The motor boat at the Okha jetty is fast filling with passengers. Some boys scamper around selling packets of the equivalent of sweet diamond cuts or sankarpali. Many people buy it. I hop on & I too buy it without knowing why or what it is. The boat engine is cranked up & starts leaving on its 20 minute journey to  BetDwaraka.  A big group of seagulls follow closely. 

A magnificent  spectacle is just about to unfold.

The packets are opened and the sankarpali pieces are tossed high in the air. The birds make no mistake in catching it mid air. Though over 50 birds keep flying closely & randomly over your head for the 30 odd pieces that are thrown at time, there is not a single miss. All  pieces are swiftly caught with such a beautiful & precise eye-beak coordination. No two birds target the same piece despite the turbidity. The motely crowd in the boat  gets excited &  vary the degree  of challenges to the birds. Even the most challenging piece is taken microns above the sea surface. It looks like there’s a lot at stake for the birds if it allows one piece to touch the water. Neither wind, suns glare, gravity & constant moving of the boat on the X-axis & the simultaneous split second parabolic trajectory of the  sankarpalis in the Y-axis can defeat the birds. Science  cannot explain the probability of zero miss or the split second reflexes while in motion. Dump science in  the sea.   Just lose yourself in awe by  the  sight of the spotless white birds in action against the clear blue skies.

 A man then holds a piece in his hand & hold its high over his head. A bird comes, hovers at a single point like a helicopter and neatly takes the piece with its beaks. The birds are not afraid of the humans. I try capturing it on my tab, but the sun is so bright that I see nothing on my screen.  You can Google out “seagulls at Dwaraka” & see the photos & videos for yourself.

Betdwaraka is an island comprising of 90% muslim fishermen & 10% hindu pandits. Dwaraka serves as the official ruling place while  Betdwaraka is the residential  quarters to Krishana & his consorts. The ancient weathered structures stand as a proof of the age of Indian civilisation.  Krishna’s child hood friend sudhama met him at Betdwaraka after a long, long hiatus - gifting him puffed rice (poha), the food Krishna loved.

Poha –puffed rice –alias “aval”- is a simple to make & humble, yet tasty   food. Its uniqueness to India helps it make our list. It  is taken in various forms

 The day in Maharashtra dawns with a plate of Kandha poha for breakfast - Wetted puffed rice, thrown into the turmeric-garnish mix sautéed with lots of onions and groundnuts & karipatha.

 In the cold winter morns, order a plate full of warm poha, squeeze  sizable piece of freshly cut juicy lemon, liberally add crisp sev over it & you have a soul satisfying breakfast. Poha occupies the second rank in the list of  light & soulful breakfasts – beaten to the first rank only by  the softest of the soft, whitest of the white, hottest of the hot idlis.