Yes, believe it or not, as thousands watched Sachin and Team India battle Windies, Sukla bhabi — as the cricket god calls her — has been cooking dinner every day of the Eden Test for Sachin. So one day it was mutton biryani and lobsters, another day prawn fried rice and fish meuniere. Yes, Sukla tells us, Sachin just can't have enough of prawns.
But then, making dinner for Sachin is all in a day's work for Sukla. "He has been coming to our house since the time he was a teenager. I still treat him like a child," she says with a lot of affection.
And like mothers, who are possessive about their children, she too doesn't like talking much about Sachin. Of course, having fed Sachin ghar ka khana on several occasions, she knows his culinary preferences well.
"He called up during the Ganpati festival and also after Diwali to wish us. In fact, we got to know from him that he was retiring from cricket. This time, before coming down, we got a call from him. Though he never asks me to prepare a particular dish, I know exactly what to make. He is especially fond of prawns and loves the sweet taste of the variety available in Bengal," Sukla adds.
Sukla's husband Samar Paul is the former secretary of CAB. The story goes that Dilip Vengsarkar, a good friend of Samar, got him introduced to Sachin back in 1987, even before the Little Master made his Ranji debut. Later, when Sachin came down to play against Bengal, Dilip, captain of the Mumbai team, had asked him, 'Prawn khana hai? Toh phir Dada ke ghar chalte hain.' Sachin, who had no other option but to say yes to his captain, dropped by at Samar's Shyambazar residence for a hearty meal. "That was the first time he tasted chingrir malai curry at our place. He was so full that night that he asked Dilip how he would return to the hotel. There was no match the next day and they stayed till midnight. His world might have changed since then, but Sachin is what he was," says Samar.
Every time Sachin would drop in, the crowds would swell. Due to security issues over the past five years, Sachin has stopped coming to the quaint north Kolkata para. But that hasn't deterred him from requesting the Pauls to send him home-cooked food.
Obviously, Sukla's kitchen has been buzzing since Sachin landed in the city on November 3.
"Barring November 5, when he ate hotel food, we sent him dinner on all the other days. One evening, he told me that he was sharing the food with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and others and even asked us to send the meal by 7 pm the following evening," reveals Samar.
WHAT SACHIN ATE
November 4: Mutton biryani and lobster curry
November 5: Chicken butter masala and Chingrir malai curry
November 7: Chingrir malai curry, prawn fried rice and mutton curry
November 8: Prawn curry, prawn fried rice and bhekti meuniere
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