Food Stories from Burma
During my childhood, I was often told anecdotes about how some of our relatives had migrated from Burma (Rangoon in particular), to Calcutta under difficult circumstances. Closest in that circle was one of my maternal Aunts' husband (mesho) who had migrated with his entire family to Calcutta and started afresh in a small apartment near Calcutta's Gariahat. An excellent gourmet and extremely knowledgeable about food pairing, he was also an extremely interesting story teller. He was the first person who made me aware of Burma. During my school days, came across stories (from teachers) based on characters shuttling between between Rangoon and Calcutta. One of the most significant was that of " Pather Daabi " by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. And while learning, I came to learn the word " ambidextrous " which was an unique ability of the protagonist, Sabyasachi. Few months back when an opportunity came up to visit this wonderful country, Burma, (now Myanmar...