Even as Delhi continues to face sweltering heat, the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) organised something special to give them the much-needed respite. City dwellers got a chance to quench their thirst with some exotic and traditional drinks in the three-day long sherbet mela organised by DTTDC at Dilli Haat in Pitampura.
The three-day long festival which concluded on Sunday had an array of drinks on offer. Among the traditional drinks and flavours available at the mela were thandai, sattu, kokam panna, lassi, jaljeera, chuski, kulfi faluda, lemon, kevda, rose, sandal, mint as well as mango shakes and chilled fruit beer. The mela, which was first organised in 2008, continues to enthral visitors in its 7th edition.
The mela had around 24 stalls providing different types of delicacies like sherbets, jaljeera, thandai and so on. “We received a daily footfall of 1,000 people. The footfall increased on Sunday making it the mela a success on its closing day,” said Subhash Chandra, an official at Delhi Haat.
“We provide 21 variants of sherbets and the response is very good. Special discounts are also being given to our customers. The discounts are on our special items like shahi rose and sherbet-e-fida,” said Nitin Suri of Hitkary Pharmacy Sharbat. The festival had about eight stalls that were dedicated to different varieties of sherbets.
Apart from enjoying the variety of drinks on offer there were a lot of craft stalls set up at the venue as well. “There are about 25 craft stalls and this year we have specially set up a special stall for tarot,” said Chandra.Some of the stalls which garnered good response from people were Hitkary Pharmacy, Guruji Thandai, Gulzar Kulfi, Chaman Thandai and Raj Jeera.
Apart from the drinks, people were also delighted to witness a series of cultural programmes organised in the evening. “A cultural programme is organised every evening in which artistes from different States perform their folk dances.” said an official. These programmes are organised by artistes from the Sahitya Kala Parishad making the place a perfect getaway for city dwellers. Folk dances of States like Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are performed during this programme.