Under Kakima ‘s care

“They are like our own children,” says Ghatak,who cooks,does all the chores,and runs all the errands herself,with some help from her husband. “I cut around five kilograms of potatoes daily,” she says. Ten kilograms of rice and eight kilograms of vegetables are cooked on a daily basis,all by herself. She goes to the mandi every evening and does the daily purchase of 20 kilograms of fish too. She has even instructed the fish vendors to get the proper sweet-water fish variety. She cooks non-vegetarian as well as vegetarian fare on a regular basis,including the special dishes for the day. Wednesday is the day for Chilly Chicken and Chinese Fried Rice. Not surprisingly,Ghatak keeps the menu close to the Bengali style,which means that fish is cooked everyday!

The couple’s day begins at six in the morning,with preparation of breakfast for office-goers. “Earlier,I used to wake up before dawn to pack lunch for a student who used to leave for office at six,” recalls Ghatak,whose morning menu lists includes Noodles,Loochi (fried chapati ),and Egg Rolls. People can eat for just Rs 60 a plate,which includes sweet dishes like Custard,and Bengali Kheer ,known as Payesh. The mess has never been closed in the last 13 years,except for Sunday evenings. “I have never closed the mess even on the pretext of illness,” says Ghatak,whose son had helped prepare a meal when six years back she had burnt her hand accidentally.

Ghatak feels that cooking is in her genes and she is ever ready to cook for people. “I do it also for my fitness and might stop only when I am old,” she says. But the fans of the 56-year-old cooking wonder baulk at that possibility. “We will die of hunger if she shuts shop,” exclaims Naveen Joseph,an official who has been eating there for the past four years. “She is very caring and I gained two kilos after having eaten here,” gushes Somdeb Dawn.

There is no restaurant feel to the place,but it ensures that customers are well fed and looked after. Ghatak never forgets her customers’ birthdays. She treats them with Payesh and gifts them a token of Rs 101 on the occasion. Similarly,the students celebrate Kakima’s birthday grandly. Out station students celebrate Saraswati Puja and Lakshmi Puja at her place and stay back till the wee hours to watch television. “They come and sit to watch television and read the newspaper here,” says RN Ghatak,who feels happy to give the students a homely feel for at least some parts of the day.

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