I was born into a Brahmin,vegetarian food eating family.
I do not know how my parents took to eating eggs occasionally as no ancestor, typically Brahmin vegetarian had ever eaten eggs or any non-veg food. We loved boiled eggs and my brother from the company he kept liked omelettes. Somebody had suggested that my mother partake eggnog(flip) to build up stamina for badminton ; she swallowed this like medicine but she did not need it as she was endowed with great staying powers on vegetarian food! Still, we ate eggs once a week: I do not know what our orthodox and conservative relatives thought of us. It was my job on the cycle to fetch eggs from the sopmewhat far off shop. I became a confirmed egg eater and had to opt for non vegetarian[NV] food in the mess to get eggs for breakfast – so the other NV dishes at lunch and dinner were readily accepted by my buddies. I could eat eggs at any time and at any meal and as a snack- boiled, fried, sunny-side up, scrambled, omelette, egg bhurji and poached eggs where a cook could make these well. On Sundays, after a very strenuous time at racquet games I would be famished. I relied on eggs for energy and proteins so much that I would often eat 6 to 8 eggs any way I fancied till my hunger was sated!. Eating out with company I would order egg curry while others had meat dishes. For a year as a grass widower I survived on noodles and eggs. In my UK visits we would often have a heavy breakfast of eggs at a greasy spoon cafe. Back in India I found that the eggs now had an unpleasant smell that would put me off eggs for long periods. In February 2012 I last had eggs and since then have not craved for eggs.
Now I can be called a born-again vegetarian and like all vegetarian Indians there is an innate revulsion in eating off dead animals! Our systems are not designed to handle meat and our dietary needs are well met by vegetarian fare if you can learn not to pamper your taste buds and can curb your desire for non-vegetarian food. Besides non-veg. is far costlier, getting lesser and lesser, is revolting to the uninitiated, takes longer to prepare and cook, needs spicing up to mask it’s bloody smell, is hard on our digestion and can lead to obesity and certain diseases. Non-veg. food is also known to cause food poisoning if it is not handled hygienaclly. It is a myth that non-veg. eating persons are stronger or healthier. Non-veg. food can be offensive in major sections of India and to Indians. Generally non-veg. food is known to go hand in hand with alcohol and words “ sharabi” and “ kababi” go together; it is sometimes said that NV food makes you like the animal that you eat!. The production and distribution of meat involves inhuman treatment of animals, poor hygiene, synthesized production and animal slaughter that if seen puts off the most hard-hearted person from meat. The fear of tainted meat always exists in India where climatically the people are better off eating vegetarian food.
In the past 50 years, the growing population, the increasing number of people taking to non-veg food, the over-exploitation of meat, sea-food and poultry has made the hard core non-veg’s life difficult as it is becoming exorbitant. The sizable population which has gone non-veg is due to: the myth that it makes them stronger or more potent; due to its addiction with alcohol induced NV eating, and merely to keep up with others. The reality on date is that people who swear by NV food every day cannot afford it; in fact it costs a pile to put a NV dish on the table for a family of four- in that amount they can live well for a week!. As per me in India NV food is all about pampering the taste buds as it is no way superior to veg food nutritionally or health wise. This fact is hard to swallow for the NV persons who quickly frown in disbelief when the needed or desired NV stuff is either not available at affordable prices or in short supply. I can see that the times ahead will be hard for the NV consumers and they will have to do with veg food or burn a hole in their pocket for NV food ! I am glad that I can live happily on veg food of the simplest type.
As a born vegetarian I saw signboards “ Jhatka Mutton” I was intrigued and remained so because meat was taboo in our home. After marriage I had to make a pretense of eating the meat dishes at my in-laws home, so as not to offend them. Later under the influence of alcohol I took to meat and a little later did not say no to fetch meat and fish from the market! I learnt the gory details of “ halal “ and “ jhatka”- in both the animal was made to suffer and die to feed humans Halal is akin to kosher but to me meat eating is repulsive!
Worldwide the seafood/catch has dwindled and where it is the staple, serious problems are ahead. In India too the Bengali’s favourite Hilsa is in short supply and there are plans to import it from SE Asia. I also see that the droves of Meat on Hoof going from pasture to pasture have reduced. The compulsive NV eater has been driven to consume more chicken thereby driving up the price- most of the poultry in India is artificially inseminated and raised for the table. It seems that this does not matter so long as they can taste the meat!. One time we had a hard- core meat eating family over for a meal. Though they ate a very well made soya nuggets curry with zest they thought that it was mutton and complimented us on the the availibility of good mutton in our area Hard times are ahead for the NV people and due to rising prices and they are turning to vegetarian produce and creating a shortage and price rise there too! The lowly pumpkin and the lavki( bottle gourd) now cost as much as the other “royal” vegetables. As children we used to collect the pumpkin seeds and after they had dried out in the sun we ate the delicious and health-giving kernels. Nothing was wasted in the old days: most vegetables and particularly the potato was eaten with skin intact. In fact we used to place a potato or an onion in the hot ashes of the sigri to roast and ate it with relish. At the risk of perhaps being repetitive I have to add that in our growing up days the foodstuff that came to the market was only the best therefore the common man ate wholesome food and it was eaten hot off the fire in an age when the fridge had not come into our life and made us eat stale and warmed-up food. In addition to the seasonal vegetables, a leafy green called bareja( grown under betelnut leaf cultivation) was eaten in the summers with great relish. From the many lakes in my hometown came water chestnuts or shingadas that were cheap and in plenty: boiled and roasted the flesh was most delicious and nutritious.
Only now, people are learning the healthy benefits of gourds, jackfruit and papaya and drink the juices of the bitter and bottle gourd at the new fad juice centres. Tthe population has greatly outstripped the supply and ordinary homes are compelled to eat lower grade grains and vegetables- it is no wonder that they say 60 % of India is unwell and unhealthy.
When I ate out alone or with family and friends I would be the lone vegetarian who then ate eggs. So, my choice was invariably egg curry and rotis/ nan with butter. At Shere Punjab Bombay near VT I would eat baingan bharta instead of egg curry. I always preferred one dish only with rotis and I called it “ Ek goli ek dushman”.
Since I quit eggs my choice is very limited and when nothing looks appetizing I go for stuffed parathas because nothing drastically can go wrong in these at any eatery or restaurant- I can enjoy stuffed parathas at any meal and breakfast too!
The born and sworn NV people often taken vicarious pleasure in heaping scorn on vegetarians, saying with derision and tauntingly,” I cannot survive on amtya- bhajya ( pulses and vegetables)” in Marathi, and calling leafy greens as “ ghaas phoos” ( grass and weeds) in Hindi. I think that generations of meat eating has made them intolerant, narrow-minded and haters of vegetarians! Treating a vegetarian at a restaurant or home is considered a drag as a vegetarian dish has to be ordered or made! The non-vegetarian likes to smirk at the vegetarian as a ” ghaas phoos” ( grass and weeds) eating person and thinks that a vegetarian is a weakling. That is very debatable…….
The truth is that being a non-vegetarian is considered to be macho and in homes a non-veg dish will be made after much slog but a lot of fuss will be made over the simpler vegetarian one- cooks are losing the art of making lip-smacking vegetarian dishes. Everybody thinks that NV cooking is difficult; those in the know will tell you making delectable vegetarian dishes is a higher culinary skill.
Another misconception that prevails is that NV food has greater variety. In restaurants the menu is tailored for NV dishes as these provide the biggest margins of profit. Vegetarian dishes are cheaper and truth be told there is a far greater variety in vegetarian food! I know that all this may not go down well with non=vegetarians who pride themselves as ” superior”. This begs the question, Why do we eat? If the answer is : To Live and be healthy then vegetarian food is unrivalled. If it is, ” Live to eat” I have nothing to say! A vegetarian will be content with whatever is available locally but the non-vegetarian , say a mutton and chicken eater will get nothing in an exclusively beef and pork country and will have to survive on de vegetarian food! I have known staunch non-vegetarians to recoil at the very idea of eating cockroaches, dog, camel, bush and roo meat.
takeitfrommetoo 