FLYING THE FLAG OF FISH TAIL

KAJAL CHATTERJEE

 

 

It gets often said that the tail of the fish (Lyaja) or bony portions of mutton/chicken are invariably "sole privilege" of the women folks in the family as the "best" "glamorous" pieces form the "monopoly" of the dominant males!

 

Despite being affiliated to a "privileged" gender named "Male", the portion of fish which I relish the most is nothing but the 'Lyaja'! Since there exists no competitor in this front, the family also happily parts with the fish tail in favour of myself! 

 

However, my yearning for Lyaja is not related to any "special taste" embedded in it! Rather my fascination for Lyaja is intrinsically associated with my unfathomable love for the "underdogs"! 

 

Rabindranath Tagore, in his epic poem 'Karna Kunti Sangbad", had dwelt on the interaction of Karna and Kunti when the latter had gone to the river bank to persuade the former to join the ranks of Pandavas and enjoy the throne after defeating the Kauravas. It was a long interaction and finally Karna stressed "I would prefer to stay on the side of fruitless and depressed".

 

I love this statement from the bottom of the heart as right from my childhood(much before reading the poem) I have always felt a great longing for the apparently fruitless/depressed nameless faceless neglected deprived belittled underhyped lot or the underdogs.

 

Perhaps this very mindset played the greatest role behind my choice of favoured football club or cricketer as a school boy in 1980s in the form of "Tritiyo Prodhan" Mohammedan Sporting or much-discriminated unsung Mohinder Amarnath! Or the "lowly" Sri Lanka cricket team of the 1980s and "non-elite" Cameroon football team in the 1990s! 

 

Not to speak of my greatest love and respect for the marginalised folks like maids drivers conductors security guards plumbers mechanics sweepers laborers without whose unfathomable contribution, the society would come to absolute stand still! 

 

In the same vein, without the caudal fin or the much underhyped Lyaja, how can the fish propel itself under the water! It's like a motor of a vehicle without which the fish would get stagnant! 

 

So the regular sight of the marginalization of the Lyaja in the "civilized" sphere (restaurants, parties, feasts)  and also during family functions at home had surely "inspired" myself to fly the flag of the fish tail in the culinary sphere!