Kutch main nahi khaya, toh kuch nahi khaya: Fafda Jilebi Breakfast.
Thankfully Idli - Dosa - Poha - Sandwich hasn't reached Rapar, the dusty, dry and now blessed with faraway Narmada water, once in 2-3 days for half-an-hour, town. Rapar has Pav and the Vada but they don't put the two together and serve. That's because the food here in a town where a pot of saline water used to cost Rs 3 before the great Bhuj Earthquake is bloody awesome. And once you've had it, you will never like the ones served in Mumbai, ever.
For the record, Rapar is a taluk HQ that is booming and will become a large town over the next few years. The turning point was the Earthquake in Bhuj, 5 hours away. They say that the monsoons have been good ever since and Rapar being the biggest town in this part of the rugged Kutch, has grown as a trading post. The crop that's making people here rich is the Jeera. It's called the 'Jugaar' crop and a lucky farmer goes on to make lakhs. And a lakh goes a very long way in this part of the country.
Post Earthquake, there's a New Rapar with roads at right angles that's come up. The town that serves hundreds of villages is just a short drive from the Hema Malini's-Cheek smooth National Highway that connects Mundra and Kandla Ports to North-Western India making it a fantastic trading post.
And there's one thing all traders, farmers and shepherds who come to dusty Rapar will enjoy. The good food.
