JAYA BACHCHAN was riding the horns of her annual dilemma and telling me about it: what to give Amitabh for his birthday on October 11. Knowing how difficult it is to find him a gift, I suggested that she take the Big B out to dinner. "But where," asked Jaya intrigued. "He's not a food person, you know. In fact, he's indifferent to food. At home, he won't ask for lunch and dinner. And when we place it before him, he'll nibble. Outside, he'll only eat vegetarian Chinese food, or sometimes Italian."

Knowing his tastes, and that his favourite restaurants are China Garden and Golden Dragon, I said: "Why not take Amitabh to the new China Garden at Crossroads. Have you been there?" They hadn't, she replied. "But we used to go to the old China Garden at Kemp's Corner because Nelson Wang would cook all Amitabh's favourite dishes." I knew about that. Amitabh's van would silently draw into China Garden's parking lot, and Nelson's waiters would smuggle out his food. He ate in the van. It was better for him, and for China Garden.

Amitabh was shooting for Kaun Banega Crorepati at Film City in Goregaon on his birthday, but Jaya promised to bring him to China Garden before midnight. Nelson was overjoyed! "Arre wah," the delighted Chinaman said as he hurriedly recalled the superstar's favourite food, "this is their first visit here. Main to aaj crorepati ban jayega!" And so, a little before 11 p.m. that night, a sparkling white Mercedes delivered the Bachchans to Crossroads, and by 11.05, we were into the starters that Nelson had prepared: Corn Cream, Pepper Chilli Babycorn with Straw Mushrooms, and Sliced Fish in Pattaya Sauce.

It is true, outside home and his Nainital maharaj's cooking, Amitabh eats only vegetarian Chinese food. The fish was for

Jaya and me. He will eat Italian food if somebody can prepare his pet dish, Penne all'Arrabbiata, the famous pasta dish with tomato and chilli sauce. He has it very spicy, like it is made in Florence or Capri, he cannot remember where. Local Italian restaurants don't do it that way. So he prefers Chinese cuisine. The choice is wider, even for a veggie. Having dined with the Bachchans at home, I know Amitabh's tastes are basically Indian. "Dal-chawal, aloo-bhindi," he reminded me now. "Even on the sets, I'm content with this. If they change my menu, I won't eat! I like my food very simple." With the man of the house having such a simple and undemanding palate, I wasn't surprised the Bachchans don't go eating out very often. Was he always a simple vegetarian, I asked Amitabh. "Not always," he replied. "I became one 20 years ago on a whim.

Earlier, I ate everything. Even whale! I was a freight broker for a Calcutta shipping company, and every time a foreign ship came in, I used to taste the food on board. Octopus, squid, shark, whale... all kinds of funny things! I hated it. But this was all part of office duty."

The birthday dinner was interrupted because the rest of China Garden had learnt of the celebrity in the restaurant. And a steady pilgrimage of people was making its way to our table to see Amitabh from close. Several people asked for autographs. They took them on the restaurant's table mats. And on small scraps of paper. Some people just wanted to tell him that they loved him on Kaun Banega Crorepati. Or to remind him that they had met him some place earlier. Little children came to gaze at him curiously, including one solemn Chinese kid whose droll expression Amitabh immitated perfectly.

Nelson watched the food growing cold on our table with exasperation. One gushing man was pumping Amitabh's hand and telling him that he, too, had studied in Sherwood College. Within minutes, two more men claiming to be from the same college appeared. "I never knew China Garden would be so full of Sherwoodians," Amitabh muttered to me. But unruffled, he put down his fork and signed the autographs, smiling all the time. Then Nelson got securitymen to surround our table, and we got on with dinner.

Tucking into the Veg Fuk Chu Fried Rice and Kung Pao French Beans, Amitabh told me he was ravenous, he hadn't eaten all day. "Didn't you have breakfast before setting out for your shoot," I said,surprised. "Breakfast," Amitabh repeated, poking the Veg Teppan Yaki with his fork, "I have a peculair breakfast. Beansprouts soaked overnight. I'm trying to reduce.

No tea. No coffee. Occasionally, I have cornflakes or oatmeal porridge. Or the odd hard-boiled egg. I haven't given up eggs. But today... I left home earlier than usual." Birthdays and work days were alike, Jaya said. "The celebration's within the family. Friends drop in to wish him if he's at home. And the fan clubs call. We don't have a special lunch, but there's an extended brunch. We serve lots of snacks, lots of sweets and namkeen stuff, like puri aloo, channa, dosas, idlis.

He never cuts a cake. He's not a cake person. And the food's all cooked at home, I've had this Nainital maharaj for long. Unless we're hosting a large party, he manages the cooking alone. Sometimes, I get Taj to do the catering and very often, Nelson. Sometimes, I get food from different people, and sometimes... I do a little bit of cooking myself!" She enjoys food, she revealed, but she cooks only when she's in the mood. "You enjoy cooking if you have people who eat," Jaya said, "and his kind of food, and what the children eat, is so simple to make, I don't feel like getting into the kitchen! But sometimes, something I ate outside that interested me, I'll try to recreate at home.

Not from a recipe, but out of sheer taste. My palate guides me along." Can Amitabh cook, I asked. "...Yes," he replied carefully, like he was answering the jackpot question on KBC. "Under lot of duress, I can do a burnt omelette. Or a full boiled egg. I can toast a toast in the toaster! And I can make a cup of tea using a tea-bag. I cook sometimes when I'm in New York. Because of my NRI status, I have to spend time there, and I'm on my own. I believe people who aren't foodies, can't cook at all. But if I'm thrown into the kitchen, and I have to cook, then I think I'll be good at cooking."

And wasn't he a foodie? "No," Amitabh replied honestly. "But I must have been. Because I remember the wonderful Chinese food I've eaten at Calcutta. And at Park Street, at the Continental restaurants, the Golden Slipper night club. I could not afford the unbelievable kathi kebab at Nizam's, so I used to eat the puchka outside Victoria Memorial. Puchka's different from our pani-puri. I miss it. I also miss the chaat at Bengali Market in New Delhi. And the incredible food at Parathewali Gulley in Chandni Chowk. I long to eat at these places... but I'm not a foodie."

The birthday dinner at China Garden had come to an end, and Nelson was serving us litchees from Thailand with vanilla ice-cream for dessert. Amitabh, who had eaten more dinner than Jaya and me, took a generous helping. Seeing me watching, he remarked: "I'm an Indian mithai man... I prefer kheer, kulfi and rabdi, but these litchees are delicious, can't resist them."

"What about the food, Sir," asked Nelson. "It's very good," Amitabh replied. To me, he said: "Nelson's an old friend, I know him since he was working in the Golden Bowl restaurant at Madras' Savera Hotel. His is an unbelievable story! People who struggle to make it big, have a personality that's different from others.

" Nelson blushed: "Sir, mere ko abhi crorepati banao." Amitabh pushed back his plate, "I should be telling you that... I've never eaten so much food before, you�ve made me feel like one. I think I should come here to eat more often!" And he went back to his Mercedes to spend the last minutes of his birthday on the drive back to Juhu.