Ambala Cantonment has many fascinating features, but its dhabas must surely rank among the most fascinating. Incidentally, Ambala itself gets its name from “umb valla” (abode of mangoes). Its dhabas are situated on the Grand Trunk Road, opposite the railway station.There must be nearly twenty dhabas off that road itself. In fact, every bus has adopted one dhaba, where its driver and conductor get free meals. The police, of course, have right of the way. And free service is also provided to dogs and stray cattle. During elections, the dhabas do roaring business, with each political party adopting one particular dhaba as its base.Legend even has it that Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt asked their “captor” to halt at Ambala for a meal while being transported from Delhi to Lahore Central Jail in the Assembly Bomb Case.An Ambala dhaba, it must be understood, is not an English pub. It is also neither a hotel nor a motel nor even a tavern. It is a traveller’s halt, a tourist transit, a voter’s paradise, a common man’s kitchen. A dhaba is an ancient institution. In the days of yore, it sustained the itinerant Buddhist monks and Jain munis. Possibly, Magesthenes, Fa-hien, Huein Tsang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batuta, and many others, have stopped by at “umb walla” for a hasty meal or a meditative plate.At Ambala Cantonment, each dhaba has an USP. If Joginder’s dhaba excels in ‘hing ki daal’, Parminder’s dhaba boasts of ‘adark ki daal’. If another dhaba’s speciality is ‘rogan josh’, its neighbouring dhaba proclaims its expertise in ‘frozen josh’, wherever that may mean.In pre-partition times, there was a dhaba run by one M.R. Chauduri, known for its bhindis and brinjals. When M. R. Chaudhuri embraced Islam and became Mohammad Rasul Chaudhri (it still boiled down to M.R. Chaudhuri), his clientele did not leave — and not surprisingly, given the quality of his food. Only the partition could do that.Dhabas are great promoters of national integration and a composite culture. People of all religions and castes visit them to quench their thirst, to satiate their hunger, to put their passions at rest.Take ‘Puran Ka Dhaba’, it is a gourmet’s paradise. Its ‘daal’ is unique. People come to dip into its dal from far and wide. The other day, on my way to Chandigarh, I dropped by and asked for a tandoori roti and a plate of daal. I had long waited to taste it, having heard about its fame. Puran, unfortunately, was not in. The man at the counter explained, “Sir, Puran’s dhaba functions only during lunch time. For dinner there are others.”
