THE dahi wada seller of Bhubaneshwar is a familiar sight indeed. He and the others like him. He rides an old, rusty Atlas cycle that has not been oiled nor painted since it was commissioned into service sometime in the 1970s. But it gets him along, this cycle. That's how you find him here, there and everywhere in the city, pedalling along at a slow and steady pace, the cycle weighed down by his bulk and that of his wares. The cycle is also his office, his mobile eatery, and his livelihood. He sells his dahi wadas from it, going from one town to another, ringing his cycle bell or honking on a rubber-bulb hooter, �parp-parp�, to announce his arrival. Like an ice-cream seller rings a bell.

He carries two large aluminium vessels that are hung onto the handlebar of the cycle on either sides, this dahi wada seller. In these vessels is stored the dahi wada and the ragda that accompanies it. And in another aluminium container precariously balanced on the handlebar is the tangy tamarind chutney that he mixes in the dahi wada. No sooner than this vendor halts his cycle at the side of the road and sets up shop, than people gather around and he is in the thick of brisk business. The Oriya cannot resist dahi wada. Most of them travel miles in the evening to consume it. Those that have cars, make a long and arduous journey on National Highway No. 5 towards Cuttack where a whole marketplace of dahi wada sellers do great business.