Batter's Cakes

Oil Dooars is a charming little town in the Himalayan foothills.
There was a time when this was a nondescript Bhutanese village with
only twenty families who lived off the nearby forests. Then, Mr Oil,
who was an enterprising man decided to settle here. He was followed by
his many relatives who came from nearby districts. Little by little the
tiny hamlet became a town. The process of change was tortuous. At first
the forests were cleared. Roads were built with local effort. A school
was established with a single teacher. It took twenty years for the
first train to pull into Oil Dooars-shortly after it was included in
india. By then the population was large enough to require a degree
college, a court and two police stations. Some of the people worked
with the government, some were lawyers, some farmers while a few were
teachers. In fact teachers were held in high regard in this town.
Despite the large population there was no place where you could buy
cakes. And this gave Mrs Batter an idea.
The Batters were from Westside, a small village in East Bengal. Mr
Batter was a clerk in the revenue department. The Batters had four
children-three sons and a daughter. The oldest, Lene, was the only
daughter married in Calcutta. There was a pair of twins aged fifteen
and they were called Anit and Sonit. The youngest boy aged ten was
called Monit. Mr Batter had married late and by the time Monit turned
ten his father was already fifty-five years old. There were other
issues too. A deluge of close and distant relatives was descending on
the Batter family. Some of them were impressed by the prosperity of Oil
Dooars and wanted to stay on. And till these people found work the
Batters were obliged to support them. Naturally, additional resources
were required. A way had to be found to supplement the family
income.
Some friends were visiting the Batters. Mr Batter, who was famous for
entertaining asked his wife to prepare some sweet dish for the guests.
Mrs Batter used eggs, flour, sugar, butter and a local fruit called
squash to bake some cakes. The cakes which appeared pink were an
instant hit. She gave some cakes to the neighbour's children and they
came back for more. Many others in the community showed interest.
Thereafter the Batter children made a little poster about the cakes,
their price and where they could be bought. The poster was displayed
prominently in the weekly market. Mrs Batter's cakes were cheap and
delicious. Very soon the whole town was munching on the squash cakes
and singing her praise. And the Batters were delighted with the good
money earned from selling what the whole family was now baking. Indeed
all of Oil Dooars now called the food item Batter's cake. Very soon a
proper factory needed to be established to meet the burgeoning demand.
The trains arrived in Oil Dooars on a regular basis now. The Railways
became interested in Batter's cakes. After protracted discussions the
Batters were awarded a huge order. But misfortune struck. Ten days
before the first cakes were to be handed to the Railways all the squash
growing in Oil Dooars went missing. It was rumoured that they had been
purchased by people who were jealous of the Batters' success. But Mrs
Batter found that papaya could be used in place of squash. And thus
disaster was averted. The contract with the Railways made the Batters
rich. Mr Batter had retired by now and spent his time fishing. The
family became the first in the town to own a concrete house. They now
grew their own squash.
Soon their fame spread to Calcutta. The big hotels there wanted to buy
Mrs Batter's cakes. Mrs Batter felt that a factory had to be opened in
Calcutta. Her workshop in Oil Dooars continued to manufacture cakes for
patrons in North Bengal. Every morning Mrs Batter supervised making of
cakes in Calcutta. By the evening flight she would reach Tiger Grove
and drive to Oil Dooars from there. Till midnight she looked after
production in Oil Dooars. She left for Calcutta in the morning. Things
looked great. The Batter boys behaved like parvenus and became famed
revelers. One day while crossing the road Mrs Batter was run over by a
truck. She was declared dead on being taken to a hospital. The Batter
cakes were never baked again. Mrs Batter alone knew the actual complete
recipe for the cakes. Neither her sons nor any employee had ever cared
to find out which ingredients were required in what exact proportion
for the cake or just how much baking was required. Each only performed
his miniscule part in the whole baking process. Thus, the Batter cake
came to an end.