DesiPundit

Nupur reminisces about the daily procession of tradespeople back home in India. Memories of the pav-valla and “halved pav with soft salty Amul butter slathered inside” leads her to try making laadi pav at home.

Some folks want to conserve energy and avoid making the trek to the 4th floor walk-up apartment, so they will just holler from the street below. Then someone rushes to the balcony and leans over and discusses the transaction. For instance, the fisherwoman, Leelu, will arrive around mid-morning with a basket of fish balanced on her head and a sparking diamond ring flashing in her nose, stand on the street outside and yell out my aunt’s name. My aunt will yell back and ask her what fish she has today, and after much yelling back and forth, Leelu might either climb up or my aunt will send one of her kids down to seal the deal. My mother tells me that my Grandmother (a confirmed carnivore) even had a muttonwalla come to the door for several years!