Aakash’s “bainga”

A street vendor with a usual vending apparatus

- Mayank Austen Soofi

The day is still searing hot, but there are signs of winter knocking at the door. The evening darkness is descending upon the city much earlier than it were wont to do.

A more substantial sign of the shift in season is perceptible in the return of a young vendor of gajak.

Said to inoculate instant warmth into the body, the crisp gajak annually arrives in the capital with the onset of cold weather. Made of jaggery and sesame, it is so addictive that you might keep nibbling at it until the appetite is ready to burst.