NEW DELHI: Among people mourning the death of former Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is his favorite sweet seller, Adarsh Pandey in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
"
Thaggu ke Laddu" was Vajpayee's favorite sweet shop in whole of Kanpur, the city where he stayed to study law. Expressing grief and reminisching Vajpayee, Pandey, a third generation confectioner said, "Whenever BJP leaders in Kanpur used to go to meet him they would get laddoos packed for him. He loved food."
"Thaggu ke Laddu" is a popular sweet shop in Kanpur which has also featured in Bollywood films. The shop derives its name "Thaggu ke Laddu", which literally means "a cheater's laddu", from one of Mahatma Gandhi's speeches. The founder of the sweet shop, Ram Avtar Pandey was an ardent follower of Gandhi but faced a dilemma when Gandhi in one of his speeches discouraged the use of processed white
sugar being imported by the British. Hence, in order to keep his customers informed about the disadvantages of consuming processed white sugar, Ram Avtar named his shop "Thaggu ke Laddu".
Among some other popularly known eating habits of Vajpayee was his love for 'puri bhaji', a staple breakfast in Uttar Pradesh.
Chef Hemant Oberoi, who regularly accompanied former PM Vajpayee on foreign trips, said, " Vajpayee’s eclectic eating habits set him apart from PMs that came after him. PM Manmohan Singh was a simple eater. He rarely ate non-vegetarian food, except fish sometimes. The present PM is a vegetarian. But PM Vajpayee used to try different food. On tour he would taste local cuisine like Sashimi in Japan."
Vajpayee had a soft corner for Amritsari-style fish and Kerala prawn curry, but his comfort food remained a staple from his home state of UP; Lucknow style puri-bhaji. "Even in Tokyo he would request it for breakfast. Sometimes it was difficult to find
atta for puris but once we figured he likes it, we started carrying it with us or would request the ambassador to provide it."
Reminiscing Vajpayee's nature to praise what he liked, Oberoi said, "He was liberal with compliments and often sent chefs letters of appreciation." Once Vajpayee sent Oberoi a signed copy of a photograph with himself.
Kanpur was special to Vajpayee also because he studied law here with his father. After completing his masters in political science from Dayanand Anglo Vaidik college, Vajpayee took admission in law along with his father in 1948.
(With inputs from agency)
