Perks of being a Dhoni fan in Alipurduar? Free meal

If you love M.S. Dhoni and happen to be at Shambhu Bose's restaurant, chances are you might not even have to foot a bill.

A die-hard MSD fan, Shambhu not only runs a hotel in Alipurduar district of West Bengal named 'MS Dhoni hotel', but the 32-year old also feeds every MSD fan for free, who visits his eatery.

"This Durga Puja (festival), we will complete two years. Everyone here knows this place well and come to eat here. Ask anybody around for the Dhoni hotel -- there's no way you can miss it," Shambhu told IANS.

Quizzed about his affection for the former India skipper, Shambhu said: "He is like no other. I have loved him since I was a child. The way he is, and the way he plays the game of cricket is stuff that legends are made of. He is an inspiration to me."

Shambhu's small yet well-lit eatery serves mainly Bengali cuisine throughout the day. Posters of Dhoni are on display in almost every corner and there is hardly any space on the walls.

"It's the same at home too. Watching him, I have learnt a lot. I wish to meet him someday but I don't have the money to go and watch cricket matches.

"I know my dream will never come true, but if I get to meet him someday, I will request him to come to my humble eatery. I know he likes bhat macch (rice and fish curry)," Shambhu quipped.

With the World Cup on in England and Wales and India winning their first two games against South Africa and Australia quite comfortably, Shambhu is hopeful of reliving April 2, 2011 when he and his friends had watched Dhoni hit the famous six off Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara to win the ultimate prize.

"I used to run a tea shop then. It did not have a name but had small posters of Dhoni. I used to love his long hair too. I remember watching the final (2011 World Cup) with all my friends on TV near my tea stall. I can never forget that night, I cried so much," he recollected.

(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)

--IANS

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