Dehradun, Aug. 17 -- Culinary Chronicles

Chor Chori Meets Makki Di Roti: A Punjabi - Bengali Confluence.

The title came first. Bakshi! Given by Mughals to a family that could hold swords and accounts together. Tiger's family carried it ever since.

In Lahore lived Chawdhry Ram Bhaj Datt - He was a lawyer, editor of Hindustan and a Congressman from the early days. He was Tiger's great-great-grandfather. His daughter, Lila Wati, from his first wife, married Captain Ram Lal Bhimwal - a civil surgeon with the British Army. Lila Wati and Captain Bhimwal were Tiger's great-grandparents.

Ram Bhaj Datt had children from his first two marriages. A full house already with its own habits, its own kitchen, its own silences.

Then in 1905, a new su...