Divided by states, united by tastes
As the 17th National Youth Festival-2012 kicked off in Mangalore and brought along with it the vibrant colours and culture of India giving the city a look of mini India, the food exhibition, which is part of the festival, at Karavali Utsav Grounds has brought an array of food items from each state showcasing culinary diversity of the nation.
Food exhibition and Yuva Krithi, an exhibition of handicrafts and other items, which were set open on Thursday are the major crowd pullers in Mangalore now. One could taste the flavours of India in the food exhibition, as the food items ranging from alu tikki to litti and choka, from Kashmir tea to rava kesari, from bamboo roasted rice to shammi kabab everything is available under a single roof to serve the taste-buds of the food buffs.
Four women youth club members who have come all the way from Chandigrah were full enthusiasm to serve the people with the popular dishes of their place. Speaking to City Herald, one of the members Neeraj Joshi said that she served only bread rolls and popcorn on the first day. “Though bread roll is not a traditional dish of Chandigarh it is quite popular in the city off late. The youngsters would love to have bread rolls which are spicy as well as sweet. However, we would serve the traditional food items like alu tikki from the second day onwards,” she said.
She said that she along with her three team mates will prepare the yummy dishes for the next four or five days in the kitchen-like structure provided to them behind the counter.
Another team member Neeraj who was serving bread roll to the customer said, “I had never tried South Indian food in my life. But after trying it here in the festival, I just fell for it. Since the day we steeped into Mangalore, I and my friends are having nothing but South Indian food.”
Kashmir tea prepared by Nasir Khan from Sunshine Youth Club in Srinagar was the best preferred hot beverage by the crowd. The chai which has the strong fragrance of spices is prepared by adding kesar, dalchini and elachi to the boiling water. Unlike the normal boiling technique, Kashmiri chai is prepared in a vessel called ‘Samavar’ where the heat generates from the bottom of the jug. Water and spices are poured to Samavar and kept for sometime for boiling and the tea is directly served to the cup from the Samavar jug.
Nasir Khan has priced the tea at Rs 10 per cup as against its price in Srinagar which is Rs 25.
As expected, the Delhi stalls were filled with golgappas of varieties including those made out of rava. The other items that are available in the exhibition include pooral ki dal from Jharkhand, momo and sul roti from Sikkim, Rava kesari from Tamil Nadu, bamboo roasted rice from Arunachal Pradesh etc. For the non-veg food lovers, several food counters have been opened on Friday. Item like smoked pork-indigenous food of Nagaland, shami kabab from Uttar Pradesh, chicken biriyani from Punjab are served.
Most of the food items are priced between Rs 10 and Rs 30.
44 food stalls
The organising committee member M N Nataraj who is the Youth Service Department officer from Mysore informed that the selected members of the youth club representing each state have been allotted with a food stall in the venue. There are 44 food stalls selling over 100 food items from 19 different states. Out of 44 food stalls, the first 28 stalls serve only the veg food items while rest of the stalls serve the non-veg food. There are six dry fruit stalls, a few other counters selling pickle verities, health food items and five stalls are allotted to the youth clubs from Dakshina Kannada which sell tea, coffee, juice etc.
Yuva Krithi
Yuva Krithi, an exhibition of stalls with handicrafts items and other informative stalls exhibit the work of youngsters in true sense. Located adjacent to the food stalls, Yuva Krithi demands most of your time and attention as you end up visiting each stall of the total 90 stalls where each stall is different from the rest. Be it the stalls on career guidance put up by Sriperumbudur based Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development or the one put up by Indian Navy, be it the brass handicraft exhibition or the stall on marble artifacts, each stall is unique.
RGNIYD officers were found busy informing the enthusiast students and youth about various career opportunities available to them and was helping to make the career decisions. On the other hand, Lieutenant Commander Jagdeep Menon from Indian Navy Karwar wing was showing videos of Indian Navy to the students and was informing them about the qualifications required and career opportunities available in the Navy. He said he was quite happy with the response he has been receiving in the last two days.
“The students especially from NCC and NSS wings expressed curiosity about the Navy. There has always been lack of publicity in recruiting and informing the Navy. We hope at least a few youth who step in here get inspired to join the Navy when they go out,” he said.
The stall set up by the Transport Department and the Karnataka State Police has made arrangements to bring awareness among the youth about the road safety. In the backdrop of the road safety week, the Department and the Police have jointly made an attempt to kindle the spirit of road safety.
For those who would love to pick home something, there are handicraft stalls from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab and where not.
The calligraphy craft by two partners from Jaipur, sand art from a youth from Tamil Nadu, wooden art from a lady from Kerala, brass craft from a youth from MP are all available in the exhibition. There are also stalls by Ramakrishna Mutt, Brahmakumari Mutt and Art of Living.
This exhibition is essentially a toast for taste-buds, eyes and mind in the true sense!
HAMs manage the show here
As you enter Yuva Krithi, the first stall will grab your attention without fail. The stall set up by Indian Institute of HAMs (amateur radio operators) have taken up the responsibility of managing the communication system in the 17th National Youth Festival.
Speaking to City Herald, IIH Training Director R Marcus Joseph said that it is for the first time IIH is handling the communication set up in the youth fest. The IIH has given 50 walkie talkie sets to the officers in the youth fest so as to help them to keep each other well connected.
About 90 per cent of the organising committee members are using the wireless handsets to communicate within 50 km radius. “We ensure that the communication system is not jammed and HAM is proved to be of great help in emergency situations,” he says. He also informed that they have opened the stall in order to inform the youth and the general public about the significance of HAMs.
