On Wednesday, Sachin Tendulkar’s wife Anjali booked a table for Gujarati Thali at Shree Thaker Bhojanalay on Kalbadevi Road, South Mumbai. The occasion was her 54th birthday celebration.
While the owners and the management of the restaurant were used to Anjali, a Gujarati by birth, visiting the restaurant regularly, they were pleasantly surprised to see the Little Master on their guest list.
Hemraj Purohit, the manager of the restaurant, says, “Anjali has been a regular visitor at our restaurant, dining here frequently and sometimes with her friends, parents or our chief minister’s wife but when we saw Sachin also here this time, our joy knew no bounds.”
The restaurant, which is over 75 years old, and has a tradition of saying ‘padharo jamva (welcome to dine)’ in Gujarati/Marwadi style to each visitor, is located in the most crowded area of the city.
To avoid rush, the family, with about 20 people, arrived at the restaurant at around 11.45 am and dined and left within 45 minutes. “They had brought the cake with them and a special section was provided to them for their privacy,” he adds. “They all had all the items served to them and seemed to have enjoyed the food,” Hemraj adds.
The guests included Anjali’s parents and friends and Sachin and Anjali’s daughter Sara although their son Arjun was missing.
