- Sanyukta Iyer
The ‘Dhaba culture’ has enchanted everyone at some point or another. Be it the peace of resting your head on the ‘khatiya’ or the enthusiastic gulping down of ‘chaach’ and of course, beer and chicken and tandoori roti. Vegetarians do not miss out on the pleasure of a Dhaba either; the paneer and dals fascinate everybody.
The Dhaba tradition began with the intention of helping out truck drivers rest, eat meals and refill their trucks. They served Punjabi food on wooden cots and catered to truck drivers constantly plying outside city limits. Soon this popular habit turned into a tourist attraction. Now, we have students taking road trips to go and eat at that one Dhaba that serves hot parathas on that chilly highway! The food still remains as tasty as ever and yet continues to be inexpensive. Enthralling isn’t it?
We visited Lonavala recently and ate our share of chikki and chocolate fudge. On our way back we stopped at Toni da Dhaba after the toll plaza. The ambience and food was brilliant. The place wasn’t too crowded and service was good.
There now are plenty of dhabas that are on these National Highways around Pune. People take the weekend to go to a nearby tourist attraction like Panchgani, Mahableshwar, Khandala and others. The two main Highways leaving Pune are NH-4 and NH-5, both these highway provide for the luxury of stopping at a highway and enjoying a peaceful, finger licking meal.
Dhabas price their food much cheaper than any other restaurants on the highways. Businesses of the dhabas spike up on weekends and those are the busy days. Business and work is low on all other days. Dhabas are now noticing recurring customers. Such a culture never existed before. Students and families have now become loyal customers and Dhaba owners pride over such visitors.
The most famous Dhaba on NH-4 ‘Gurudatt’ serves splendid Maharashtrian food. This Dhaba is positioned where the diversion for the Goa route takes place. Thus, people travelling both from Goa and Pune towards or returning to Bombay feast at this Dhaba.
Somtan Dhaba located on NH-4 going towards Shirdi from Pune, gives families the luxury of relaxing after a tiring visit to the religious abode of Sai Baba.
On NH-5, there are fewer dhabas in comparison to those on NH-4. Detour before Panchgani ‘The Dhaba’ serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals.
Recent laws by the Supreme Court state that old trucks need to be taken off the highways! Several truck drivers went on strike due to this regulation as many of the old trucks are family heritage and have worked fine since many years. It would be sad to not have the old colorful, painted, slogan written trucks stop while you sit at a Dhaba! They were the ones to start the tradition. Wouldn’t it hurt to see the trucks go off the road?
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