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'I told Clinton eating with fork and knives was not recommended here'

Onkar Singh

US President Bill Clinton ate in the same restaurant and at the same table that his wife and daughter patronised when they visited India two years ago. The staff at the Maurya Sheraton would like you to believe it was a coincidence.

While it is easy to understand why the president chose the Bukhara over several other Indian speciality restaurants at the Maurya, the thing about the table seems a bit stretched.

But then, that is what happens when the world's most powerful man, known for his charm and boyish good-looks, comes to a poor country which has an unsatiating hunger for icons.

Virtually everybody this correspondent met at the Maurya Sheraton on Friday, a day after the president checked out, had a story to tell. And these stories will be told and retold till another icon, as charismatic as William Jefferson Clinton, makes the Maurya his home for a few days.

For Pratima Wassan, the chief of communications at the Maurya, it was probably the most challenging assignment of her career.

Once word trickled out that Clinton would stay at the Maurya, Wassan recalls, she was flooded with calls from newspapers and television channels.

"Under normal circumstances we would have been more forthcoming with information. But since it was the president of the United States we were dealing with, we kept our mouths shut. Even when speculative reports appeared in the press, we said nothing."

Asked why the White House preferred the Maurya over other hotels in the city, Wassan said the hotel had hosted a number of important guests in the past including Hillary and Chelsea. "Probably that tilted the scales in our favour."

She said 440 rooms, including 44 suites, were booked by the presidential entourage.

And whatever little time Clinton spent in the hotel he kept the staff on their toes.

Just minutes after he checked in, Clinton was out of his suite and headed for the Dum Pukht -- the restaurant famed for its North West Frontier cuisine -- where US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste had organised a party in his honour.

The Clintons had spent just a few minutes at the party when the president came out into the lobby and told the staff he would have his dinner at the Bukhara. They were given exactly eight minutes to make the arrangements.

"The restaurant was already booked and guests, including editors of leading American magazines and television channels, had been served their dinner. Luckily, there was one table unoccupied and we quickly put the 'reserved' card there," recalls Wassan.

"The president came down the lift and went straight into the restaurant, scanned the room and stopped near a Japanese engrossed in his food. "Hi, I am Bill Clinton, president of the United States of America," he said to the guest and extended his hand.

For S P Khosla, the maitre de, it was a high point in his career. "I was at first overawed by his presence, but soon composed myself. He asked me what all I could serve. I showed him the menu and he told me he would like to try everything, including the Sikandari Raan."

Khosla said he told Clinton that at the Bukhara "eating with a fork and knife was not recommended. The president said he doesn't mind that one bit."

Clinton ate one or two helpings of everything that was served. "For dessert he had kulfi and phirni.

"When I asked him if he would try something else he told me if he did he would have to be carried out on a stretcher," Khosla said.

Dinner over, Clinton shook hands with the chief chef and asked some questions about the recipes. Later, he eluded his Secret Service minders and entered the kitchen to shake hands with the other chefs.

Manzoor Wangoo, who owns a carpets and handicrafts outlet in the hotel's shopping arcade, said the president spent 45 minutes in his shop. "That is more time than what some ministers got," he said proudly.

Wangoo said Hillary had promised him that she would ask her husband to visit his shop when he came to India. "She kept her promise."

"Clinton spent a long time checking carpets... he was keenly interested in the work that goes into weaving a carpet. I explained everything... he was very attentive."

Wangoo offered his guest a cup of kehva, which Clinton sipped as he discussed business. "While leaving he shook hands with all of us, including my two brothers and workers, and promised to return to my shop if he got more time," the shop owner said.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA:The complete coverage

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