The Gaja Gamini painting at the Azad Hind Dhaba; (below) Bhola Singh. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A special chai with “less milk and sugar, lots of ginger and a little bit of cardamom in a big bhaar”, and a tandoori roti with chicken reshmi kebab.

That used to be the sip-and-bite preference of Azad Hind Dhaba’s most prized patron.

A patron who painted his signature mural on the dhaba wall and gave the Ballygunge Circular Road address a pen — or rather paintbrush — name: “MF Husain’s Dhaba”.

“He was very close to my father Chamanlal Sharma, ever since he first dropped by for tea some 25-30 years ago,” said Dharam Bir Sharma, one of the partners of Azad Hind Dhaba, over phone from Toronto. “After that he’d drop by every day when he stayed in Calcutta for a chat with my father. One day, he said a portion of the wall should be cleaned for him to paint on it.”

That was in 1996. The wall was cleaned and a black-and-white sketch done by the master in two hours. That was the turning point for the dhaba that grew from a small roadside address to a 40-seater eatery. “Yes, that made a huge difference to the footfall. Dhabas were not as popular back then but people started flocking to see the painting,” recalled Sharma.

The next masterstroke came in 1999 when Husain returned to colour the sketch and modify parts of the painting. He changed “the horse to an elephant” and rubbed out a line from a song he had scribbled to replace it with the words Gaja Gamini.

The dhaba’s way of saying thank you was to add Husain’s Special Chicken to the menu — a boneless chicken dish.

On a personal note, Sharma recalled how Husain had designed his wedding card. “It was in 2001, when I called to tell him that I was getting married and he told me he wanted to design my wedding card…. he sent across the design of a groom on horseback.”

The last time Husain made it to the dhaba was in 2006.

The man who drove him there was Bhola Singh, 67, chauffeur to Naresh and Sunita Kumar, with whom Husain would often stay during his visits. “Around 30 years ago, Husain saab wanted to have some nice tea and he just couldn’t find the kind he liked. So I took him to Azad Hind Dhaba which was more popular among taxi-drivers back then,” recalled Bhola.

Saddened at the news of the artist’s death, the man at the wheel added: “I wish people had not driven him out of the country. He was a good man.”