There is a growing resentment
within me and even after knowing that it is created by the government, it still
feels very strong.
Living in the Northern part of
the country and having grown up in the North-East, I love my chicken, fish and
mutton. Because I was born to a Brahmin family thankfully, pork is not one of
my favorite meat. However, I equally like all the vegetarian preparations that
most of my friends have to offer or relish on. Most of my favorite lunch boxes
(yes, Arpita and Anushree I am talking about you guys here!) from college and work
are vegetarian and I can still die for them.
As someone not with a voracious appetite,
if I am the only non-vegetarian in the room, I will always go and enjoy the
vegetarian dishes that my friends would have and up until now I was never
conscious about this fact. It is only in the recent days, in the growing
political scenario of orange uniform and meat ban that I have become protective
of my right to my choice. My diet, my culture somewhere feels threatened. When you
are in minority in terms of your choice and people order all vegetarian food
without asking, I silently hope that my friends are not growing intolerant as
well. When I hear the radio shout from UP to CP, Janata ki party; I feel
threatened (of course in more ways than one!)
Having lived for 10 years in
Delhi, I never had any problem with Navratri. I probably unconsciously had
vegetarian food in the hostel and the PG during Navratri as well. It is only in
this year when anyone gives me a raised eyebrow that I feel the need to clarify
and say it aloud that ‘Yes, I have non-vegetarian even during Navratri and if
you are following your culture, I am following mine.’ Did I sound intolerant there?
Is there a divide created when I said ‘you’ and ‘I’? I have also started judging
the huge rush and all the people who line up at Haldiram’s just to enjoy their
Navratri special thali.
Needless to say that we all come
from different cultures and have different upbringings, and when I say different
culture- I mean food culture as well. I have grown up in the valley of
Brahmaputra and in my hometown, fish is a daily meal. When I fell sick- my
mother gave me plain chicken soup. When there is a festival or ceremony even in
the temples- we are given mutton as a part of the ‘prasad’. So meat becomes a staple diet for me, like maybe Roti for you which we have once in a
week or month. As the constitution (which I know is not always respected in
today’s era) gives me the right to move freely and reside in any part of the country,
here I am sitting in the capital of the country and feeling threatened and hoping that I do not fall sick next time I visit UP.
The sad part about this is, I
realize that maybe my angst is created by an external body, that maybe by
voicing my concern here I am giving them a taste of victory of exactly what
they wanted to create, maybe I am showing that I am vulnerable to the ruling
party who will preside over both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha now, that maybe
and just maybe even after being aware of all of this- I feel threatened.
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