Assam’s Santanu Chanda To Represent India At World Bartending Contest

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – When Santanu Chanda cleared his B.Com. in Silchar, Assam, his father, who ran a neighborhood grocery store, said that it was time for him to tie the marital knot with a good-looking Assamese girl. Santanu, though, had other plans.

He took a train to Kolkata and from there he set off to Goa for a career of his choice. After working in a shack for some time, he landed a job at the well-known Goan nightclub Tito’s, where he earned Rs 900 for rinsing glasses and removing beer bottle caps. That was in 2011.

Cut to 2023, and you find him, now a world-traveled bartender presiding over a plush bar in New Delhi, preparing to represent India for the Diageo World Class Global Bartender of the Year faceoff in Shanghai, in September. He got his ticket to Shanghai after a two-stage contest that engaged the best bartenders from all over the country.

Santanu’s dream for the competition is to shake up a disco-inspired cocktail to the beat of Parvati Khan’s ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the Mithun Chakraborty-starrer ‘Disco Dancer’.

He knows the burden of expectations lies heavy on his shoulders because last year in Brazil, Pune-based Aashie Bhatnagar became one of the 12 finalists and won the People’s Choice Award.

Santanu’s journey from rinsing glasses to becoming a champion bartender began in Goa when a bartender friend of his was selected for a cruise liner and landed a Rs 80,000 per month job.

The friend’s lucrative salary gave Santanu a purpose: he aimed to become a bartender. To achieve this, he sought mentorship from Artem Klymenko, a champion flair bartender and trainer at Tito’s.

Santanu agreed, became Artem’s disciple, attended a three-month course, read up all the books he could lay his hands upon, and six months later, he made his life’s first cocktail, a Cosmopolitan.

Today, Santanu’s father is proud of what his son has been able to achieve by not listening to his advice. The dutiful son manages their finances, allowing his parents to return to their paddy fields. His father, having closed his grocery store, now spends his days fishing when not working in the fields.

Santanu takes immense pride in pointing out that John Walker, the man behind the iconic whisky brand, was a grocer like his father.