Ep 11: State that loves its pork, and strange encounters at Kohima’s Naga Bazaar

In this episode, Rocky, Mayur and Abhinandan visit the “land of festivals”, Nagaland, as proclaimed by a huge gate they passed through during their travels. Mayur, who is vegetarian, talks about his struggles with finding vegetarian food during this schedule of the shoot. He describes Naga food as “heavily pungent”, thanks to the Nagas’ love for adding fermented soybean sauce and fermented yam to all their preparations. Rocky chips in with his two cents on why the food in this part of India is pungent. Moving away from food for a bit, Abhinandan recalls the influence of the West on Nagaland and how that has led to a widespread love for rock and metal music. Rocky, once again, dives into the reason behind why the Nagas love their rock ‘n’ roll and how this love came to be. Abhinandan says the highlight of the Nagaland trip was the wet market at Kohima’s Naga Bazaar. Unlike the infamous wet markets that led to the birth of this podcast, this wet market was very hygienic. The gang recollects the weirdest animals they saw being sold there, which included caterpillars, rodents, frogs, eels, snails, snakes and hornets, to name a few. As the discussion about the bizarre meat sold at the Naga Bazaar progresses, Abhinandan nudges Rocky to talk about his experience of trying dog meat. Rocky was also pleasantly astonished, as he puts it, by the non-existence of caste and class barriers in and around Nagaland. Abhinandan recollects their shoot at a posh hotel with a lavish spread where Rocky, quite literally, chased his lunch. He also remembers a dish comprising pupae, caterpillars, silkworms and a specific kind of grub that only Rocky dared taste. Abhinandan also talks about the pickles he picked up from the Dream Cafe in Kohima, and how they helped him survive bland meals back home in Delhi for the next couple of months. The Dream Cafe, Rocky says, is right opposite the Naga War Cemetery on one side and overlooks a beautiful valley on the other. Abhinandan notes how confectioneries in and around Nagaland were often a savin