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How Lonavala goes beyond chikki to serve as a talent powerhouse
Updated On: 02 July, 2023 07:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Gautam S Mengle
Two residents of the hill station have been working since the pandemic to shine the spotlight on the hidden talent of its residents and why the tourist hotspot deserves more than a salute for its fudge
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(left): Ceramic ware by artist Bhavana Palrecha were among the many works by locals featured by Lonavala Local at an exhibition last year. Their aim is to make tourists aware of the sheer number of things the hill station has to offer apart from chikki and fudge; Lonavala’s musicians jammed at the first meet-up hosted by Bhatia in December 2021, which led to Lonavala Local being formed
Say ‘Lonavala’ and the first thing that comes to mind is chikki (comes from the Marathi word chikkat or sticky), the crunchy squares made from jaggery and nuts that visitors to the hill station queue up outside shops along the highway to pick up for family back home.
There are a number of local lore stories surrounding its origin. The most thrilling is about trains stopping over at the hill station at night during colonial times since travelling through the Khandala ghats was not advisable after dark. The cargo on board usually included jaggery from Nagpur and peanuts from Surat. Locals would reportedly break in and steal the supplies, both of which didn’t grow locally. By morning, the jaggery was melted and the peanuts were crushed and all of it mixed and shaped into mini rectangles. The locals would sell the same ‘chikki’ to passengers. The more plausible story surrounds the building of the railways from Mumbai to Lonavala, when a sweetshop owner had a brainwave to make a nutritious snack for the labourers.
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