i'm sure millions of Indians like me have felt it before.
That sickening feeling you get when you're about to put that morsel of chicken in your mouth. Just because your vegetarian friend feels you're doing something 'wrong'.
The frustration you feel when you realise that all the restaurants along Marine Drive do not serve non-veg because they're afraid local residents will burn their restaurants down.
The feeling of being an outcast when your landlord asks you to choose between cooking non-veg or leaving your apartment.
i think its time we accept that non-vegetarians are the new untouchables of this country. We've been barraged by religious zealots, health experts, celebrity dieters and housing societies all over the country. i have heard every excuse for justifying vegetarianism, every form of emotional blackmail and even threats to make me stop eating non-vegetarian food.
It all seems bearable. After all, its all done 'unofficially'. No one can actually force me to stop eating non-veg food. Maybe not yet...
There was a piece of news hidden under all the news about IPL, Tibet and Mayawati. A Jain group approached the Supreme Court to stop the slaughter of animals and sale of meat during some festival and (shockingly) the SC agreed! This time aggressive vegetarianism justified by saying, 'Only for nine days'.
Maybe its time to include a 'Right to Eat' in our constitution. But just like our 'Right to free speech', it'll have a rider attached to it: Eating chicken in vegetarian parts of the city will be considered an act of inciting violence. The offender will be remanded to 'protective police custody'.
