Cooking for Prabhat Koli

📷 by Raju Koli

Prabhat Koli, a young #koliboy was featured in the newspapers for swimming the Bay of Mumbai from Dharamtar to Gateway of India back in December of 2012.

I had returned to Mumbai that year after living in BLR for 7 years and was watching all that was happening in our Koli community closely. The article mentioned he was from Trombay. My cousins are married to TrombayKars so I was keen to meet him some day. It is only now that Raju, Prabhat's father told me that the Keni home is his Aajol.

Since then I have been following his journey through news and media. In 2018 August a video went viral on Whatsapp. It was the award ceremony by President Kovind conferring the TENZING NORGAY AWARD on a #koliboy for WATER ADVENTURE ! 

clicked at Prabhat's home

Drowning in applause for Prabhat Koli !!

Ever since I started deep digging about him. I read every article, watched every video of him. Catching up on several details of his journey that did not make it to the media houses. I was then compiling a list of achievers in the Koli community for a project I was going to launch but was put away for later. 

Finally this last Dec 2022 he accepted my invite. My Paternal home has been a vegetarian home but after my father passed away I set that rule free. So for the first time I cooked Non veg in that kitchen! 

A Special person that Prabhat is, deserved a special treatment and respect.

So here is the menu I cooked

Thal brand chicken curry 

Butter beans curry

Salli par eeda

Chana chaat salad

Rice

Ghari

Bought out from American Express Bakery

Christmas cake 

Chirstmas Pudding

Raju and Shilpa shared absolutely fascinating stories about how Prabhat was a total water baby ever since he was tiny. They shared their experiences about travelling the world for various feats. Technical challenges in this sport. Of breakthrough new swim routes. How they have steered clear from politics. Their struggles against red tape continues. 

The conversations were so scintillating that not once I touched the phone to take pics.

They left with me the album a fan made for Prabhat, relished it leisurely.

Prabhat, Raju and Shilpa are the most humble people I have met.

Since this day of 25 Dec 2022 I have been part of their daily updates.  Come back to read about our travel together...