IN THE
BUSTLING precincts of
Kolkata's Hatibagan, history resides in
every nook and corner. Here: the spot
where a Japanese bomb did NOT explode
during World War II. There: the site of
a more recent fire that gutted the
market. An origin story for how the
market got its name dates all the way
back to 1756, when Siraj ud-Daulah's
elephants were housed in this location
during his siege of Calcutta. Even in
its eventful existence, however, there
is a facet of Hatibagan that stands out
as remarkable.
It is within
Hatibagan's lanes that you come across
the modest premises of Lakshmi Narayan
Shaw & Sons. Look past its standard
counter across which customers pick up
packages of the mouthwatering snacks
du jour, and over its
signboard, and that's when you see it: a
portrait of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
that smiles down on the street. His face
is flanked by those of other Indian
revolutionaries. At ground level, a
white bust of Netaji bears garlands and
other tributes that the locals deem
worthy of their hero.
A North
Kolkata institution that's as famous for
its telebhaja (batter-coated deep-fried
fritters that are eaten with puffed
rice, or muri), as it is for its
patrons, Lakshmi Narayan Shaw & Sons was
established circa 1918. A large menu
standee proudly proclaims the variety of
snacks on offer: different types of
chops (as many as eight, including a
seasonal aamer — raw mango — chop, and a
soyabean version apart from the more
typical potato, lentil, onion and
cauliflower alternatives), beguni
(brinjal fritters), peyaji (onion
fritters), phuluri (which could be
understood as "fluffed-up fried besan")
sold at prices that seem like a
throwback to a bygone era. Fried dhoka —
split Bengal gram and peas, mashed,
cooked, shaped, and then deep-fried,
that can be eaten as is, or added to a
curry (much like pakoras are to kadhi) —
is another specialty.
With its
address at 158, Bidhan Sarani, Lakshmi
Narayan Shaw is very close to Scottish
Church College, where Netaji was a
student. Lured by the telebhaja, which
he reportedly loved to munch alongside
sips of piping hot bharer cha (tea),
Bose soon became a regular customer at
the shop. He very quickly drew the
attention of the proprietor, Khedu Shaw,
who instinctively believed that the
young man would go on to do great and
important things.
Even after his
student days at Scottish Church were
over, Bose continued to stop by Lakshmi
Narayan Shaw. In fact, it became an adda
for his other associates and
revolutionaries, who wanted to discuss
their plans for overthrowing the yoke of
British imperialism. Khedu Shaw didn't
just provide them with a safe space and
snacks aplenty. He actively helped them,
ferrying food, documents and information
to their meetings in other spots or when
Bose and his associates had to lie low
to escape the authorities' hawk-eyed
vigilance. Khedu's grandson Keshto, the
current owner of the establishment,
shared in a previous interview that
"puffed rice, hot fritters and green
chilly, wrapped in a newspaper" and "tea
in clay cups" was the standard tiffin
that would be delivered to Bose and his
coterie on these occasions.
Bose's
fondness for Lakshmi Narayan Shaw is so
well-known that the shop is colloquially
known simply as "Netaji-r Telebhaja-r
Dokan". Every year on January 23rd, i.e.
Bose's birthday or Netaji Jayanti,
visitors to the shop are treated to free
fritters, a tribute to a martyr whose
impact on the nation's collective
imagination still looms large. Bite into
one just out of the kadhai, and the
hubub of traffic and ever-present sizzle
of hot oil, fade away as you taste the
food that nourished a young idealist's
dreams of freedom.
***
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