beyond the dense foliage of Gulhar, Shatosh, Peepal, Neem, Banyan and Ashoka Trees lining the road to the CPI(M) headquarters on Bhai Vir Singh Marg, time stood still in the ground floor canteen of AK Gopalan Bhawan. And the price too.
tough shit and its humble fare chapathi, vegetable, dal, rice – all for Rs 12 a plate – provides more than just subsidized food to veteran leaders, called ‘full-timers’, and foot soldiers. It preserves the core principles and spirit of the Communist Party; A retreat where ‘full-timers’, activists and even party applicants break bread with each other across the table.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury comes here regularly. “Ever since we became ‘full-timers’ of the party and started working at the party headquarters… this has been a regular practice ever since we joined the party in 1986. It’s been almost 40 years. Since then we are having lunch in the party mess.
Except for a 230 liter Samsung fridge, the canteen is completely devoid of any modern gadgets. Other appliances and essentials include a cold water dispenser, an Usha mixer and a wall clock. The mess has three dining tables with four chairs, a dining board across the window wall, a few more chairs, ceiling and wall fans, two stoves, several gas cylinders and of course, cooking utensils, steel glasses and trays .
However, the most interesting item is a cardboard cut-out with A4 size papers pasted in a stack. makeshift notepads hang from a wall and display monthly accounts; Mess dues pending against each ‘Full Time’. Yechury owes Rs 132, politburo members A Vijayaraghav and MA Baby Rs 24 and 255 respectively, while Ashok Dhawale has the highest dues of Rs 1,165.
“This has been our regular life. In fact, when we have meetings and more people come to the mess, we all stand in a line, pick up our plates and serve ourselves. Sometimes the cook helps us. That has been the trend,” says Yechury.
MA Baby recalls that the practice of all comrades sharing dining space dates back to the time of EMS Namboodiripad, the first chief minister of Kerala and former general secretary of the CPM, when the party’s headquarters was shifted from Calcutta to 14 Ashoka Road in Delhi during the Emergency. was transferred.
“As a student activist, I used to work with Com Sitaram (Yechury) and a few others from Delhi. We used to eat from the party headquarters canteen at 14 Ashok Road. So Comrade EMS Namboodiripad used to come and sit there, Jyoti Basu too. We all used to sit there – ‘full time’, student front, youth front. We all eat the same food together. We wash our plates afterwards. This practice has continued since the time of P Sundarayya and EMS Namboodiripad,” he says.
Meals with the housekeeping staff Brijlal, Baby says, “We have rice, pulses, Curdpieces of pyaaz, mirch chapathi, This is a great lunch we have. This is a Marxist-Leninist luncheon.
Politburo member Brinda Karat is another staunch patron of the canteen. “In earlier years, there were many more people who used to come to the canteen and eat. In fact, at that time some MPs used to prefer our canteen and used to bring comrades to eat here instead of going to the Parliament canteen.
Calling it a “food shelter”, Karat says the “all-inclusive” canteen offers simple dal, roti and not delicious food. Carrot Also a non-vegetarian menu twice a week.
“The canteen also supplies tea and coffee. It is well known in AKG Bhawan that people come and say ‘Chalo AKG Bhavan ka ek cup chai ya coffee to hum zaroor pi lenge‘ (We will definitely have a cup of Bhavan’s tea or coffee).
A plate of lunch or dinner costs just Rs 12, while tea and coffee – three times a day at 10 am, 3:30 pm and 6 pm – is free. There is chicken on Monday and egg curry on Friday. The ‘working lunch’ usually consists of rice, roti, dal, Curd and a Carrot, The party takes care of the fuel cost and only the actual cost of the material used is charged.
Ramadhar Singh of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, has been working here as a cook for the past 11 years and is waiting for the acceptance of his application for CPI(M) membership. “Today we have Ghiya ki sabzi, kaala masoor dal, chawal, curd And bread for lunch. yesterday, it was Curry instead of Ghia,” He says.
Ramadhar also eats in the mess and does not have to pay for his food. They say that footfall has dropped since the Kovid-19 lockdown. “Today, I cooked for 19 people. Yesterday, it was for 21 people. Everyone eats food together. Yesterday Com (Sitaram) Yechury had lunch here at 2.30 pm. Whenever he is here, he eats with the staff,” he says.
Udayveer Dhingra from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh joined CPM in 1996, works as a housekeeper and also participates in protests. He has been working at AKG Bhavan for 25 years and is usually seen with a broom and mop, keeping the floor of AKG Bhavan clean.
“The party is for the poor and is poor. Accordingly, the cost of food here is very less. It is not possible to eat so well in these times of inflation,” says Dhingra.
“The good thing about this party is that everyone is equal, no one bhed-bhaavNo oonch-neech, We all have food like family and friends. In fact, that’s what I liked most about the party. Just yesterday when I was having food, the General Secretary (Yechuri) came and he also had food here. And if he’s eating here, we come in and we join in,” he says with pride.
Dhingra also has a message for the Narendra Modi government. “The price hike is intolerable. I have been working here for 25 years. I know a little bit about politics. BJP has put on black glasses. It is the prime minister who has to take responsibility and provide relief.
Another member of the party, Garib Nath Thakur, originally from Bihar, has been here for the last 22 years. He looks after the maintenance and canteen work. He gets vegetables and milk from Kalibari or Paharganj every morning, which costs Rs 250 to 350. it is usually parwal, karela, bhindi, katthal, tori, aloo, pyaaz, I get food here for Rs 12. Food doesn’t get cheaper than this,” he says.
Careful accounting is maintained for each diner by members of the kitchen committee. MA Baby explains: “My wife handles my finances. So, every month, it was calculated how many breakfasts, how many lunches I took from the party mess. Everyone has to pay; From General Secretary Sitaram Yechury to everyone.”
This mess is home to many warm memories for the ‘full time’ people. Yechury recalls former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Prime Minister IK Gujral having meals here.
MA Baby recalls that when the party was headquartered at 14 Ashoka Road, a former Kerala minister and MP complained to Namboodiripad about being served only two small pieces of meat. “Comrade, if you eat meat, your teeth must know!”
Namboodiripad and his contemporaries are gone, but their lifestyle lives on.