You can get out of the hills but you can never take the hills out of you. They become a part of your DNA. No matter what part of the world you ultimately settle in, once a pahadi, always a pahadi.
That’s why, being a pahadi myself, I decided to pay this humble tribute to our beloved pahadi habits. Check ’em out.
1. Drinking tea in steel ke glass.
Cups are too mainstream. Besides, they’re small. We like our chai king size.
Oh, and there’s no time constraint as such. We can drink tea any time we want. Mah’ chai, mah rulez!
2. We always wear a hand-knit half sweaters no matter how hot it is.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s formals or casuals, one thing’s always common.
A hand-knit half sweater underneath.
3. No wedding is complete without Bedu Pako and Babli tero mobile.
Screw Badshah and Honey Singh. We got rockstars of our own. And our best moves are reserved for them and them alone.
4. We’re born addicted to kafal.
Kids eat cherries.
Adults eat strawberries.
Legends eat kafal.
‘Nuff said.
5. Bal-mithai is our lucky charm.
You can love it.
You can hate it.
But you just cannot ignore it.
Agreed, it might come across as an acquired taste to some.
6. Ghughuti-basuti is our national lullaby.
Twinkle twinkle little star ek taraf, aur humara ghuguti-basuti ek taraf. No pahadi grandparent is pahadi enough till they sing this to their grandkids.
7. We have our own version of oranges. We call them ‘kinnow’.
Oranges might turn out to be sour, but kinnow never breaks our trust. More often than not, they turn out to be sweet.
Just like us pahadis.
8. You have two career options. Sarkari naukri or the army.
Choose wisely, you must.
9. Buransh (rhododendron) ka sharbat is our national drink.
People from the plains have Rasna and Rooh-Afza. We have buraans ka sharabat. And trust me, you need to taste it to believe it.
10. Thappad se darr nahin lagta saab, bichoo ghas se lagta hai.
Every pahadi has, at some point of time or the other, been subjected to this atrocity.
Pain level: Infinite.
11. Your grandmother knows EVERYBODY.
Move over Facebook, your grandmother’s the real social network.
12. We have our own version of cookies. We call them ‘roat’ and ‘arsa’.
Healthier. Tastier. Better.
Say it loud, you’re pahadi and you’re proud.