I have talked about my dida a couple of times and I often refer her for her legendary culinary skills. But later I realized am not doing justice to her better half, my Dadu (grandfather) who was the sole inspiration for her cooking. Dadu was a complete foodie and he always inspired and supported his wife for whatever she wanted to do. He had a very busy job and responsibility of a huge family but always took time to enjoy the smallest pleasures of life. I still remember his smiling face when we all used to gather during our vacations and every morning would request for something or the other. The requests were small but he would put the effort to go to the market and buy the things. We specially looked forward to his trips to the nearest town Burdwan( our ancestral home was at the outskirts of Burdwan district) in the beginning of every month to collect his pension,as it meant rare treats like pastries or Kwality ice creams for us, though he was very gentle and level headed but my father and uncles claims he was very strict during their growing years. If anything to go by her stories we always found ourselves fortunate not to witness that side of his persona. He loved food and every aspects associated with that. Early morning after having tea he will take the bajarer thole (market bag) and his cycle and will go the market. He knew what goes well with what. So a purchase of bottlegourd will always be accompanied by kucho chingri or tiny shrimps. He remembered everyone’s choices, however small it is. So if beej kala (Banana with big seeds, a rare fruit but sweeter than normal bananas) happens to appear in the market that will definitely make way to his bag as a treat for his eldest grandson(yes , that’s me). Dida often stated that she never had to ask him to buy anything. Somehow he always realized if anyone is in need of anything, whether it’s a cream for winter, powder for summer or a regular bangla shirt, it always came home with his daily trips to the market.When we grew up and entered collage we used to tease them and tried to keep them apart just for fun. But hardly this happened that they stayed away. But never in our dreams we imagined that they will follow each other on their journey to heaven. Dadu died of cancer and within 3 months Dida followed him, suffering from the same disease at the same place and in the same condition. I was not there when Dadu took his last breath in Kolkata. Nobody informed me this unfortunate news as I was living alone in Chennai but that same day while coming back from office I saw someone like my dadu in the bus. He looked so similar and for some unknown reason it made me very disturbed. Though that morning itself the Doctor’s confirmed that he was better and could be taken home soon, later I came home, called my father and heard everyone crying….I am not superstitious but thinking of that incident still gives me goosebumps. For a longest time I was in denial of the fact that they are no more. Even now whenever I visit that house the first thing that I expect to see is Dadu sitting in the verandah at his favourite spot and greeting us with his happy smile…I know that will never happen. But for a person who grew up expecting them to be around always, its very difficult to accept the fact that the best things in life are not meant for ever. He last visited our home in Kolkata in 1998 during Monsoon and stayed with us for a whole month. During that time often he made me go to a specific shop near Jadavpur 8B bus stop for some specific type of telebhaja or deep fried fritter. This said person had a small shop and early morning he would make many types of fritters, among which Dadu’s favourite was eggplant fritter and pumpkin fritter. The fritters from this person were very famous as he would take the biggest piece of pumpkin and eggplant and slice it lengthwise in a razor thin manner. I still remember how we were fascinated with the huge fritters, some even 10”-12” long. I do make deep fried stuff much at home and they are regular treats for my kids. Somehow this Sunday I just remembered all those experiences and wanted to make it just the way dadu loved it. long thin pieces of eggplant with a crunchy coating and softer inside, not to forget with a extra sprinkling of black salt and a bowl of khuchuri.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 04:55:58 +0000
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