Golgappa Guy on ORR

A golgappa is an emotion. For most of us who have grown up in India, regardless of which part, it is symbolic of acceptance and surrender. Surrendering to the magic of the vendor who assembles the puri and dunks it in the spiced water before handing it over to you. Magic, because we really don't know what to expect. Each dunking brings out a different taste. In a world of QSR food, a golgappa is artisanal.

I am far from a food historian, but a quick stroll down the archives, leads to the revelation that this delectable snack may date back to the Mahabharata. However, we all realize that it is likely a recent discovery, most likely 100 years old, as a derivative of the grandiose Raj Kachori.

My forays have extended from Elco Market, Punjab Sweet House in Bombay, to Dimple Snacks in Manhattan and all the weddings I have attended where I make a beeline for the chaat counter. For the sake of this writing, I am leaving out the home golgappas and those served at an equivalent of Swati Snacks.

Therefore, eight years in Bangalore, when on my daily commute, in August 2026, I suddenly see a golgappa cart emerge and place himself firmly at the footsteps of the over bridge, I can't help but wander into the mind of the vendor. Sitting inside my car, at a complete standstill, I watch as the vendor deftly assembles a puri and hands them to the group of five or six folks assembled around him. His face is calm, zen like almost. There is a sincerity with which he moves his hands, almost meditative and trance like. I drive off when the signal opens with so much admiration for the Golgappa Guy on ORR.