Such
was
Atal
Bihari
Vajpayee's
love
for
food
that
it
once
took
a
wily
plan
by
his
aides
to
deploy
Bollywood
star
Madhuri
Dixit
to
draw
him
away
from
gulab
jamun
at
an
official
lunch.
As
Vajpayee
breathed
his
last
yesterday
(August
16,
2018),
close
aides
and
journalists
recalled
his
fondness
for
gastronomical
delights
particularly
sweets
and
sea
food,
his
favourite
being
a
platter
of
prawns.
Senior
journalist
Rasheed
Kidwai
remembered
how
while
attending
an
official
lunch,
Vajpayee,
then
the
prime
minister,
was
headed
for
the
food
counter
even
though
he
was
on
a
strict
diet.
Anxious
aides
then
struck
on
a
plan.
They
immediately
introduced
him
to
Madhuri
Dixit
who
was
in
attendance,
and
soon
the
film
buff
in
Vajpayee
took
over
as
the
two
went
on
to
talk
about
movies.
"Meanwhile,
the
aides
quickly
removed
the
desserts
from
his
line
of
vision," recalled
Kidwai.
Bureaucrats
who
worked
with
Vajpayee
said
that
wherever
he
went
he
insisted
on
tasting
the
local
cuisine.
"So
it
was
puchkas
in
Kolkata,
biriyani
and
halim
in
Hyderabad,
Galoti
kebabs
in
Lucknow.He
specially
liked
his
pakodas
with
lots
of
chat
masala
accompanied
with
masala
tea,"
said
one
bureaucrat.
Those
close
to
him
recalled
how
he
relished
every
meal
he
ate.
Another
senior
scribe
told
PTI
that
on
numerous
occasions
he
and
his
fellow
journalists
were
treated
to
dishes
cooked
by
the
Vajpayee
himself.
"He
would
cook
at
least
one
dish
for
us.
It
could
be
a
dessert
or
something
non-vegetarian,"
she
recalled.
A
close
aide
said
that
Vajpayee
used
to
pop
in
salted
peanuts
throughout
Cabinet
meetings
and
wanted
his
plate
to
be
replenished
each
time
it
went
empty.
While
Lalji
Tandon,
known
as
his
protege,
was
tasked
to
bring
him
kebabs
from
the
Chowk
area
in
Lucknow,
Union
Minister
Vijay
Goel
brought
him
bedni
aloo
and
chaat
from
Old
Delhi.
Vice
President
Venkaiah
Naidu
would
bring
him
prawns
from
Andhra
Pradesh,
said
a
close
aide.
A
journalist
who
went
on
trips
with
Vajpayee
recalled
how
he
was
the
"most
relaxed"
PM
she
had
ever
travelled
with
as
compared
to
his
successors.
"For
him
these
trips
were
not
just
about
work.
He
was
even
not
averse
to
the
idea
of
extending
trips.
He
ate
his
food
and
enjoyed,
even
while
at
work,"
she
recalled.
Another
aide,
recalled
how,
despite
being
unwell,
Vajpayee
would
keep
having
kaju
and
samosas.
"He
wasn't
spartan
and
he
didn't
pretend
to
be
one.
That
is
why
he
was
so
loved,"
he
said.