Coast to Coast

For an outsider,a typical Kolkata fish market may very well be a fantasy land. Chennai-bred Samanth Subramanian’s version of a fish market,for instance,was a “deafening charnel house where one waded through rivers of blood and offal… and purchased fish from beetle-browed merchants…”. This was before he visited the Lake Market fish stall in Kolkata to hunt for the undisputed king of waters in Bengal,hilsa. “I visited Kolkata in winter,which is supposed to be a bad time to eat hilsa,” says Subramanian who has compiled a collection of write ups ,Following Fish,using the production and consumption of fish in the subcontinent as a leitmotif. Needless to say,the Lake market impressed Subramanian with its wall prints of Shiva and Kali and the cutters “which jutted out from under the vendor’s knees,their dark blades rising like the trunks of trumpeting elephants”.

The Kolkata experience was evidently one incredible gastronomical journey for Subramanian,saturated as it was in the head gravy of sorshe ilish. “I did have an incredible amount of sorshe ilish during my stay in the city. The Bengali family I stayed with were purists of sorts and refused to serve me hilsa in winter,but most restaurants and eateries seem to serve it throughout the year,” he says.

Though Kolkata and hilsa-crazy Bengalis are an important part of his book,Subramanian takes us to other very interesting destinations in this travelogue. “The Hyderabad experience (where he swallows a live fish) was a deeply personal one. It reminded me of my grandfather who also practiced faith healing,” says Subramanian. But it was the Kerala chapter which he has the fondest memories of. “I went there with a friend and it was like a holiday. We went from toddy shops to toddy shops having the time of our lives and I actually passed that off as research for my book,” says Subrmanian.