This sunny yellow, spongy disc soaked in sugar syrup is a sweet traditionally associated with Rajasthan, a state in the Western region of India.
Ghewar is made on important Rajasthani festivals like Teej and Gangaur and gifted to married women, and sent to newly married daughters houses for their first festival celebrations, along with other gifts.
When I was growing up in Bombay buying Ghewar from a regular Sweet shop was impossible and someone either carried it for us from Rajasthan or we requested our regular Mithaiwala to source it for us. These days it is available all through the year and all through the country, unlike its former exclusivity.
Ghewar comes in many variations, Plain, with Malai and another version called Mawa Ghewar, each one more sinful than the other. It is melt in the mouth delicious always a harbinger of auspicious times.
The world is made up of Givers and Receivers. Then there are a balanced few who are Givers and Receivers, both.
Givers give and Receivers take, and over time both becomes habits. Habits which either people seldom realize and even when realization sets in those patterns become difficult to break. Giving and Receiving balances out the equation but when you are just either it causes a serious imbalance.
Over time I have learnt an important lesson. If you are a Giver who finds it difficult to receive, your energy, both mental and physical, depletion is faster. And since you are not a ready receiver your cup of giving runs dry more often. Apart from feelings of frustrations it causes a serious imbalance in the universe as well, and nothing should be left accounted for and without return.
The why’s and wherefores behind this will require a different blogpost by itself but for now all we need to know is this.
It is great to Give and equally great to Receive. Doing either of them is good, but doing them together is even better. Giving and receiving need not be with the same person either. Let gratitude be a long chain where you are one of the links.
So, if a kindness has been done to you, pass it on to someone else, if you can’t return it to the person who bestowed this kindness. If someone helped you, help someone else. If you learnt something, teach it to others.
And let the chain of giving and receiving wrap the Universe in Goodness.
I love your play on the words Ghewar and Giver. I love the ghewar ….
I had Ghewar in a sweet shop in Jaipur. Found it a tad too sweet and very rich. Definitely a guilty sweet .Balance is very important.
This even I love – one of my Marwadi colleague had treated me to his home-made ghewar which was awesome.
Stop M, Stop!!! Itna jhulm, when I’m trying to take it easy with sweets. Love ghewar and we call it Khaaja in Bangla. There is a lovely folk tale around a humming bird and king who are friends and who share the khajaa/ghewar. Give and Receive story actually! How synchronous right?
Mom and Dad used to narrate this story over and over again, when I was a kid, on hot sunny afternoons, post lunch and to ensure I grabbed on some siesta. Was re-told to Arusha and now Aarshia. 🙂
Natasha
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Aha! Ghevar… that’s a yummy delight from our state! Love it, especially the paneer one 🙂
Yes, it’s important to be good at giving and receiving too. More often than not, we focus on just one!
I love ghewar and it was easily available in my home town but we missed it in Bangalore. A few days back we got it in a sweet shop. We used to get it around Janmashtami and Rakshabandhan in August.
Unlike the fitness conscious ones here, I am gonna egg you on… more food posts! more food posts 😀
p.s. Is there a page where all of these are linked together (you know, like what I have done for my series)
I ask because I do have a few friends who I wanna share this series with and I dont want them to leave after just seeing one page.
Oh I have tried this only once or twice… it’s crunchy isn’t it. True, let gratitude be a long chain 🙂
Lovely post. This reminds me of another sweet u posted earlier this week. I rarely find the ghewar here… & eat it rarely. Life is all about balance… And you bring up its importance v nicely in this post.
I have never had it before! I should ask P. He might have had.
I think I am a giver. Not so sure about the receiving part!
I love this yum treat too :))
Soft and spongy the best description!
Giving 🙂
Pray that a lot more of people really understand !!
Pray that we need a lot more kind people around 🙂
Loved this 🙂 Heartfelt !!
I very recently tasted ghewar and I must admit that one had to get used to the taste. It’s a Rajasthani delicacy and that’s why I had never had them before 🙂
From your description, Ghewar sounds delicious, Mayuri. I love malaai and maava. Yummy.
My post is about Giving, too, today. Hugs!
Ghervar is another sweet I had no idea about! The texture of this looks like honeycomb 😀
I feel like being lying on the Givers side and that thing about drying my cup fast… I’ve been on that verge like zillion times.. and yet I don’t learn and keep on giving!
On the bright side, Ghewar is an extremely delectable sweet dish and I love it a lot… so much that when I was a child, I had an entire ghewar by myself and got a good scolding for not sharing anyone in the family 😛