COCKTAIL IN THE RAINBOW - Chapter –11

 

Chapter –11

 

Atanu did not come back within five minutes. I requested Nandi to wait for a little and entered the toilet attached to my cabin for getting fresh and changing dress for the party. Within ten minutes I came out and found Atanu chatting with Nandi.

“Mr. Nandi! What’s about freshening yourself? You need not go out. Get inside this toilet and come out fresh.” I said.

“Sir, please don’t mind. I am going outside for staff toilet.” Saying this Nandi went out without waiting for my further persuasion.

“I don’t understand why Mr. Nandi is so much shy in using this toilet when I requested him to do so.” I said.

Atanu smiled and said. “Sumantada, you are generous and great. That’s why you offered Fatikda to use your toilet. GM or other DMs will never allow office staffs to use the toilets attached to their cabins according to Rainbow etiquette. Fatikda does not like to violate the system laid down by the company. You will be surprised to know that Fatikda does not even use the toilet marked for junior managers and executives, as he is very much aware of his status in the office. He is senior most employee like Chanakya Nag. But today Chanakya Nag is GM, East of Rainbow and Fatik Nandi is the despatch clerk of Rainbow Calcutta office. Had he been a graduate, he would have become DM of any division of Rainbow today. But he is not a graduate, not even a matriculate or passed school certificate examination, though that should be the minimum qualification for an office clerk or assistant. However, Mr. Anderson kindly offered him the post of despatch assistant after the office had been established in Calcutta. He maintained so much respect for Fatikda that even during cocktail party and dinner after sales conference he would enquire loudly, “Where is Fatik?” So long Mr. Anderson was MD, for all commercial matters of Calcutta office Fatikda was the pivotal person. If any sales executive, DSM or supplier would approach Chanakya Nag on commercial matter, he would always suggest them to get in touch with Fatikda. After departure of that great Englishman, there have been so many changes in Rainbow, both at head office and branches all over the country till today and such changes will be there in future.”

There was soft knock at the door and Nandi entered my cabin. He said, “Sir! You may relax for another thirty minutes as the cocktail party will be inaugurated at 8-30 p.m. Chanakya Nag announced in the office hall.”

“Any special reason?” Atanu asked.

“Nothing special. Both Mr. Kelvin and Mr. Rozario would take another twenty minutes to leave the hotel as I could know from Leda Joseph.” Nandi said.

“But I saw both Iris Stephen and Swapna Ganguly in the office hall.” Atanu said.

“So what?” Nandi retorted.

Atanu smiled and said, “I mean Iris was with Mr. Kelvin and Swapna with Mr. Rozario.”

Nandi said, “Yes! You are correct. But my brother, it’s anybody’s guess, they can not come back to the office with Kelvin and Rozario. Both Swapna and Iris came earlier in a taxi. Adhikari saw them getting down together at the cross-road junction and walking upto office gate keeping distance between them. Adhikari was standing near the cigarette shop on the opposite footpath. You will get more news when Mansij comes back.”

“I am sorry to interfere. Let us talk something else.” I said.

“You are right Sir! Atanu has not yet started his description of food items to be served in dinner.” Nandi said.

“But I have not finished the items to be served in cocktail party.” Atanu said.

“My god! You will again talk about drinks?” Nandi said.

Atanu laughed and said, “Not drinks! Items to be munched with drinks!

“I understand what you are going to say. I saw my old masters, Mr. Kipling, Mr. Kingsley and Mr. Anderson taking lumps of Australian Butter before sipping drinks. Then after each sip they used to munch cheese cubes, boiled boneless chicken balls, sliced cold ham, boiled potato slices with fresh tomato and cucumber slices. All they used to take without sauce, salt, mustard paste and green chilli, the most favourite items of the Indians and most harmful for the stomach, duodenum and intestines as I learned from my English masters.”

“Oh Fatikda! Please stop your lecture on hospital diets. It’s not in vogue in a cocktail party. I will tell you about the items to be munched with drinks in our cocktail party. Water will start rolling down your tongue.” Atanu said smilingly.

“To start with, pick up from one service tray ‘chicken pokoura’ or ‘chicken sik kabab’ and munch with red chilli-garlic sauce. Pick up from another service tray ‘fish-finger’ to be munched with green chilli or mustard sauce. Please don’t repeat these items. There are many more items to munch with drinks. ‘Sliced cold ham’ with salted custard or ‘pork sausage’ with ginger paste. If you do not like boar or ‘pig meat’, you can munch fried ‘mutton liver’ or ‘chicken leg’. Ok! Fatikda, there are people who call themselves strictly vegetarian and do not touch even onion, they will enjoy egg devil.”

“Egg devil?” What’s that? Nandi asked Atanu.

Atanu smiled and said, “Fatikda! I will tell you of the recipe. Please try at home. It’s boiled egg covered by spiced cereal paste and fried in oil till brownish in colour.”

“But egg is non-veg food.” Nandi said.

Atanu smiled and said, “You are right. But in cocktail party vegetarians mostly prefer egg preparation with drinks. Anyway, if you do not like egg devil, you may try boneless fried fish cube or sardine on toasted bread with sweet-n- sour tomato sauce. If you do not like to touch non-veg muncher, munch potato finger chips with slices of onion and green chilli.”

“I feel hungry. Talk about food.” Nandi said.

“Very little time is left, so I will narrate in brief.” Atanu said.

“It’s a buffet dinner. There are two sections. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian. To start with, for vegetarians two types of soups will be served. Tomato soup with crumbled bread and vegetable mushroom soup. For non-vegetarians there is chicken clear soup and for the guests having fascination for Chinese dish there is crab and sweet corn soup.”

Atanu paused for few seconds and said, “In such a gala-cocktail party after consuming so much of liquor, you may not be interested in going for liquid food again. So if you like to have vegetarian food, keeping the plate and napkin on your left palm, stand in the queue behind others. Whether you can eat or not, go on making a big heap of tandoori roti or porota, salad, raita, vegetable pokoura, vegetable kopta, vegetable fried rice, chole masala, peas panir, roasted cauliflower, fried beans baked papad, mango or pineapple chatni, gilabi, black jamun, rasogolla and rasomalai on your plate.”

Atanu looked at me smiling.

“You are great,” I said. “Had I been told of all these names, I would have forgotten fifty percent or more.”

Atanu said, “I told you only about veg food, I will now tell you about non-veg items, I mean about solid food.”

Looking at Nandi Atanu said, “Fatikda, if you do not like vegetarian food, stand in queue of non-veg eaters. Obviously this queue will be much longer than that of veg eaters. It’s upto you to decide whether you will take all the items on your plate or enjoy two or three items at a time. I feel your second choice will be much better for enjoying all the items systematically to your heart’s content. Ok! To start with put on your plate boneless chicken kabab with potato chips, sliced onion and cucumber or pork cutlet with mushrooms and sliced boiled beet and carrot. Finish this plate of chicken or pork and pick up tandoori chicken with sliced lemon and enjoy with butter nun and kulcha. If you desire to go for pig meat you can eat smoked bacon or pork ragout. Sorry! Though some of our head office bosses including MD like beef, this item has not been included in the menu as one influential spiritual leader having contact with central and state ministers will be present in the cocktail party.”

Atanu paused for few seconds and said, “Go ahead with your plate. It’s a gala festival of non-veg food. Chicken Biriani, Mutton Biriani, Mutton balls in tomato sauce, Chicken Butter Masala, Smoked Hilsa, Fish Garlic, Prawn Barbecue, Lobster cooked in Chinese style etc, etc. Some sweets like Rasogolla, Black Jamun and Rosomalai are also there in non-veg section. But beside these sweets, there are mixed fruit dessert, milk chocolate with nuts and cherries in iced chocolate. Finally for both veg and non-veg diners, after sweets there is Irish coffee.”

“My God! Coffee has also been named after that coquettish girl?” Nandi soliloquized.

What I found about Atanu during these days, he always smiled and did never lose his temper.

Atanu said smilingly, “Fatikda, coffee I have named is Irish, not Iris. Is it clear?”

“What is Irish coffee?” Nandi asked seriously.

“Very simple Fatikda! It’s nothing but black coffee poured in Scotch Whisky or Scotch Whisky poured in black coffee with or without sugar. Am I clear to you?” Atanu replied.

“After so much of drinks and food, last item is again alcohol!” Nandi said in exclamation.”

Atanu replied immediately, “There must be something for the road and in that respect there is nothing to match with Irish coffee.”

There was a mild knock on the door.

Binoy Bhusan Bhar entered and bending forward upper portion of his bulky body said, “Sir! Cocktail is ready. Mr. Nag and Mr. Talukdar have gone down to receive Mr. Rozario and Mr. Kelvin who are expected to arrive anytime. Mr. Nag told me to request you to wait on the roof for receiving them. Mr. Ganguly and other managers and executives will assist you. After Bhar had left my cabin Nandi said, “Sir! Thank you for your kind company. Now I am going out and will meet you again in the party. I will have to go to the roof along with my other colleagues.”

Nandi left my cabin. I requested Atanu to accompany me to roof and went to the toilet once again to get myself fresh for the party. I took only a minute in the toilet, as I would have to be on the roof before the arrival of the VIPs.

Company’s guests, office and field staffs, most were on their way upto the roof. We found Tarit Ganguly and his wife Swapna going up to the upper landing keeping significant distance between themselves. We were just four steps behind them. There was no exchange of words between them as if they did not know each other.

Finally we landed on the rooftop fully covered with green carpet, I felt myself to be in a fairyland hidden in the seven colours of Rainbow glittering everywhere under the open sky studded with bright stars. On a dais covered by scarlet velvet Samuel Biswas

and his orchestra were tuning their musical instruments. On one side, little far from the dais, there was semi circular cocktail table covered by white linen. Above the table and service counter there was golden velvet canopy with coloured balloons of red, blue pink, green and orange hanging at equal distance from one another barring the front where a fastoon of silver thread was fixed with glittering letters “WELCOME TO COCKTAIL IN THE RAINBOW.”

Atanu whispered, “They have come.”