THE OLD SETTLERS OF SIKKIM

Setting the rhythm, Rajasthan way

Kamini Mehta, TNN | Jul 23, 2012, 06.32AM IST

CHANDIGARH: To give a perfect flavour to the festival in Chandigarh, home to more than 250 Rajasthani families, famous cooks were especially called in from the pink city for Teej to delight residents with traditional dishes including rabri ghewar, seetafal ice cream, dal mirch pakauri, mirchi vada kachauri and gatte ki sabzi. Rajnesh Jain, president of Rajisthan Parishad, said, "On this day women of Rajasthan fast whole day and their husbands give them ghewar - quite similar to the tradition of giving sargi on Karvachauth. This fast is also observed for the well-being of husbands. This time we called in a cook from Rajasthan to prepare ghewar along with other Rajasthani delicacies."

Seeta Ram, a cook from Ajmer in Rajasthan, said, "For celebrating the festival we have cooked traditional Rajasthani dushes, Snacks include nargisi kofta and dal ke pakore, main course has gatte ki sabzi and ker sangri, and sweet dish includes special rabri ghewar, seetafal ice cream and rabri malpua." Adding colours to the festivity were young and old women dressed in traditional lehnga choli and men dressed in dhoti kurta. There were special dance performances by youngsters too. A fancy dress competition was also organized.

"This time we had a special prize to the best dressed male and female members who were in their 50's and 60's," Rajnesh added. On the occasion, women had also prepared rangoli to celebrate the Haryali festival. Talking about what Rajasthani families miss about the celebrations being away from home, Renu Agarwala, a resident, said, "Back in Rajasthan, we take out a procession of an idol of the goddess, bedecked in red and gold clothing. On our way we sing hymns to symbolize the devotion of Parvati towards her husband, Lord Shiva."