Vajpayee leaves behind a foodie trail in Lucknow
Friday - August 17, 2018 6:58 pm ,
Category : INDIA
Vajpayee leaves behind a foodie trail in Lucknow
Lucknow Aug 17 (IANS) Former Prime Minister and five-time MP from Lucknow Atal Bihari Vajpayee leaves behind memories of the foodie in him.
"Before his health deteriorated after a paralytic stroke about a decade back Lakhnavi food always topped his list " recalls an old-timer of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He says not only did the three-time prime minister have a sweet tooth he also liked chatpata (spicy).
A close aide told IANS that Vajpayee loved dudhiya barfi from a shop in Raja Bazaar malai paan from Ram Asrey and Babulal s bada-makkhan or thandai. At times he would pass through narrow lanes of old Lucknow for his favorite gol-gappas and chaat papdi .
"I remember how his staff would order his favourite sweets in advance much before his arrival. Most of the times it was on personal request of Vajpayee ji " says a staff member at the famous sweets shop Ram Asrey.
Vishal Khanna a BJP worker of Lucknow says there were occasions when Vajpayee would randomly walk into shops to have chaat and have impromptu dinners for party workers. Sometimes he cooked himself.
Raj Kumar Tripathi of the famous Raja Thandai credits much of the popularity of his shop to Vajpayee. "There would be endless chakallas (gossip) sessions of Atal ji and his poet friends. There would also be some political chit-chat involving him and his close friends at our shop run at that time by my father Vinod Kumar Tripathi " says Tripathi.
"He was a very simple man uninhibited...he looked so much like us " says Tripathi.
A party functionary says that despite being a diabetic he was so fond of special milk pudding (dudhiya barfi) made at Trivedi Mishthan Bhandar in Raja Bazaar that at times it was sent by air from Lucknow to Vajpayee s 7 Race Course Road residence in New Delhi.
Tiwari Chaat of Latoosh Road and steaming hot poories from Bajpayi Poori Bhandar at Hazratganj were also his favourites residents say.
Virendra Nath Chaturvedi an octogenarian who has followed the political career of Vajpayee says Vajpayee came across as a commoner to most people. "That made him stand apart from other politicians. Can you think of any politician today who could stop by for chaat or sweets at a shop and have a bit " wondered Chaturvedi his wrinkled face hardly hiding his emotions as he watched the last rites of the former Lucknow MP.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
--IANS md/prs
"Before his health deteriorated after a paralytic stroke about a decade back Lakhnavi food always topped his list " recalls an old-timer of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He says not only did the three-time prime minister have a sweet tooth he also liked chatpata (spicy).
A close aide told IANS that Vajpayee loved dudhiya barfi from a shop in Raja Bazaar malai paan from Ram Asrey and Babulal s bada-makkhan or thandai. At times he would pass through narrow lanes of old Lucknow for his favorite gol-gappas and chaat papdi .
"I remember how his staff would order his favourite sweets in advance much before his arrival. Most of the times it was on personal request of Vajpayee ji " says a staff member at the famous sweets shop Ram Asrey.
Vishal Khanna a BJP worker of Lucknow says there were occasions when Vajpayee would randomly walk into shops to have chaat and have impromptu dinners for party workers. Sometimes he cooked himself.
Raj Kumar Tripathi of the famous Raja Thandai credits much of the popularity of his shop to Vajpayee. "There would be endless chakallas (gossip) sessions of Atal ji and his poet friends. There would also be some political chit-chat involving him and his close friends at our shop run at that time by my father Vinod Kumar Tripathi " says Tripathi.
"He was a very simple man uninhibited...he looked so much like us " says Tripathi.
A party functionary says that despite being a diabetic he was so fond of special milk pudding (dudhiya barfi) made at Trivedi Mishthan Bhandar in Raja Bazaar that at times it was sent by air from Lucknow to Vajpayee s 7 Race Course Road residence in New Delhi.
Tiwari Chaat of Latoosh Road and steaming hot poories from Bajpayi Poori Bhandar at Hazratganj were also his favourites residents say.
Virendra Nath Chaturvedi an octogenarian who has followed the political career of Vajpayee says Vajpayee came across as a commoner to most people. "That made him stand apart from other politicians. Can you think of any politician today who could stop by for chaat or sweets at a shop and have a bit " wondered Chaturvedi his wrinkled face hardly hiding his emotions as he watched the last rites of the former Lucknow MP.
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
--IANS md/prs
