Mithun, The Cobra Who Could Sting Mamata Hard Mithun, The Cobra Who Could Sting Mamata Hard
Updated: March 08, 2021 4:54 pm IST
I moved to a new school when I was 10. My neighbour, who knew me already, introduced me to others in the school bus as Mithun Chakraborty s cousin. This spread like, as I am told, wildfires do, and caused me much shame. Mithun, for all his popularity, was a Disco Dancer. I was a junior
bhadralok. But the memory of our fictitious kinship came to my aid 25 years later.
That was at a London hotel where I was holidaying with wife and 9-month-old. The hotel had an annoying practice of levying an extra five-pound tray charge every time one ordered room service. On our third day, the Polish gent who was taking my order noticed my surname. Any relation of Mithun Chakraborty? he asked. He is my cousin, I replied without batting an eyelid. I am a big fan, Sir, the man said. From now, there ll be no tray charge for you.