Chatterbox: Frugal time at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Chefs in the Rashtrapati Bhavan have little to do. President Ram Nath Kovind is a frugal eater and a pure vegetarian, who likes his food with low oil and a little salt. His predecessor, Pranab Mukherjee, never used the chefs. He had his own cook, Padam, who knew exactly what to cook for him. Mukherjee liked his chapatis rolled very small and was vegetarian six months of the year and non-vegetarian the other six. During his non-vegetarian period, he would never eat chicken or mutton — only fish, in small morsels. By the time he became president, he had stopped