The Curious Case of The Chicken Breast Cutlet

Yesterday I had a sudden inquest – what does it really mean when they say, “you can take a Calcuttan out of Calcutta, but you can't take Calcutta out of a Calcuttan”? The reason for the sudden realization happened while I was cooking dinner and on the menu was my favourite, rather my family’s favourite - Chicken Breast Cutlet.

As I sunk my teeth in to the devilish Cutlet I started dwelling deeper in to the question – “is it really about the saying or am I dehydrated? I must be hallucinating. It’s unbearably hot now. Anything can happen (fyi: a month back I thought I had a dizzy fit because I hadn’t eaten but then I saw people running down the stairwell and it occurred to me that it was the house that was swaying and not my hungry brain. But in all fairness I did feel dizzy)”. I quickly guzzled half a glass of water, looked up and found myself slowly coming out of a state of trance and my unidirectional minion-like gaze started returning back to normalcy.

Blink. Case solved. I was a simply reminiscing.

We Calcuttans have an inborn talent of reminiscing. It comes naturally to us. Well, I am sure others reminisce too but we Calcuttans outbid them all by a good mile or two. Our way of reminiscing is beyond the scale of quantification. We are ‘The Reminiscing Champions of the World’.

Just to give you an idea how deep this thing runs here are a few samples -

Scenario I: Location - Gurgaon

Backdrop: A group of girls (one of them – Richa, a Marwari from Calcutta) planning for a quick bite.

Ajita: Hey let’s grab a quick bite…I am hungry

Saira: Where do we go?

Ajita: Why don't we get some Kathi Rolls? There’s a wonderful place in Phase – I Market.

Richa (Girl from Calcutta): Oh I miss Kusum so much…

 Ajita: Who is Kusum?

 Richa: Aare Kusum is the roll place in Calcutta. They make the best rolls ever… It’s in Park Street, next to Park Hotel. And there’s this lovely Oxford Book Store there. They have a café called Chai something, forgot the name. They serve really awesome tea and snacks. Ohhhh….

 Saira: But you are a vegetarian…. how come you fancy rolls?

 Richa: So? They make the best Paneer rolls… you don't know how good they are… just amazing. You should have it one day. They are just awesome. And by the way I am used to ‘laccha paratha’ rolls and not these pseudo ‘roomali roti’ rolls. You don't call these rolls.

Ajita: But you don't like Paneer also…

Richa: Yeah but I like Aloo, let’s go na… what are you guys waiting for?

Scenario II: Location - Bangalore

Backdrop: A group of guys (one of them – Debu, a Bengali from Calcutta) planning for a mid-week cool-off at a pub.

 Abhijit: Hey macha let’s go grab some beer or something 

Nagaraj: Yeah, let’s go to Pecos

Abhijit: Pecos is too crowded man. We are past that age to queue-up there…

Debu (our boy from Calcutta): Shaala, bekar Pecos… This Durga Pujo let’s plan for a road trip to Calcutta. I will take you guys around. And we will sit at my favourite joint – Olypub. Nothing beats Olypub. Khacha khach, full of people but once you get in it’s like a Maal Khors paradise. Phata phati place I tell you.

Nagaraj: Da… where do we go now? Your Durga Puja is 8 months away. We are planning for a phata phati glug fest tonight… not 8 months later

Debu: Chal Pecos chalte hain… Accha we will order a lot of Chilli Pork this time. Last time shala Abhijit polished it off. I got only 2 pieces. That’s one good thing about Bangalore man. You get Pork. In Calcutta there aren’t many places that serve good Pork. But I tell you the chakhna in Olypub is too good. Here toh they just give salted peanuts. There you get seddho chola and peanuts mixed with onions and lemon juice… aahahhaaa…

So when they say, “you can take a Calcuttan out of Calcutta, but you can't take Calcutta out of a Calcuttan” it actually means that in general for every stimulus there is a response but for a Calcuttan there is a blank space in between. And the stimulus gets redirected through the stomach to the brain. That’s when the enzymes play doozy and transport us to the past. That’s the blank space.

The blank space is where the response gets stuck and reminiscing takes over. It’s as simple as that.

But then I asked myself, was I actually reminiscing?

Yesterday the cutlet transported me back to where it all began, Calcutta. But there was more to it than just the humble cutlet. There was more than one reason I got stuck in that blank space.

And the other reason turns out to be the maker of those cutlets - the man who through his street lessons taught me more than what I learnt in those 2 years at B-school The lessons the corporate world pay for with an arm and a leg, I got for free.

 Pari Da aka Paritosh Mondal is the reason I am what I am today. No kidding.

I hadn’t realised but I reckon my love for cooking and even my career-path took a turn for the good ‘coz of him. With all due respect that man was instrumental in shaping my choices more than my friends, teachers or even my parents for that matter.

Call it a strange coincidence or divine guidance (as most god fearing mortals would refer to it as) a couple of months back a local magazine published a short article on him and it ended up on my Facebook timeline. What are the chances, huh?

Here’s a snapshot of the article.

Source: https://bit.ly/1AWBWUK | Credit: Uttoron Magazine

Besides his secret recipe and the art of making those cutlets I learnt 3 invaluable business lessons that I can vouch would put many a B-Schools to shame.

So here they are - Pari-Da’s 3 Killer Business Management Lessons.

1. Integrity:

He calls his cutlets, Chicken Breast Cutlets for a reason, ‘coz he only uses breast pieces and not thighs or other shredded sections. He prepares his cutlets right in front of the customer so that everyone can see what’s inside. He makes it with all honesty and uses the best quality ingredients whether or not anyone is watching.

He also makes Fish Cutlets and he tells his customers that he uses ‘Bhola Bhetki (Soldier croaker) and not ‘Bhetki’ (Barramundi) because he can’t afford to buy them nor the customer is willing enough to pay for it.

In today’s world where consumers are increasingly becoming wary and conscious of their choices, selection depends heavily on the attribute of honesty and integrity.

Consumers are willing to forgive you even for a huge mistake provided you have a legacy of being honest but will punish you heavily for even a small error if you haven’t been honest in your conduct.

Integrity leads to loyalty, loyalty leads to advocacy, and advocacy leads to exponential gain. Nothing can match the power of the word-of-mouth. Pari Da’s business runs completely on WOM. That’s the ROI he gets for his Integrity.

Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said it best: “In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy.  And if they don’t have the first one, the other two will kill you.”

I am sure if Mr. Buffet had met Pari-Da he would have applauded his Integrity

2. Consistency:

In the age of MasterChef where everyone proclaims to be a Chef, dabbling with professional techniques to cut, cook and plate food, seldom do you find people striving for consistency. Forget about home cooks, consistency is lacking in professional cooks and commercial establishments as well. Even the good ol’ raita tastes different everyday in a famed 5-star restaurant let alone consistency in food made by home cooks.

But then there are exceptions. One of them is Pari-Da. Even at this age (should be around 60 now) with a frail body he pumps out more than 80+ Chicken Cutlets, 50+ Fish Cutlets, and 100 odd Fish Fingers on a daily basis. What’s more remarkable to note is his conviction towards consistency than the quantity of stuff he produces single-handedly. He painstakingly frenches the bones on the chicken breast, cuts them all in equal size, crumbs them beautifully and fries them till golden brown, all identical in colour, texture and size. Cucumber cut in perfect squares, onions sliced perfectly, served alongside with a blob of coarse mustard sauce delighting the customer with every single bite, everyday, year after year.

Today we don't see this level of perfection and conviction for consistency. Be it service quality or any other form of tangible delivery. Businesses do not value consistency as much as they value profitability. What consistency can do for your business no amount of cosmetic enhancement can achieve that.

Here’s a McKinsey article that states why consistency in business is so critical to affect customer satisfaction. A must read for everyone.

And finally...

3. Less is more:

Focusing on the right mix of stuff and not spreading too wide is extremely important. That’s a clear driving factor for success, especially when it comes to entrepreneurial choice and performance. Trying to do too many things and not being to deliver a quality product or service is a clear indication of impending landslide.

Pari Da switched over to that principle quite early. He used to make a whole lot of stuff initially - 3 types of rolls, 2 types of cutlets, fish fingers et al. But then he quickly realized his strength lies in the cutlets. High demand and healthy profit margins with relatively much lowers effort. Cutlets were his cash cow – low investment, higher returns, and unwavering popularity. He cut down on his list by half and focused only on 3 things – Chicken Breast Cutlet, Fish Cutlet and Fish Fingers. That’s it.

Back in the day he used to make on an average Rs.1000-1200/day and operated his shop for just about 2 hours, 6pm-8pm. During festival like Durga Puja or Diwali he used to make only Chicken Breast Cutlets and nothing else and with just that he used to make a royal killing.

Limited items, limited time, limited stock = exponential return. What a genius.

What’s more, he takes a routine break once in 3 months without fail. He heads back home, spends time with his family, takes stock of his finances and comes back rejuvenated. I have called him many a times to know when would he be back, coz it felt like he’s been away for much too long. Despite having changed my phone a couple of times I realized I still have his phone number.

See: 

And that’s one more lesson to learn – why it’s important for entrepreneurs to take a break.

Here’s a nice article on that topic.

I used to walk down more than 2 kilometers almost everyday for many years cutting through his shop to get home. It was like a paranormal force pulling me towards it.

Besides the norm of sniffing down couple of those giant cutlets and 10-15 fish fingers (yeah I used to be a big eater) I used to spend a lot of time learning the tricks of his trade - serving customers, managing his cash-box, keeping a track of the inventory etc. What a contrast when I compare myself with the The B-school grads. There they were getting their industry training/internship from the Unilevers and Coca-Colas of the world and here I was learning things from a roadside snack vendor. 

Generally big brands spend a fortune to safeguard its trade secret especially when there’s a special recipe in the mix but Pari Da never felt the need to safeguard his intellectual property - he openly shared it with everyone. He never felt threatened. His competitive advantage was his identity and his 3 basic principles. Many copycats sprung up, tried replicating his signature items but none survived, Pari-Da still rules.

Thanks to him I still get to enjoy his cutlets and not rue about not getting anything like it here in Gurgaon. I don't miss it ‘coz I can make it. Well, almost like him.

Not sure if his bloodline will keep the flame burning but I can for sure guarantee as long as chickens have breast I will keep the legacy of Pari-Da's Chicken Breast Cutlets alive.