Are you a Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian? Is a frequently heard
inquiry among new acquaintances, at home, at Restaurants and at Parties in
order to seat them as per their food preference or isolate them into groups at
a buffet. Non-Vegetarian preparations are served separately and with caution as
the Vegetarians should not be inconvenienced. Today with Veganism picking up in
the west and slowly creeping into India the problem has become more complex.
The popular Vegetarian category – Paneer, Curd, Ghee, Butter, Khoya and honey
preparations and many more such delicacies are not acceptable to Vegans. So
they should be served a different food, separately and very carefully. Perhaps
to avoid chaos at meals; the population of Vegans and the other Vegetarians in
India who do not eat even root vegetables such as potatoes, onions, carrots,
radish, other roots and tubers is a very small percentage as of now.
I am not sure whether Vegetarianism is picking up in India in
spite of large scale news and articles appearing regularly, explaining the
advantages of Vegetarian food and of avoiding Non-Vegetarian food. I am making
this comment based on the parties I attend in the family and friend circles
where majority of guests enthusiastically opt for Non-Vegetarian food and from
the ratio of Exclusive Vegetarian Restaurants to Non-Vegetarian Restaurants in
the Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad which may be 1:100 or 1:150.
As 1st October is “World Vegetarian Day” and October Month is
being observed as “Vegetarian Awareness Month” in the West, articles have
started appearing locally on advantages of Vegetarianism. In spite of all the
canvassing, people may not avoid Non-Vegetarian food altogether but would
certainly reduce consumption and be selective, less of red meat and more of
poultry and fish; for health reasons. And I fall into this category. I was
never a Non-Vegetarian on a daily basis but a Flexitarian; meaning a
Vegetarian-predominantly, having Non-Veg. food just on six to eight days a
week. Except Beef I am permitted to eat all commonly available Non-Veg. food
and I must say that I relish them.
I have mentioned Pescetarian in the title, which refers to people
like most Bengalis who have fish and shellfish but not meat and poultry. I am
not fully aware of more such terminology categorizing food preferences or
should I say restrictions. But from Airline catalogs I know that they offer a
variety of meal menus like – Moslem meal, Kosher meal, Jain meal and so on.
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