Sharodiya Anjali 2005 - Pujari

__________________________________________________________________Durga Puja 2005
at the Salt Lake Cultural
Centre turned out to be a huge
success.
The Bengali adda, unlike
Shakespeare's Mermaid
Tavern, was more akin to Dr.
Johnson's circle attended by
Burke, William Pitt and men
of their ilk. The talkers and
listeners included Oxonians
like Humayun Kabir, whom a
young Jyoti Basu defeated in
his first election half-a-century
ago; there were also reps from
Cambridge, like Malcolm
Muggeridge, then assistant
editor of The Statesman; in
artist Jamini Ray, they had a
passionate participant, while
scientist Satyen Bose, was “the
greatest addabaj” of them all.
Today's generation may not be
fully aware of the intense adda
at the 'Desh' office which was
presided by Sagarmoy Ghosh
and his contemporaries.
Another adda was held in the
magazine section of the
'Ananda Bazar Patrika' and
was hosted by Ramapada
Chowdhury.
The most remarkable coffee
house of recent times is the
one at College Street. Another
one at Chittaranjan Avenue
(misleadingly termed as the
'Chowringhee Coffee House')
was favorite haunt of the filmmaestro
Satyajit Ray.
The regulars of Coffee House
have developed a personal
rapport with most of the
bearers.
It is the favorite haunt for the
intellectuals and there is high
probability of finding a celebrity film
director or an established painter or a
budding musician shaking
shoulders with the hol polloi and
sipping infusion at Coffee House.
This is the spirit of Coffee or Tea.
The popularity of Coffee House as a
favorite for 'adda' has withstood the
test of time and one hope that it will
remain so for years to come.
Dilkhusha Cabin on Mahatma
Gandhi Road is another favorite
haunt of adda. Fish Cutlet and
Mutton Chop are something this
restaurant is famous for. Every
evening this restaurant is visited by
persons willing to spend their time in
leisure adda. Various items are
ordered from time to time and the
adda goes on. Nowadays, the number
of menus has increased and addaseekers
are able to order from a wide
array of snacks.
This restaurant is the favorite haunt
of all College and University goers.
Students are allowed to spend
endless time in addas here.
Adda at Nandan
[Sources: Calcuttaweb.com, Kolkatabeckon.coms &
Travelindia.com]
Basanta cabin, though not a
favorite place for modern adda,
nevertheless, it also attracted
people from all hues to spend
their leisure there. 'Paragon' was
famous for its numerous
varieties of 'sharbat'.
In the south, Coffee House
on the first floor of Basusree
cinema hall was a favorite haunt
of film stars, directors, corporate
bosses, lawyers, professors,
chicken pakora, prawn pakora,
egg pakora and coffee are some
of the favorites of this place.
Bonophool Restaurant is another
favorite place for adda in the
Bhowanipore area. Old-timers
recall that during the 60s and
early 70s music stalwarts like
Hemanta Mukhopadhyay,
Shyamal Mitra, film star Uttam
Kumar, Asit Baran, and various
other famous and not-so-famous
spent their leisure time here
eating Moghlai Paratha and tea.
Sutripti cabin is still visited by
several people. This restaurant,
in keeping with the time, has
introduced Chinese delicious
Fish fry and omelet and tea. On
Saturday evenings and Sundays,
it becomes difficult to find a
place in this restaurant.
It can be said that wherever you
find an adda in progress, you
can be rest assured that they
essentially are Bengalis. It’s so
much a part of the life of
Bengalis that it wouldn’t be
wrong to say that a Bengali can
hardly stay alive without adda.
What do you think
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Sharodiya Anjali 2005 40 n¡lc£u¡ A”m£ 1412