On Netaji's birthday, free telebhaja for all from his favourite shop

Kolkata: It may sound unbelievable but a shop selling fritters (more commonly known as telebhaja) in North Kolkata gives it free of cost to customers to celebrate Netaji's birthday on January 23 as the delicacy was a favourite of India's one of the most iconic freedom fighters.

It is said that Netaji used to come to Lakshminarayan's shop situated in College Street to have telebhaja. Lakshminarayan was an ardent follower of Netaji and whenever he used to visit his shop as the Mayor or later as the Congress president or even as the founder of Forward Bloc, he used to treat him with his special fritters.

Telebhaja is North Kolkata's speciality and many NRIs when they visit Kolkata make it a point to visit the shop and taste it. There are many shops selling fritters in North Kolkata particularly in Shyambazar, Bagbazar and Shyampukur.

Lakshminarayan started celebrating Netaji's birthday by distributing telebhaja free of cost to his customers in 1942. In those days, the British police used to arrest those who were close to Netaji and used to harass their family members on one pretext or the other. To avoid police, Lakshminarayan used to send a packet containing telebhaja to the houses of his regular customers. This continued till 1947. After India became free, he began to treat his customers with telebhaja free of cost on Netaji's birthday.

The legacy is being carried forward by his third generation. Now, owner Mohan Kumar Gupta, Trinamool Congress Councillor of Ward 17, continues to follow the footsteps of his grandfather. Telebhaja lovers from the city and neighbouring districts particularly Howrah, North and South 24-Parganas queue up in front of the shop since morning to receive a packet of their favourite item. The distribution continues from early morning till late in the afternoon while Gupta is found standing in front of the shop with folded hands to welcome his guests.

Mohan Kumar Gupta said: "We consider the distribution of free telabhaja a celebration for our entire family and everyone is involved in it. We learnt this from our ancestors and have passed on the legacy to the present generation."