Concept & Writing: Jayesh Narendra Agnihotri
On holidays, when you stay at home all day, hunger seems to visit more often than usual. Sitting idle makes you feel hungry again and again. Stepping out in the scorching afternoon heat feels risky, so you end up staying indoors.
With no chance to take a walk outside in the blazing sun, you simply sit at home—and as a result, the waistline slowly begins to grow. The food you already ate doesn’t seem to digest properly, yet the hunger somehow returns.
Just at that moment, someone sends a photo on the phone.
It’s a beautiful plate arranged with all the ingredients of pani puri—crispy puris, spicy water, chutneys, potatoes, onions, and sev arranged like a colorful rangoli. One glance at the picture, and suddenly your mouth begins to water.
But instead of satisfaction, it feels like someone has rubbed salt on an open wound—because you cannot go out to eat it.
Later, while scrolling through an old photo album, I noticed pictures taken near a pani puri cart. That was enough to pull me into a stream of memories.
No, this isn’t a story from the black-and-white era.
These photos were from just four or five years ago.
One afternoon, we had gone to the playground to play cricket and kho-kho. While we were busy playing, we heard the ringing bell of a food cart nearby.
At first, we assumed it must be the ice cream cart.
But our guess was wrong.
We soon realized the ice cream vendor usually came in the evening. The cart we heard now was something different.
Then came a wonderful aroma—so tempting that it started pulling us closer.
Leaving the bat and ball behind, we ran toward the cart. Before reaching it, we quickly washed our hands and feet at a nearby tap.
Then we stood in front of the cart.
We didn’t want holy water or nectar—seeing the pani puri cart itself was enough for us!
We joked and laughed while placing our orders.
First came the pani puri—crispy, spicy, tangy, and delicious. We ate them quickly and happily.
Soon someone shouted,
“Now give us sevpuri!”
One friend tasted it first and immediately exclaimed,
“Wow! This tastes amazing!”
Hearing that, all of us rushed to order plates of sevpuri, afraid it might finish soon.
The taste was incredible.
“Dil khush kar diya!” someone said with excitement.
After eating, our group of friends started walking back home while munching on a few dry puris along the way.
On the road, we met another friend who generously shared slices of raw mango sprinkled with salt and chili powder.
One of us laughed and said,
“God, how did you suddenly become so generous today?”
For a moment, it truly felt like a feast day.
But soon the day came to an end.
Late at night, our parents told us to go to bed quietly.
Just as I fell asleep, I heard the sound of a public announcement.
It said:
“With one cutting chai, get a vada pav free!
With one full cup of tea, get free sevpuri near the playground!”
I smiled in my sleep and thought,
“God, you really care about my diet!”
Then suddenly I realized…
It was just a dream.
But something about that dream felt so real because it was already four in the morning—the time when dreams sometimes come true.
However, since we had already eaten so much the previous day, we simply had tea and poha at home before stepping out.
Those old photos brought back such wonderful memories.
But the best part of that memory was something else.
Instead of eating all the food ourselves, my friends and I decided to share it with people who truly needed it—orphans, beggars, people surviving on the streets, and those struggling to earn a living.
That sevpuri went into someone else’s stomach.
Maybe they rarely experienced such flavors. Maybe they didn’t know what satisfying the taste buds truly felt like.
They blessed us with heartfelt gratitude.
And somehow, those blessings carried the aroma of sevpuri straight into our hearts.
So tell me—
Did you like this story of sevpuri?
Come, let’s meet someday, share a plate of sevpuri together, and relive those memories—not just through photographs, but in real life.
Written by:
Jayesh Narendra Agnihotri
