Lunch at Apollo Gleneagles

What do Kolkata and Bengali's remind you of? If this question were to be randomly administered by a market researcher, I would surmise that eight out of ten respondents will say "sweets". If the horizon of the respondents could be broadened, I would say the answer is "food". Before Bongs take offence, let me inform those who do not know that I am also a Bengali or Bong, as my friends say. And I should know (about food). Even as we (Bongs) eat one meal, around the table the discussion usually turns to the menu of the next meal. As anyone knows, the success of any expedition rests on proper planning. See where President Bush and Donald Rumsfield landed USA in with hasty action and lack of proper planning. And for the Bong, every meal is a major expedition worthy of planning by Napolean or Rommel.

But the importance of food for the Bengali was brought to me - as if I needed a reminder - in a most unusual place. I stayed three nights at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospital in Kolkata (near EM Bypass and next to Swabhumi). The first morning I went down to get some tea at the cafeteria on the ground floor. What greeted me was surprising to say the least. It was a veritable feast. What was available is the following: masala dosa, plain dosa, medu wada, vegetable sandwich, cheese sandwich, chicken sandwich, fish roll, fish fry, vegetable samosa, chicken wings, chicken lollypop, chicken legs fried with corn, chicken tikka, chicken malai kebab, buns, sweet buns, vegetable fried rice, mixed vegetable curry, four varieties of pastries, chocolate brownies, fruit muffin, chocolate muffin, plain muffin, chocolate mousse, vegetable patties, chicken patties, loochi-aloo (Puris and potato curry), chicken pakoda and I am sure I have missed some more delicacies. This was not the menu, it was what was available on the shelves.

In drinks, apart from tea, coffee and aerated drinks, a reasonable variety of milk shakes were available. While waiting for my hot cup of tea, I noticed a sign board – mouth watering and your favorite delicacies now available in the multi cuisine restaurant at the Day Care Centre (part of the hospital). The accompanying pictures were of biryani, pasta and noodles. The Day Care Centre was opposite the main hospital building where OPD patients are seen. In the evening a friend dropped in to see me. He said, "Don't go to the cafeteria for meals. The restaurant at the Day Care Centre is better and the choice is much better." Apparently a consultant doctor at the hospital, I was told, invited his extended family for lunch one afternoon after this restaurant opened. And I happen to know that the story is not apocryphal.

On the second day my friend insisted in bringing me lunch from his home. My pleas that the hospital food being served was perfectly palatable fell into deaf years. And the lunch arrived. To call it lunch will be to do it grave injustice. It was a feast fit for a king. The menu was something like this: rice, dal, sukto (a mixed vegetable preparation), pat paatar bhaja (fried pat leaves), potol-potato curry, hilsa fish curry (a couple of large pieces with one of them being the peti, the most sought after part of hilsa) with jhinge (ridge gourd). No, there was no dessert! That was missed in a hurry. Bless my friend's wife who conjured up all this and offered to follow up with more at dinner time. I made some excuses. And now let me tell you a secret - while I protested and absolutely forbade them from getting me more meals, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and wouldn't have minded some more of that hilsa fish (hilsa from Bangladesh – paddar ilish, as Bongs would say - at Rs1,000 a kg).

I have reached the end. And it would be unfair if I do not mention the lunch on the first day at a doctor friend's house who lives a stone throw away from the hospital. The menu was: rice, sukto, dal, potoler dolma (potol stuffed with shrimps and coconut), chicken curry, lobster curry (with the head and tail of the lobster in tact) and mango chutney (the Bong variety) bringing up the rear. This on a perfectly normal working day. Now you know what I miss in Mumbai. And next time you are driving to Kolkata airport and want to have some quick snacks or a meal, do drop in at Apollo Gleneagles. It will not disappoint. I do not know if the same can be said about the other departments at the hospital.

Truth and rumors - the Nandigram tragedy

Last night at about ten, I received a call from a school friend of mine. He sounded agitated. The issue was Nandigram. He said he had spoken to many people in West Bengal and in towns near Nandigram. He had worked in that locality in his younger days as an officer in a public sector company and clearly knows the region well. The gist of his statements were as follows:

"A very bad and evil thing has happened. The government and the cadres of the Left Front have gone on a spree killing innocent people. While the official numbers say 14 dead, the actual number of dead is over 500. A ditch in Nandigram is littered with bodies. Something like this last happened in Jallianwala Bag. Everyone is West Bengal is agitated, people are coming out on the streets in Kolkata. This Left Front government will not get elected again. West Bengal is on fire."

Clearly the revolutionary spirit of my friend had been awakened by what by all accounts is a most tragic incident. He said all this and more. While I am relying on my memory to write the statements, I can assure you that there is no exaggeration. I had also been watching the news on prime time television switching between CNN-IBN and NDTV trying to catch on what had happened (avoiding the noise of the anchor and concentrating on the visuals) and trying to make sense out of it. What I have understood so far (and even I have spoken to a few people in Kolkata):

1. The West Bengal CM quite some time back had assured the people of Nandigram that no land will be acquired for the SEZ if they did not want it and the SEZ will be shifted elsewhere. But apparently the administration was yet to withdraw the notice for land acquisition although all such activities had come to a stop.

2. In Nandigram, the CPI(M) cadres and administration officials had been driven out in January and since then they have not been able to go back. The villagers have bee under the control of the agitationists and quite possibly there are outsiders in their midst fomenting trouble. Roads have been dug up and ditches have been built to ensure that vehicles cannot move in.

3. The West Bengal government sent in police force to "reclaim Nandigram". Sometime back a policeman had been killed and his body discovered after many days. Apparently commingling with the police force were the CPI (M) cadres itching for violence and revenge.

In this melee one side started the firing - both sides obviously accuse the other. 14 lives, some innocent and some not, have been lost. Numerous questions crop up:

1. Who were the people who had driven out the administration and what were they holding out against even after the government had put a stop to land acquisition?

2. Who had supplied arms and ammunition to this group and what is their motive? Where did the crowd get crude bombs from?

3. Why had the West Bengal government not withdrawn the notification for land acquisition if it had acceded to the "people's will"?

4. Why were the police force sent on Wednesday - two months since the resistance? Should it have been sent earlier or later after trying to resolve the stand off through dialogues?

The media has been frothing at the mouth calling Buddhadeb Bhattacharya names and heralding the beginnings of a new revolution. One TV channel had the caption "Blood in Buddhadeb's hands". He has also been compared to General Dyer and in a comparison it was said that General Dyer was probably the better of the two. This debate has now turned into a debate of whether industrial development is necessary. Mamata Banerjee has already called for a 12-hour bandh in Kolkata today. Many political parties have supported it. The result is Kolkata will "enjoy" a three day weekend, few buses and taxis will be burnt, some public property will be destroyed and lakhs of students will not be able to appear for the board exams that are going on.

To my mind, the two casualties of this will be truth and development. I called back my friend about half an hour back to see if he had any further updates. He said, "The situation is not bad. Most of what I was told yesterday seems to be rumors (goojob is the Bengali term that he used). But today's bandh has brought life in Kolkata to a near stand still and those who have dared to venture out are facing numerous problems." There you have it. In a matter of twelve hours, the views had taken an about turn. I have long believed that:

1. Indian media should behave more responsibly, tell the truth but not necessarily be sensationalist at all times and also look at the greater national interest (read the balanced editorial in Indian Express today)

2. Indian government and states should do better PR

And of course I wish, but it is too much to expect, that political parties could at times rise beyond petty politicking.