple on a Tuesday with my uncle. We got ready at 8 a.m. and rode our bike to the temple. By 8:45 a.m., we parked our bike in a new parking shed that wasn’t there last year. A guard was watching the vehicles, which was nice.

I looked around, trying to recognize things. I hadn’t been to the temple in years, and everything looked different. The area had changed a lot!

We walked toward the temple. Both sides of the path had stalls selling flowers, clay pots, and other items for worship. It was busy and exciting. We stopped at a less crowded stall, left our shoes with the shopkeeper, and bought flowers, clay pots, and worship items. The process is simple: buy the items, do the temple rituals, return the clay pots, pay, and get your shoes back. We did that. The rituals took about 20-30 minutes. Then we returned the pots, paid, and took our shoes.

Now it was time to explore the fair! We started at the main gate and walked through the whole market. Seeing such a lively village market after years made me so happy. The temple area had better buildings and facilities now.

The place is famous for its food, especially chaat and jalebis. We hadn’t eaten there in years, so we decided to try both. We found a shop with fewer people. A little girl was sitting at the counter, with jalebis in a showcase. There were two types: one made with sugar syrup and one with jaggery.

We asked for 50 grams of each. As she weighed them, we changed our mind and asked for 150 grams of each. The girl looked happy—maybe we were her first customers! She served the jalebis on a piece of newspaper. In villages, that’s how food is served—no fancy plates, just simple newspaper.

We each took a jalebi, and wow—they were so tasty! We finished the whole plate in two minutes. They were too good to stop, so we ordered 200 grams more. Soon, we ate all of them. It felt like we drank a ton of sweet syrup! Our stomachs couldn’t handle more sweetness.

Before I could pay, my uncle handed the girl a ₹500 note. She looked worried and said, “Bhaiya, I don’t have change for such a big note! You’re my first customer.” My uncle told her to ask nearby shopkeepers for change. She sighed, asked a neighbor, and got the change.

I wondered why she was so surprised by a ₹500 note. In cities, people take even ₹2000 notes without checking. But in villages, shopkeepers carefully check bigger notes like ₹200 or ₹500. Why? Village life is simple. People need less money, and big notes are rare. They check them to make sure they’re real.

She gave us ₹440 back. We were confused because we thought jalebis would cost about ₹100, so we expected ₹400 back. Only ₹40 for half a kilo of jalebis? We were shocked at how cheap it was! Then the girl took ₹20 from her drawer and gave it to us. We thought she made a mistake, giving us too much change. Half a kilo of jalebis for just ₹40 seemed unreal!

The girl saw our confusion and thought we were upset, like she overcharged us. She explained, “Sir, I didn’t charge extra. This is the market price. Ask anyone—half a kilo of jalebis is only ₹40!” Her honesty touched me. We thought she gave us too much change, but she worried we thought she cheated us.

My uncle and I smiled. Her innocence melted our hearts. I said, “We understand! We’re just surprised you gave us so many jalebis for so little. In the city, half a kilo costs ₹80!”

“₹80?!” she gasped, shocked at city prices.

We laughed, and my uncle tried to give her the ₹20 back. She refused, saying, “I can’t take it. It’ll feel like I cheated a customer.” My uncle said, “If you don’t take it, we’ll feel bad.” She replied, “Okay, pay me ₹20 extra next time you visit!” and went back to her counter.

I said, “Sure, sister! We’re so happy to eat such delicious jalebis after years. We’ll come back next year and buy from you. Thank you!” She smiled and said, “I’ll wait for you both!”

This small moment stays close to my heart. It shows the simplicity, honesty, and kindness of village people. I hope to visit that little girl’s shop again soon.