A Traveler's Memoir

Chander Verma is a father of 3, a local resident of Munsyari. Having done various jobs in the past and now running the Mayank Homestay by himself, on lease at 3.5 lakh a year. The day I reached, I told him that he was paying way too much but he already made an agreement for 3 years. He did magic with his hands when it came to cooking though. No bad habits, would smoke a cigarette rarely if someone offers, humble and a neat gentleman. Lovely kids and a beautiful family, living life on what they could afford. He knew his expenses would gradually increase so I asked him to think wisely before he did anything. I had long conversations with him, numerous times during my stay. When I called him to discuss my bill he was kind enough to offer the room at 500 and dinner at 150, even suggested that I extend my stay till the roads ahead were open. I wasn't moving around much but had to be paying rent for my stay and took only 1 meal. Dinner. Survived the rest of the day with biscuits and tea ...

The Biryani, Seetaphal icecream, Irani Chai Rajinikanth took me out for lunch and treated me to some Nawabi delicacy, Hyderabadi dum biryani. I wanted to try at a local place and he took me. The tender meat, the flavour of spices, with a touch of masala, served with kebab and dhal. It was the feeling of satisfaction. If you want to know the value of food, feed a traveller. He bought me Seetaphal ice cream for dessert, which I wasn't a fan of at first but started liking the flavour of the fruit with the taste of milk. Rishoo Mittal visited our home last year, through Couchsurfing. I remember taking him around Coorg, on the Jawa. Later, He referred me to Dom and Enoch who stayed at the homestay. Dom promised to buy me a Hyderabadi Biryani and Irani chai when I visited Hyderabad. We caught up in the evening for a lavish, full to the brim luxury restaurant dinner. Dom had Rotis with gravy while I and Enoch finished one mutton biryani each and ordered another. He managed to finish most ...