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Fickle people, sooty Delhi air, suffocating college timetables, lonesome February winds – and the only lifelong companion – FOOD!
Something that the Gen-Z, I especially, survive on and thrives on.
But what is being made of delicious food items these days really breaks my heart.
Here’s what I am referring to-
Presenting, The Sizzling ‘Politics Of Food’:
A plethora of Indian cuisines has since eternity (and till eternity hopefully) been known for their rich flavour and mouth-watering tastes. The best part being that our country harbours an infinite number of varieties of food, which are appreciated all across the world.
Unfortunately, like most other sane things and people, food too these days is being made a victim to the dirty realm of politics.
This began with the ludicrous beef ban, which was a move both appreciated and criticised. That was just the beginning. The politics around the beloved Biryani was all the more disappointing to my crazy-for-biryani tummy.
The hullabaloo around the ‘Karachi Bakery’ changing its name was nothing short than funny. An outlet of the widely famed bakery in Bangalore was chased by the mob, which incredulously demanded that the bakery cover the ‘Karachi’ in their name.
Comparatively new to the emerging culture is the Poha controversy. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi lately took a gibe at the government for its frenzied name-changing. He said that ‘halwa’ is an Arabic name and so, shall its name be changed too.
My favourite of all is the Poha controversy and its aftermath. A leader from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that some construction workers at his home were “Bangladeshis”, as they ate only flattened rice or poha.
Also Read: Bengaluru Police Commissioner Wants Pizza Companies To Make Delivery Time 40 Minutes Instead Of 30
Now, this seems like a very on-the-go and effective strategy to determine the nationality of people, much similar to the beef-consuming people being called “Pakistanis”.
What is more interesting here are the way the terms Bangladeshi or Pakistani cease to remain nationalities and are reduced to being mere catcalls to humiliate people who don’t conform to the mainstream or majoritarian ways.
Let us not further this rapidly growing politicization around food. The crux of the matter is that this whole demeaning of absolutely tasty delicacies is unfair and dumb.
I might as well sympathise with these politicians, as this is unarguably the stupidest one of all.
A Hindi poem by Sundeep Chopra comes to my mind as a defence of food:
“Dharti baanti, sagar baanta, mat baanto Pakwaan ko.”
(Apologies for the tampering with the words!)
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: The Economic Times, Republic World, The Print
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