Oxford Book Store and Cha Bar

As we step off the metro, I put the hood on my waterproof jacket up, curse the dark sky and pelting rain one more time, hop across a small puddle and head to the Oxford Book House. Nope, this not London but Delhi which has been hit by unseasonal rain and cold weather in mid-February. The radio informs us that it is a cold wave from the north. My aunt tells me it snowed in Shimla.

So after sorting out bank cards, this feels like the one day that genuinely warrants a visit to the Oxford Book Shop and the trendy tea-house in Connaught Place. As we enter, a brightly lit reception salon meets the eye. There are a range of coffee table books on Indian history, art,  Hinduism and even Bollywood. Inside is a mix of Indian and international authors including the Booker prize winners.

 
After a quick browse we head for the adjoining café Cha Bar. The tea-menu is mind-boggling. There are traditional India brews, Oriental flowering teas, a mix of green teas, the more usual herbal teas, ancient Ayurvedic mixes and some unique ones which I’ve never encountered before.
 
We decide to go for one safe option (Camomile) and one funky one (Anardana Mix - pomegranate seeds, rose and a couple of other herbs). The hot plate of onion and mirchi pakoras are the perfect accompaniment.

The mirchi pakoras instantly take me back to the late 1990s as memories of Jaswant Thada in Jodhpur come rushing back. It was one of my first field trips with a group of would-be town planners. Most of us deviated from that path of organising cities as other things caught our interest. But somewhere deep inside the searing heat of the marble mausoleum of Raja Jaswant Singh, our painstaking efforts at preparing measured drawings and capturing detailed artwork, the caretaker’s bajra roti and the roadside mirchi pakoras remain stuck in my mind.

Outside the dark clouds in Connaught Place have burst yet again and I am loathe to leave the cozy café. Behind me I hear a British accented voice order a slice of carrot cake and a pot of Earl Grey. Has anyone even done mirchi pakora and Earl Grey? One to try on my next trip back here!

Comments

  1. Hello Ay-ira, your friends from SM2 are enjoying your blog. Tefi laughed out loud (she wants me to say lol.. but too short for me) with your philosophical insight on kitchen tools. Great fun

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