KDMC dishes out a menu in Maiboli, cooks up a row

MUMBAI, Feb 14: Would you like to have some komdichi choknyachi kandi as a snack? Or perhaps some andyachi poli ani kadak pao? If you ins...

MUMBAI, Feb 14: Would you like to have some komdichi choknyachi kandi as a snack? Or perhaps some andyachi poli ani kadak pao? If you insist on a proper meal, perhaps some pardarshak rasa before some kolambi with tal lela bhaat? If you8217;re trying to figure out what all this is, these are just few of the listings on the khadyapadarth dar suchi.

Give up, do you? Don8217;t. Not if you8217;re planning to eat at a joint in Dombivli or Kalyan. Eating out there is going to need skills in figuring out Marathi menu cards, which have been made compulsory by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation8217;s KDMC public health committee. At a meeting on February 12, committee chief Sopanrao Nischal Sena told chairperson of Kalyan-Dombivli Hotel Owner8217;s Association, Bhaskar Shetty: 8220;In accordance with our party8217;s policy, you8217;ll have to change to Marathi signboards and menu cards.8221;

When Shetty told him most hotels bore names in both Devanagri and the Roman script, Nischal specified thatmerely having names in Devanagri wouldn8217;t do. 8220;They8217;ll have to be in a language that those who don8217;t know English can understand.8221;

After the meeting, Nischal told Express Newsline: 8220;Why should we not make it mandatory for everyone to know Marathi?8221; He brushed off suggestions that even Maharashtrians would find it difficult to understand the language in its pure form. 8220;Don8217;t you think I am doing a good thing? It will teach them to quit acting like Britishers and return to their original maiboli and traditions,8221; he noted.

Shetty wondered what language had to do with citizens8217; the health, 8220;the KDMC health department makes all kinds of rules which we have to comply with.8221;

Civic commissioner G T Bandri said it was impossible to stop renewal of food licences just because hotels, bars and restaurants didn8217;t have Marathi menu-cards. 8220;I will discuss the issue with Nischal and the food committee members and point out the impracticality of the suggestions,8221; he said, adding, 8220;I8217;m sure theywill see the futility of the exercise.8221;

Hoteliers, who said they 8220;know the Sena and its ways8221; are not convinced that the party will relent. 8220;Officially or unofficially, the Sena will get us to fall in line,8221; said a hotel owner on condition of anonymity.

Khadyapadarthanchi dar suchi a.k.a. Menu

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Moramba ani kadak pao 8211; Toast with jam

Andyachi poli ani kadak pao 8212; Toast with omlet

Makyacha rasa 8212; Corn Soup

Paardarshak rasa 8212; Clear soup

Shevayacha rasa 8212; noodle soup

Alambi- Manchuriachi 8212; Mushroom Manchurian

Kombdi mirchi 8211; Chicken chilli

Kombdi lassun 8212; chicken garlic

Komdichi choknyachi kandi 8212; chicken lollipop

Kolimbi va tallela bhaat8212; chicken fied rice