Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Biryani for a feast!
|
Author Mihir Bose finds his lost hero and biryani
|
I still go to Bangladeshi restaurants in search of my biryani... The chutney and raita are enough for the requisite spice. Mihir Bose
PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM
BIRYANI BANTER: Mihir Bose at New Delhi's Marriott Welcomhotel
`India is an amazing country. Even if you keep fast, the prasad you get is more than the feast.'
He is a jack of many trades, but what's outstanding about Mihir Bose is his keen sense of observation. A chartered accountant, who fiddled with business and sports journalism with gusto, Mihir went on to capture the lives of Subhas Chandra Bose and Aga Khan between covers.
Not to mention his tomes on the history of Indian cricket and Manchester United. Now a sports columnist with The Telegraph, Mihir is one of the first journalists to capture the business side of sports.
"What's good about journalism, you don't have to master cricket to write about it. Your wordplay does the needful. It is another matter when I came to London; I got my first job courtesy my education. Sunday Times was looking for a business reporter who could read the balance sheets. Even today, there are not many in the profession who can do so. I fit the bill," says Mihir enjoying his favourite Bohri biryani at the Baywatch restaurant of New Delhi's Marriott Welcomhotel.
The 24-hour multi-cuisine restaurant serves the buffet and also provides the option to dine a la-carte.
The buffet offers a variety but Mihir singles out the biryani with baby potatoes and lamb pieces.
The hotel is known for its grand architecture and the rocking music in the background adds zing to the conversation, but Mihir feels the new generation is losing touch with the cherished past.
`Deserves credit'
"The `ji' in Gandhiji is only symbolic. We are no longer following his principles." The chutney and raita are enough for him for the requisite spice.
As Shyam Benegal's Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero makes waves Mihir shares it's partly based on his biography of Netaji, "The Lost Hero."
Says he, "I was present during the world premier at Kolkata. Shyam Benegal deserves to be congratulated for becoming the first Indian film director to have the courage to make a film about a major Indian political figure. Gandhi was made by an Englishman, as no Indian film director had the courage to make a film about India's greatest son. This is not something that would happen in the West. Courtesy Benegal, India has joined the world stage. Indians can now deal with their history"
Mihir says the title of the film Forgotten Hero is very similar to the title of his book - first published in 1982 by Blue Leaf and completely revised and updated with lots of new material and many new chapters and published in India for the first time last year by Brijbasi Press.
"My title is meant to convey that while Bose was important he is lost both to Indian nationalism and modern Indian life."
Loves hilsa
Bose says though a Bengali, having been brought up in Bombay, he lost many Bengali traits including the grip over Bangla. "The only major influence left is the love for hilsa." At the same time he maintains the British food has failed to woo him at all.
"I still go to Bangladeshi and Iranian restaurants in search of my biryani." Time for dessert and there are plenty of choices but Mihir again chooses to reminisce his favourite dessert - the kulfi at the sweet shop run by one Gupta brothers in London.
ANUJ KUMAR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
|
