Where it is wise to be a fool with food

Bewakoof in Hindi means a fool now has a lip smacking meaning in Girdih and has become the nomenclature of the restaurants to attract customers.

The Hindi word 'bewakoof' (fool) has a lip smacking meaning here. Like Ekta Kapoor's "K-series" serials, a dash of bewakoof in the nomenclature of the restaurants here attracts customers.

So restaurants named "Shree Bewakoof" (Mr. Fool), "Maha Bewakoof" (Big Fool)", "Sabse Bada Bewakoof" (The Biggest Fool) and "Bewakoof No. 1" here do brisk business.

"The word 'bewakoof' is the only reason for the success of my restaurant. The peculiarity attracts customers," said Nandkishore Prasad, who runs "Bewakoof No. 1" in Giridh, about 270 km the Jharkhand capital Ranchi.

What about the quality of the food?
"Do not go by names. Taste our food and then pay for it," says Prasad.

"The word can attract a person but no one is fool enough to come again if the food is not tasty. So we never compromise on the quality of food. We serve good food at affordable prices."

Echoed Kiran Chaurasia, who runs "Shree Bewakoof": "The unusual name and success story of other hotels prompted me to open a restaurant with a touch of bewakoof."

The 'bewakoof' restaurants are located in the court complex here.

"People can laugh at the names. But we are not fools," says a smiling Chaurasia. "In fact we 'fools' are doing good business!"

The story of the 'bewakoof' success began almost six years ago. Gopi Ram, a local, opened a food joint called "Hotel Bewakoof", inspired by the ridicule of the people who widely referred to him as a fool.

His restaurant did well and became a role model. Now there are a dozen odd restaurants here with the 'bewakoof' tag.