Rahul Gandhi visited a 235-year-old sweet shop in Old Delhi on Diwali and made his familiar point about respect for those who work with their hands.
The Congress leader visited Ghantewala, a family-run confectionery in Chandni Chowk, dating back to the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.
Known for its sohan halwa, the shop has catered to four generations of Nehru-Gandhis. It had closed in 2015 over licensing norms but was able to reopen in the same location last year.
The leader of the Lok Sabha Opposition tried his hand at making imartis and besan laddus.
In conversation with owner Sushant Jain, Rahul said: “Actually, there’s thousands of years of expertise…. What I’m saying is, you eat sweets, but don’t you think about how it got here?... The farmer’s hard work is involved in this. Their (cooks’) hard work is involved. Your hard work is involved.”
Jain told Rahul: “Patisserie schools have opened these days, chocolate schools have opened… but I don’t think there’s any academy in India that trains sweet makers.”
“Why not,” Rahul asked, before answering the question himself: “There’s no respect for it.”
Jain agreed. “Now, let me tell you what I mean,” he said. “If you’re making naan, dal, pastries, patties, burgers, you’re called a chef…. What do you call them (confectioners)? Halwai.”
Last Diwali, Rahul and his nephew Raihan had tried their hand at pottery, painting and masonry with artisans.
In recent years, the Congress MP has publicised videos of his interactions with working people — where he is seen learning and practising their trades — and small business owners.
In almost all the videos, Rahul emphasises that society needs to change its tendency to consider physical labour as inferior.
As soon as Rahul entered the confectionery, Jain told him the shop had catered for his parents’ and sister’s weddings. He pointed to Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi’s wedding card and other memorabilia framed on the shop’s walls.
“We’re making arrangements for your wedding so you can get your sweets from us; first of all, you get married,” Jain told Rahul, who grinned.
After the visit, Jain told reporters: “His father, the late Rajivji, really liked imartis, so I
said, ‘Sir, you should try that….’ He really likes besan laddus too… so he made these two items.”
Rahul had previously put out videos of himself learning to make marmalade from his mother, and to cook mutton from former Bihar chief minister and political ally Lalu Prasad.
Delhi poor air
Delhi’s air quality deteriorated on Diwali, with 34 out of 38 monitoring stations recording pollution levels in the “red zone” on Monday, indicating “very poor” to “severe” air across the national capital.
Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI), which is reported at 4pm every day, remained in the “very poor” category at 345, higher than the 326 recorded on Sunday.