The Bengali: Dinner

"Come, come," Biren Pishai boomed. He was a large man in a crisp white punjabi, his face glistening with the effort of hospitality. "Clara, you are most welcome. But tonight, we eat like Bengalis. No forks. Only fingers."

– A final ritual: washing hands, chewing paan (betel leaf) or mukhwas (fennel seeds) as a digestive. the bengali dinner

"She is one of us now," Pishai declared, pushing his chair back and lighting a cigarette (breaking his own rule about no smoking at the table). "Anybody who can eat Ilish and still ask for rice has a Bengali soul." "Come, come," Biren Pishai boomed

"Good, good," Pishai nodded. "But the test is now. Subho, explain to her." But tonight, we eat like Bengalis

They ate until they were breathless. They ate until their fingers were stained with turmeric and their shirts clung to their backs. They argued about politics, about the price of fish, about the decaying facades of the old colonial buildings. Clara didn't understand half of it, but she laughed at the right moments, wiping her greasy fingers on a napkin that was already soaked.

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Subho relaxed. Shukto was the reconnaissance mission. The main assault was yet to come.