Cool sips take lead over regular bhandara bites

Lucknow: Keeping in mind peak summer heat, organisers of several bhandaras across the city offered devotees and passersby cooling beverages and light meals, on the fourth Bada Mangal on Tuesday.

At a bhandara near the Lete Hue Hanumanji Temple, ORS drink, lassi and shikanji were served instead of cooked meals or snacks. Organiser Riddhi Gaur said “Only one LPG cylinder was available, not enough to support meal in quantity sufficient for a bhandara, so we decided to serve something better suited to the weather and the need of the hour.”

Near Daliganj, businessman Ashish Agarwal distributed ORS and lassi. “People are happier to get cool, refreshing beverages in the scorching sun and extreme weather conditions,” he said. Fruit vendor Shyam Yadav, who stopped at the stall, said he took ORS and a glass of lassi to beat the heat and “stay cool under the hot sun”.

College students Ankit Mishra and Rohan Nanda, enjoying chilled lassi under the shade of a tree, said that while returning from college, they felt dizzy in the sweltering heat and halted at the bhandara.

In Aminabad, a bhandara served ice cream, kulfi, Rooh Afza and chhole chawal to a large crowd. Another bhandara in Indiranagar offered khasta matar, veg pulao and shikanji to devotees. Rimjhim Kumari, a sweeper, said, “I have taken shikanji for my daughters and veg pulao for myself”