A VEGETARIAN, BENGALI HOSPITALITY AND THIRTEEN VARIETIES OF COOKED FISH.
When I joined college everything suddenly changed. I could not understand Bengali language my teachers and class mates spoke. When some one said "Ankho" a simple word meaning Mathematic problem, i could not understand. And I found a Malayali friend named Baby facing the same problem. So Baby and myself used to go and sit in the lawns when classes were going on.
Finally I decided too much was too much and decided to master the language.I had a basic knowledge of Bengali letters as I had studied "Barno porichay" the basic Bengali learning book for kids written by the famous Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. So patiently, I began to learn Bengali words by reading banners and posters on the road, asking class mates and friends etc.I even used to pick up papers lying about and try to read by asking class mates.
After completing the Pre Medical year I joined Nilratan Sarkar Medical college. Here the situation was worse. I was teased for not being able to speak Bengali.And mostly the teachers spoke in Bengali. But the fighting spirit in me gave me courage and perseverance. Since the medical terms were in English I was in a better position now. And I made some Bengali friends and started learning the language bit by bit.I used to listen to my friends singing Rabindra sangeet (the poems and songs written by the Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.)
From then on I fell in love with "Rabindra sangeet". In Medical college onwards all my friends were Bengali. Some were Punjabis and Nepali. But the common language was either English or Bengali.
And I started to know about the Bengali hospitality. They love cooking,eating and make others also eat. "Ranna, khaowa and khaowano" meaning "cooking, eating and feeding others".
The first time was when I visited my friend Krishna's house in Dhakuria. Her mother had prepared vegetarian food for me. Since they ate non vegetarian food, I was served seperately.
There was a huge mound of cooked rice in the middle of the plate with bowls of fried and cooked vegetarian dishes . I was a voracious eater but even then it was too much for me. The food was delicious, but my stomach could not accommodate that much food. But I ate it all to please Krishna's mother who was a nice,hospitable lady. And then felt sick.
This a typical vegetarian platter, but Krishna's mother had cooked many more dishes.
So this was the first time I learned about Bengali hospitality. After that I began to learn about the fondness for cooking and feeding in the Bengali population.Since I spent the whole day in college and with my Bengali class mates.
But it was not till later on ,when I joined a hospital in the coal fields where most officers were Bengali, that I fully understood what it meant to a Bengali to invite a person for dinner or lunch, preparing the choicest non vegetarian dishes and finding out that the guest was a vegetarian. The dismay, the helplessness and hurry to prepare some vegetarian dish for me was miserable to watch. And when some one invites you to their house, you cannot tell them you are a vegetarian.You do not even know whether they are inviting you to have food.And the Bengalis are famous for fish preparations.Especially those from Bangladesh. The Bangla desh people settled in India are great experts in culinary practice and they are especially famous for their fish preparations,mainly Hilsa fish /Ilish maach . And the Hilsa fish from the Padma river between India and Bangladesh is said to produce the best Hilsa fish in the world. (I especially do not like Hilsa because of the multiple small bones you have to chew through to get to the flesh.)
So I thought I cannot let this happen again and again, so I started tasting a bit of non vegetarian food. I hated fish and eggs.I hated mutton.But I found that I could take chicken especially Chilly chicken. So now I had an excuse. "I do not like the smell of fish,I do not like eggs, but I can have chicken ". People were glad that they could treat me to a dish I can relish.
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| CHILLY CHICKEN |
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| BENGALI CHICKEN CURRY |
Once long time back I was travelling by Coromandel Express, a train travelling from Kolkata to Chennai. Two young boys travelling with me got very friendly with me.They were travelling to Vellore to attend a complicated heart surgery of their mother. Ultimately they came and stayed in my house and later on took a train to Vellore. My mother was also a fantastic cook and loved feeding others. So you can imagine, the boys were well taken care of. The boys' family belonged to "Opar Bangla"i.e their origin was from Bangladesh.
I forgot about this incident after I came back to Kolkata and became busy with my work in my hospital and my patients.Suddenly one day, one of the boys called me over the telephone and told me that their mother was alright now and wanted to meet me. I told him it is okay and tried to slide out of the position.I really do not like to go and visit strangers. But the lady herself called me again and again, so I felt it would be bad to hurt a recently operated heart patient.
So I found out about their address and went to their place the next day.After chit chatting for sometime I thought they will give sweets and tea. To my surprise, the lady took me to the dining table and seated me before a big plate with a mound of rice in the middle and "bati's" containing thirteen varieties of cooked and fried fish ...........Hilsa among them. No cereals, no potato fries and no vegetables.Only the mound of rice with thirteen bowls of cooked and fried fish staring at me. And the lady was sitting in front of me to serve more fish.
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| BEGUN ILISH MACHER JHOL |
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| BENGALI FISH CURRY |
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| STEAMED/BHAPA ILISH |
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| DOI ILISH IN CURD |
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| ILISH MAACH COOKED IN BANANA LEAF. |
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| COOKED HILSA |
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| RICE AND STEAMED ILISH |
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| SHORSHE ILISH |
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| FRIED HILSA |
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| ILISH MACHER JHOL |
My stomach started churning and I felt like getting out and run for my life. If I told the lady that I was a vegetarian, she could have got a heart attack. She had cooked all those for me with tender care and love. So though I felt nausea and felt like vomiting, I took a pinch of this and that and swallowed the bites with plenty of water. And anytime I could have vomited.
Maybe the lady could understand my plight a bit or maybe she thought that I may have thought myself too superior to eat in their middle class home. Anyway I got up ultimately leaving the plate almost full.
The lady and her sons never contacted me again. I felt bad, but relieved. I came home and vomited. I felt very sick ,took antacid and sleeping tablets and slept it off.I will never forget this incident. After that if any Bengali invites me, I tell them I will have only sweets and tea. And if they force me to have food, I strictly tell them I am a vegetarian.
Now I can speak Bengali fluently and have five very good Bengali friends.I speak to them often over phone and sometimes when I go to Kolkata we have a program of Rabindra sangeet and fun. I also sing with them. Rabindra sangeet is beautiful. So full of meaning. No wonder they gave Rabindranath Tagore the Nobel prize for literature.
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