It was during the last of my teenage years and I was in the second year of my university life when the day before Holi - a festival where people smear each other with paint and coloured powder in an atmosphere of good humour - my friend Alice had an idea in the middle of our physics lecture. She said "Why don't we drink bhang tomorrow? I know it's a cannabis drink, but it's meant to be drunk during Holi. And anyways if the guys drink it, then we should also give it a try. After all, you get to live your life only once!"
In those days, all the university students stayed in the college hostel which was inside the campus itself. That day after our classes got over, Alice discussed the matter with the cooks of our hostel mess. Unfortunately, we found out that bhang couldn't be prepared by them as they didn't have the required ingredients, and new ingredients couldn't be bought without the warden's permission. As it was already 8 pm by then, it was not possible to get the permission.
Instead of losing hope, Alice insisted "Why don't we try preparing it ourselves?" I thought that she had completely lost her mind - we didn't know the recipe, neither did we have the ingredients, nor any time. But she continued "Look, we can't afford to waste any more time now. Hostel closes its doors at 10 pm, so we have 2 hours with us as we won't be having any time tomorrow."
Seeing her determination, I felt encouraged and we immediately started putting our plan into action. That's the advantage of having an optimistic person with you - you manage to find light even in hopeless situations. She quickly checked the ingredients required to prepare the drink of thandai (in which bhang was to be mixed) on internet and then ran across the hostel telling others of the plan and made a team - Rose was to arrange for the utensils, Rebecca and Stephanie were to collect whatever ingredients was available in the mess, Alice and I were to go to the market to buy rest of the ingredients. Oh God! I still remember the speed with which we ran to the markets searching for the required things and we barely managed to return before the clock struck 10 pm. I felt as though we had won some sort of an adventure reality show!
But the day wasn't over yet for our team - Alice noted down the recipe in detail from the internet, Rebecca and Stephanie washed the utensils and ingredients, and I looked after the budget which made me spend the rest of the night collecting names of the girls interested in this out-of-the-rulebook adventure.
Next morning, we managed to prepare the drink which was liked not only by all the girls and the cooks, but also by the boys who had come all the way to our hostel to taste the drink. Apparently, it had reached their ears that the thandai prepared in the girls' hostel was worth giving a shot. We felt very proud of ourselves seeing that even experienced consumers had come to taste the drink prepared by amateurs like us.
But in the afternoon after we had finished playing Holi, something crossed our minds - we were fully in our senses whereas a cannabis drink like bhang thandai was supposed to make people sleep for hours. After researching on this doubt, our team realised that Alice had misread the method of preparation - instead of crushing the leaves of the cannabis plant to make a paste which had to be added in thandai, all she had done was adding just the water in which the leaves were soaked and had thrown away the actual leaves. So in reality, all we had ended up doing was having drunk just a type of milkshake!
It has been several years since that memorable incident. I have had had the good luck of playing Holi in many cities with a number of people, had the opportunity to drink the actual bhang thandai (recipe below) which made me sleep for hours at an end, but none of these have been able to replace that episode in my mind to become my favourite Holi, because it was much more than just a festival of colours - it was a festival of silliness, a festival of friendship, a festival of immaturity, a festival of laughter, and a festival of many more emotions which just can't be expressed in words...
Even today when I reminisce about that day and see the pictures - of girls standing outside my room with a glass in their hands, of Alice having the meeting on how to make the drink, of Rose actually making it sitting with a curtain rod in her hand which she had used as a mixer (the ultimate jugaad) - my eyes are filled with tears of nostalgia. Aahh…university days were the best days of my life!
(Names have been changed).
Read about the memorable DIWALI incident of my college
It was during the last of my teenage years and I was in the second year of my university life when the day before Holi - a festival where people smear each other with paint and coloured powder in an atmosphere of good humour - my friend Alice had an idea in the middle of our physics lecture. She said "Why don't we drink bhang tomorrow? I know it's a cannabis drink, but it's meant to be drunk during Holi. And anyways if the guys drink it, then we should also give it a try. After all, you get to live your life only once!"
In those days, all the university students stayed in the college hostel which was inside the campus itself. That day after our classes got over, Alice discussed the matter with the cooks of our hostel mess. Unfortunately, we found out that bhang couldn't be prepared by them as they didn't have the required ingredients, and new ingredients couldn't be bought without the warden's permission. As it was already 8 pm by then, it was not possible to get the permission.
Instead of losing hope, Alice insisted "Why don't we try preparing it ourselves?" I thought that she had completely lost her mind - we didn't know the recipe, neither did we have the ingredients, nor any time. But she continued "Look, we can't afford to waste any more time now. Hostel closes its doors at 10 pm, so we have 2 hours with us as we won't be having any time tomorrow."
Seeing her determination, I felt encouraged and we immediately started putting our plan into action. That's the advantage of having an optimistic person with you - you manage to find light even in hopeless situations. She quickly checked the ingredients required to prepare the drink of thandai (in which bhang was to be mixed) on internet and then ran across the hostel telling others of the plan and made a team - Rose was to arrange for the utensils, Rebecca and Stephanie were to collect whatever ingredients was available in the mess, Alice and I were to go to the market to buy rest of the ingredients. Oh God! I still remember the speed with which we ran to the markets searching for the required things and we barely managed to return before the clock struck 10 pm. I felt as though we had won some sort of an adventure reality show!
But the day wasn't over yet for our team - Alice noted down the recipe in detail from the internet, Rebecca and Stephanie washed the utensils and ingredients, and I looked after the budget which made me spend the rest of the night collecting names of the girls interested in this out-of-the-rulebook adventure.
Next morning, we managed to prepare the drink which was liked not only by all the girls and the cooks, but also by the boys who had come all the way to our hostel to taste the drink. Apparently, it had reached their ears that the thandai prepared in the girls' hostel was worth giving a shot. We felt very proud of ourselves seeing that even experienced consumers had come to taste the drink prepared by amateurs like us.
But in the afternoon after we had finished playing Holi, something crossed our minds - we were fully in our senses whereas a cannabis drink like bhang thandai was supposed to make people sleep for hours. After researching on this doubt, our team realised that Alice had misread the method of preparation - instead of crushing the leaves of the cannabis plant to make a paste which had to be added in thandai, all she had done was adding just the water in which the leaves were soaked and had thrown away the actual leaves. So in reality, all we had ended up doing was having drunk just a type of milkshake!
It has been several years since that memorable incident. I have had had the good luck of playing Holi in many cities with a number of people, had the opportunity to drink the actual bhang thandai (recipe below) which made me sleep for hours at an end, but none of these have been able to replace that episode in my mind to become my favourite Holi, because it was much more than just a festival of colours - it was a festival of silliness, a festival of friendship, a festival of immaturity, a festival of laughter, and a festival of many more emotions which just can't be expressed in words...
Even today when I reminisce about that day and see the pictures - of girls standing outside my room with a glass in their hands, of Alice having the meeting on how to make the drink, of Rose actually making it sitting with a curtain rod in her hand which she had used as a mixer (the ultimate jugaad) - my eyes are filled with tears of nostalgia. Aahh…university days were the best days of my life!
(Names have been changed).
Read about the memorable DIWALI incident of my college
Recipe for Bhang Thandai
- Grind the ingredients - poppy seeds, fennel seeds, blanched almonds, whole black peppercorns, cardamom seeds, bananas and bhang paste - into a smooth powder or paste.
- Boil milk and saffron. Once the milk comes to a boil, add the bhang thandai masala, sugar and stir to whisk the thandai well.
- Turn off the heat and allow the thandai to cool (You can also add ice to cool it faster).
- Indulge in this heavenly drink.
Using a curtain rod to prepare thandai
Efforts to prepare thandai
Checking the prepared dish
Enjoying Holi
It was during the last of my teenage years and I was in the second year of my university life when the day before Holi - a festival where people smear each other with paint and coloured powder in an atmosphere of good humour - my friend Alice had an idea in the middle of our physics lecture. She said "Why don't we drink bhang tomorrow? I know it's a cannabis drink, but it's meant to be drunk during Holi. And anyways if the guys drink it, then we should also give it a try. After all, you get to live your life only once!"
In those days, all the university students stayed in the college hostel which was inside the campus itself. That day after our classes got over, Alice discussed the matter with the cooks of our hostel mess. Unfortunately, we found out that bhang couldn't be prepared by them as they didn't have the required ingredients, and new ingredients couldn't be bought without the warden's permission. As it was already 8 pm by then, it was not possible to get the permission.
Instead of losing hope, Alice insisted "Why don't we try preparing it ourselves?" I thought that she had completely lost her mind - we didn't know the recipe, neither did we have the ingredients, nor any time. But she continued "Look, we can't afford to waste any more time now. Hostel closes its doors at 10 pm, so we have 2 hours with us as we won't be having any time tomorrow."
Seeing her determination, I felt encouraged and we immediately started putting our plan into action. That's the advantage of having an optimistic person with you - you manage to find light even in hopeless situations. She quickly checked the ingredients required to prepare the drink of thandai (in which bhang was to be mixed) on internet and then ran across the hostel telling others of the plan and made a team - Rose was to arrange for the utensils, Rebecca and Stephanie were to collect whatever ingredients was available in the mess, Alice and I were to go to the market to buy rest of the ingredients. Oh God! I still remember the speed with which we ran to the markets searching for the required things and we barely managed to return before the clock struck 10 pm. I felt as though we had won some sort of an adventure reality show!
But the day wasn't over yet for our team - Alice noted down the recipe in detail from the internet, Rebecca and Stephanie washed the utensils and ingredients, and I looked after the budget which made me spend the rest of the night collecting names of the girls interested in this out-of-the-rulebook adventure.
Next morning, we managed to prepare the drink which was liked not only by all the girls and the cooks, but also by the boys who had come all the way to our hostel to taste the drink. Apparently, it had reached their ears that the thandai prepared in the girls' hostel was worth giving a shot. We felt very proud of ourselves seeing that even experienced consumers had come to taste the drink prepared by amateurs like us.
But in the afternoon after we had finished playing Holi, something crossed our minds - we were fully in our senses whereas a cannabis drink like bhang thandai was supposed to make people sleep for hours. After researching on this doubt, our team realised that Alice had misread the method of preparation - instead of crushing the leaves of the cannabis plant to make a paste which had to be added in thandai, all she had done was adding just the water in which the leaves were soaked and had thrown away the actual leaves. So in reality, all we had ended up doing was having drunk just a type of milkshake!
It has been seven years since that memorable incident. I have had had the good luck of playing Holi in many cities with a number of people, had the opportunity to drink the actual bhang thandai (recipe below) which made me sleep for hours at an end, but none of these have been able to replace that episode in my mind to become my favourite Holi, because it was much more than just a festival of colours - it was a festival of silliness, a festival of friendship, a festival of immaturity, a festival of laughter, and a festival of many more emotions which just can't be expressed in words...
Even today when I reminisce about that day and see the pictures - of girls standing outside my room with a glass in their hands, of Alice having the meeting on how to make the drink, of Rose actually making it sitting with a curtain rod in her hand which she had used as a mixer (the ultimate jugaad) - my eyes are filled with tears of nostalgia. Aahh…university days were the best days of my life!
Recipe for Bhang Thandai
- Grind the ingredients - poppy seeds, fennel seeds, blanched almonds, whole black peppercorns, cardamom seeds, bananas and bhang paste - into a smooth powder or paste.
- Boil milk and saffron. Once the milk comes to a boil, add the bhang thandai masala, sugar and stir to whisk the thandai well.
- Turn off the heat and allow the thandai to cool (You can also add ice to cool it faster).
- Indulge in this heavenly drink.
Using a curtain rod to prepare thandai
Efforts to prepare thandai
Checking the prepared dish
Enjoying Holi
In those days, all the university students stayed in the college hostel which was inside the campus itself. That day after our classes got over, Alice discussed the matter with the cooks of our hostel mess. Unfortunately, we found out that bhang couldn't be prepared by them as they didn't have the required ingredients, and new ingredients couldn't be bought without the warden's permission. As it was already 8 pm by then, it was not possible to get the permission.
Instead of losing hope, Alice insisted "Why don't we try preparing it ourselves?" I thought that she had completely lost her mind - we didn't know the recipe, neither did we have the ingredients, nor any time. But she continued "Look, we can't afford to waste any more time now. Hostel closes its doors at 10 pm, so we have 2 hours with us as we won't be having any time tomorrow."
Seeing her determination, I felt encouraged and we immediately started putting our plan into action. That's the advantage of having an optimistic person with you - you manage to find light even in hopeless situations. She quickly checked the ingredients required to prepare the drink of thandai (in which bhang was to be mixed) on internet and then ran across the hostel telling others of the plan and made a team - Rose was to arrange for the utensils, Rebecca and Stephanie were to collect whatever ingredients was available in the mess, Alice and I were to go to the market to buy rest of the ingredients. Oh God! I still remember the speed with which we ran to the markets searching for the required things and we barely managed to return before the clock struck 10 pm. I felt as though we had won some sort of an adventure reality show!
But the day wasn't over yet for our team - Alice noted down the recipe in detail from the internet, Rebecca and Stephanie washed the utensils and ingredients, and I looked after the budget which made me spend the rest of the night collecting names of the girls interested in this out-of-the-rulebook adventure.
Next morning, we managed to prepare the drink which was liked not only by all the girls and the cooks, but also by the boys who had come all the way to our hostel to taste the drink. Apparently, it had reached their ears that the thandai prepared in the girls' hostel was worth giving a shot. We felt very proud of ourselves seeing that even experienced consumers had come to taste the drink prepared by amateurs like us.
But in the afternoon after we had finished playing Holi, something crossed our minds - we were fully in our senses whereas a cannabis drink like bhang thandai was supposed to make people sleep for hours. After researching on this doubt, our team realised that Alice had misread the method of preparation - instead of crushing the leaves of the cannabis plant to make a paste which had to be added in thandai, all she had done was adding just the water in which the leaves were soaked and had thrown away the actual leaves. So in reality, all we had ended up doing was having drunk just a type of milkshake!
It has been several years since that memorable incident. I have had had the good luck of playing Holi in many cities with a number of people, had the opportunity to drink the actual bhang thandai (recipe below) which made me sleep for hours at an end, but none of these have been able to replace that episode in my mind to become my favourite Holi, because it was much more than just a festival of colours - it was a festival of silliness, a festival of friendship, a festival of immaturity, a festival of laughter, and a festival of many more emotions which just can't be expressed in words...
Even today when I reminisce about that day and see the pictures - of girls standing outside my room with a glass in their hands, of Alice having the meeting on how to make the drink, of Rose actually making it sitting with a curtain rod in her hand which she had used as a mixer (the ultimate jugaad) - my eyes are filled with tears of nostalgia. Aahh…university days were the best days of my life!
(Names have been changed).
Read about the memorable DIWALI incident of my college
Recipe for Bhang Thandai
- Grind the ingredients - poppy seeds, fennel seeds, blanched almonds, whole black peppercorns, cardamom seeds, bananas and bhang paste - into a smooth powder or paste.
- Boil milk and saffron. Once the milk comes to a boil, add the bhang thandai masala, sugar and stir to whisk the thandai well.
- Turn off the heat and allow the thandai to cool (You can also add ice to cool it faster).
- Indulge in this heavenly drink.
Using a curtain rod to prepare thandai
Efforts to prepare thandai
Checking the prepared dish
Enjoying Holi