Azad Hind Dhaba: Husains favourite haunt

There was hectic movement of people at the Ballygunge Circular Road outlet of the Azad Hind Dhaba since Thursday morning.

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

There was hectic movement of people at the Ballygunge Circular Road outlet of the Azad Hind Dhaba since Thursday morning. And they were not just lunch customers. This where where MF Husain would spend considerable time every time he visited Kolkata.

Ashok Das,who has been associated with Husain’s favourite eatery in Kolkata for about two decades,has been fielding questions from newspaper and television reporters all morning.

“They all want to know what he liked to eat. What kind of a person he was,” said Das. “He liked to drink a lot of tea and eat ‘naan roti’ and was a wonderfully gregarious person,” said Das.

Story continues below this ad

For the day,his official duty was taking customers and media personnel around the restaurant for a guided MF Husain tour,pointing out the painter’s favourite corner and telling them about the famous Gajagamini portarit that he gifted to the restaurant in the late 1990s.

“He first came and made an impromptu black and white sketch on our wall in 1996. Then during the release of Gajagamini,he made some modifications. A big party was thrown here,it was attended by the likes of Mrinal Sen,” remembers Das.

Whenever he artist visited the dhaba,Ashok Das would ensure his little needs were taken care of. “He didn’t demand much. He just wanted a copy of an Urdu newspaper and a cup of tea ready. He was very easily satisfied,” smiles Das.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram