1990. Just another December afternoon. Animesh Banerjee, then a catering assistant in his 30s with Sonargaon, the Indian restaurant at Taj Bengal, was on duty when three guests walked in for lunch. He was in for an "ecstatic surprise" as one of them was... Muhammad Ali!

Banerjee, now a restaurant manager at the Alipore star property, shared his fanboy moment with Metro, the day after The Legend, 74, breathed his last in Arizona.

 

I suddenly realised that one of the three guests who had just walked into Sonargaon for lunch was none other than The Greatest - Muhammad Ali!

He was accompanied by Subrata Mukherjee (then a Congress leader) and Md. Omar, the then secretary of Mohammedan Sporting Club. I was a catering assistant back then. I immediately alerted my colleagues, greeted the trio and led them to Table No 18 in Sonargaon.

I couldn't believe my eyes - that the greatest world champion of boxing was right in front of me! My manager, Farhad Bharthania, executive chef Durga Prasad and our team served them Kakori Kebab, Bawli Handi (a boneless mutton curry with vegetables) and Khandani Naan, which is almost double the size of a regular naan, often referred to as the "family naan". They finished the meal with Shahi Tukda.

Muhammad Ali seemed to be in a very good mood as he smiled and chatted while enjoying the meal. When I approached him for a photograph after lunch, he not only readily agreed but also wanted to know if the other staff members would like to take a photo with him too.

"Please call them also, if they want," he said, as he stood up to pose for the camera one of us had managed to fish out.

He came across as a very friendly person, he started asking us about us, what we did, and about our families. He seemed genuinely interested.

When I offered him a mishti paan, he asked what it was. When I explained, he seemed amused and agreed to try the betel leaf. He quite liked it, he said. As was customary, we asked him if he had liked the food and he said he was "very satisfied with the meal".

He was in the restaurant for almost an hour-and-a-half, and in that time he seemed to have befriended each one of us.

We noticed that he was walking and talking at a slow pace, but I couldn't resist asking him to give us a better view of his hands - THE HANDS that famously pulled no punches.

When my relatives and friends saw my picture with him later, they were very jealous as I was in the same frame as the God of Boxing.

As told to Sibendu Das