After acsending the foot bridge and seeing that the signs of the childhood lingered still on the old road home,feet went in direction of a small group of vendors selling vegetables. the vegetable in search (snake gourd or padval in marathi) otherwise easily available failed to make appearence on the day. eyes lingered towards a small bakery. Memories floated to times when bread and tooty fruity toasts were brought on sunday evenings usually from that bakery . their smokey blackish white chimmneys still visible while decscending the bridge, visible inspite of skyscrapers around now dimmed their appearence. Almost on impuse feet caught the small rough route. The bakery still had same look and small wood and glass display counters and cupboards filled with ladi pavs, kadak pavs, toasts and loaves. Time seem to have been still, no modernization, With same name plates of people who held some kind of business or resided there...never moved out..as years back when the mind still lingered on dolls and school and homework. Two kadak pavs still cost 4 rs only when a baugette (french kadak pav) at a supermarket had crossed its 30s.
Making a small talk with the bakery person who seemed to be in disbelief to see a girl (or lady shall I say???) clad in jeans taking kadak pav of all things. Clutching the paper wrapper of two pavs, the feet had already found themselves back to same ole route home which was ofcourse drenched by rain water. at home,a pav sliced open to fill tangy amul cheese, another left for mom dearest for afternoon snack with fish curry...the crumby cool bites of kadak pav were neither "chang-chang" chewing gum type which often happens to kadak pavs, nor were they jaw breaking and very crumbly. The cheese pav finished in four rapid bites with a gingerry tea...a snack so long lost evoked the lost memories when thoughts were still in schools and dolls and facts of life had not tampered their innocence.
