Veggie Delight
My views on non-vegetarianism is not different from that of vegetarianism. Everyone has a right to choose their food in a buffet ! I needed a red twisted ear to choose mine, unfortunately.
"NO egg, NO meat, NO mushroom. Is there anything ?"...is my usual reply to the question "what would you like to have sir ?"... though grammatically incorrect, it is the only genuine and most direct way of asking a person what i want. Much of my energy over the next ten minutes is wasted in confirming with the waitress about the contents of a particular delicacy.
"One VEG Pizza, no egg, no meat (duh!), no mushroom.", the waitress would repeat confirming my order, with a slightly puzzled look on her face. May be she was wondering what ingredients to put in when it looked like i had asked her to take out everything except the pizza base. Ha ! she's lucky i stopped there, otherwise someone did mention even the cheese wasn't entirely "vegetarian" if one includes the process that is used to make them!
Of course one can't blame me for this, and i am only too happy not to hold myself responsible either. Many here find my display of vegetarianism offensive, but so do i when Yong Lee asks "NO egg also ?!!!" when i order for "VEG Fried rice, no egg". From where i come, a similar order would have been understood and assimilated in a jiffy while the hotel guy happily rakes in the moolah.
One has to be very clear while mentioning what one wants over here. The other day i had ordered a Veggie delight at subway, and asked the lady to "bake it" for me...( i forgot they say 'toast' )...the lady with a weird look, started filling in small pieces of what looked like dried meat!...puzzled i asked "hey i ordered a veg burger, that does not look like veg to me !"
lady: "me neither! it was kind of weird why you asked me to put bacon in a veggie burger!"
me : "eh ? i wanted it baked! not bacon!"
lady:"oh :D...."
Much of my shopping initially over here was based on thought and gumption ....
"PEPPPA-ROO-NEEE.....hmm, i think it's a kind of pepper they sell here....why does it look like carrot pieces though ? put it in, we'll ask the lady at the counter!"...
It's an odd concept - vegetarianism. i am doubly sure we are all born non-veggies of which some choose to be veggies; at least the stomach's sporty about the idea of a non-veg diet. As in its like owning a car that can do 150 mph while most would be ecstatic to reach 30 mph in bangalore. So while i get entangled into a leaf eating routine for the rest of my life and save the "crores" of goats and sheeps, my alter ego munches over the ones i "saved", in absolute bliss.
In due time i realized though, that it's a choice we make more than anything else that determines what we eat, and has nothing to do with whether we go to hell or heaven, if there was one in the first place!
As a kid, i was brainwashed and hand ironed into thinking that being a vegetarian was the only logical step in my eventful life as a human being. My grandmother was the veggie-cop at home who'd sniff around even the slightest smell off us, often ending up dissapointed on finding that it was my sock that needed washing more than my belly that needed cleansing.
My Granny had taken the veggie thingy way too personally ! It used to be an absolute entertainer to watch my grandmother use the choisest words in kannada, tamil, hindi and sometimes even in urdu to berate the fish seller who'd dare to lurk around on our street.
"Shiva shiva ! en thandyo belge belge ! badmaash ! nin maneg benki haaka !"
( What have you got ! you rabid thief ! hope someone sets your house on fire!"),
would come the volley of curses from my granny, while only 2 seconds ago she'd be chanting "Shiva shiva, paramaathma, olledaaglappa ellargu!" ( Dear Lord, let everyone live happily!)....the fisherboy would be at his wits' end to comprehend the reason for such a sudden outburst of anger.
while we used to enjoy rolling and lauging at the puzzled fish seller , we'd make sure our nose was tightly closed with a thick towel. I'd even tuck my nose into my t-shirt just to leave my hands free, so that i could point at the fish seller and roll in laughter. Unable to stand my granny's taunts he finally came up with a clever idea. He'd leave the fish box at the end of our street, walk to each and every house tapping their gates, shouting "MEEEN MEEEEN !!!"(fish!, fish!). It made his job all the more difficult considering that, earlier, propective customers on our street would come out to buy the fish at the smell of it rather than his shouts!"....and needless to say this change in his strategy gave us bouts of laughter even "non-stop nonsense" could'nt manage. Our neighbour, an american lady on tour, must have wondered why he taps at her gate and calls her 'Mean ! Mean !' when she had no recollection of ever offending him!
Granny used to go to great lengths to protect the 'sanctity' of our place and the surroundings by trying to keep it free from anything non-living as possible. I had secretly vowed to sleep less while she was around, lest she take me for dead and throw me out unceremoniously like the dead rodent brought in by the neighborhood cat. She'd not let anyone into the kitchen if she got an inkling of doubt that he/she was a non-veggie. Considering that my kitchen was a place i frequented most while at home, i could not imagine not being let into it because i laid hands on something non-veg!....the fear did sink in well!
Nonetheless, it did not deter me to use this idea to irritate granny whenever the opportunity came up that had the potential to disprove her theory. One day i was watching this kannada movie called "bedara kannappa" ( kannappa , the hunter). I pretty much was enjoying the movie until a scene in it required the protagonist to present Lord Shiva with something to eat. I was quite sure that as always it would be the usual offering of milk with some fruits and stuff, but fate took a different turn that day.
out of the blue, kannappa shouted in the movie,
Kannappa : " Oh Lord, please accept this dead rabbit as my offering to you and bless my soul!"
Shocked out of my skin, i immediately turned towards my granny for an answer, who looked as puzzled as the fisherboy was when my granny had chosen him to use her huge vocab of curses. She had convinced me that not only were humans born veggies, Lord Shiva was a veggie by birth too !...now that's taking things too far, one might argue.
I knew granny was thinking fast, so i decided to play spoil sport..
me : "nodaajji !!!, shiva goo maamsa thinnok aasey, adikke kannappa kottidanna thagond bitta! Iga parvathi shiva na aDuge maneg sersolla !"
(Look granny ! Lord Shiva happily accepted the dead rabbit, now parvati will not let him in her kitchen!")
offended and beyond speech, granny screamed to my mother,
"nodey ee jaggi ododanna bittu TV mundgaDe kuthidaane !"
(Look, your son's watching TV instead of Studying!)
with a badly twisted red ear i spent the rest of the day reading "ajanta caves" with leaves for dinner. Smartness isn't an asset if one does not use it smartly, i thought of myself, yet thanking kannappa just for the heck of it.
My Questioning spirit somehow didn't appeal to the gods either, and i'd innocently get into things i'd rather be away from.
It was a time, when teachers didn't expect me to be able to count more than 10 and clapped for spelling my name correctly. My intense liking for dosas is a fact many can't say they dont know. One day i had been to this neighbour aunty's house while she was busy making dosas. How could have i resisted that ?! i pestered aunty to give me some too.
aunty : "Nodu jaggi, idu special dosey, nim maneli maadodilla...sari na ?" ( This is a special dosa they dont make at your house)
me: "sari, dosey ne taane aadre ?"...( but it's dosa only right ?)
aunty: "howdu, aadre special...parvaagilva ?" ..( yeah, but it's a special dosa, is it ok ?)
me:"sari" ...(ok!)
after two hot dosas, which tasted way different from the usual ones mother made at home, i decided that it was time my mother learnt to make such dosas and went back home.
Me: "amma, ivath aunty maneli dose thinde...aunty special dosey andru" ( I ate special dosa in aunty's house today)
mother:" yaav aunty no ? padma aunty na ?" (Which aunty ?!!! padma aunty ??!!!)
me :"Howdu, dosey chenaagithu!" ( Yeah ! it was great !)
mother:"special antha heldra ?"( Did she mention 'special' ?) ...now concerned
me:"howdu. num maneli maadolvanthe....yaake ?" ( Yeah !, and also that we don't make it at our house.....why, may i ask ?)...now almost agitated.
mother: !!!!
mother :" hegitho adu ??" ( How was it ?)
me:"upppupp ithamma, mathe yellow ithu" ( it was salty salty, and yellow)
mother:" madhyadalli billee itha ?" ( was it white at the center ? )
me:"howdu!! ninge madodikke barutha ?"( Yeah ! do u know how to make it ?)....full wide smile !
mother: "ayyo ayyo paapi omelette thindu bandyeno ?!!" ( You evil sinner ! you ate omelette at aunty's place ????")
me: "eh ??? oh!"....shell shocked
mother:" ammma, nodu nin mommaga omelette thindbandidaane!!!" ( Mother !! look your grandson's eaten omlette and come home !)..... Fuming like a kettle...
now, now..this was not required! granny had had her quota of curses in the morning!
granny: "ene adu ?" ( What is it ? )
mother:"jaggi motte thindu bandidaane !" ( Jaggi has eaten EGG !! )
granny: !!!! "ayyo ayyo paapistha motte thindyeno !!! shiva shiva" ( oh you evil sinner !! did you eat EGG ???)
ME : kannappa, kaapadappa !!
me: "dosey ajji thindiddu naanu, motte alla !" ( No granny, it was dosey ! not egg !)
what followed was a sequence of slaps on my cheeks alternating with pinches on my ears, with tears rolling like there was a hole in my eyes. mother had already gone out to kick aunty, while granny took time off to give me some good old spanking.
well, rest as they say is history, but it was a evil day for me...probably that time of my life when i permanently switched the "to non-veg mode" off out of fear.
eons later, one day
while NEC's ad "anDe khao monday Khao, murgi ke anDe" was titillatingly well made, one news bit announced that day "now we get vegetarian eggs!"
i couldnt believe my eyes !!!! so finally the egg decided to be a vegetarian after all, i convinced myself, while turning towards my mother who also was keenly listening to it.
"ammma, motte non-veg alvanthe!" ( Look egg is not non-veg !). ... Almost sounding like my point was just vindicated.
Mother was quiet :D.....granny was busy driving the mosquitoes out.... and my taboo stayed on...
It's Veggie Delight ever since for me( with the exception of cakes :D), though it could have easily been V-egg-ie Delight had it not been for that fateful day!
"NO egg, NO meat, NO mushroom. Is there anything ?"...is my usual reply to the question "what would you like to have sir ?"... though grammatically incorrect, it is the only genuine and most direct way of asking a person what i want. Much of my energy over the next ten minutes is wasted in confirming with the waitress about the contents of a particular delicacy.
"One VEG Pizza, no egg, no meat (duh!), no mushroom.", the waitress would repeat confirming my order, with a slightly puzzled look on her face. May be she was wondering what ingredients to put in when it looked like i had asked her to take out everything except the pizza base. Ha ! she's lucky i stopped there, otherwise someone did mention even the cheese wasn't entirely "vegetarian" if one includes the process that is used to make them!
Of course one can't blame me for this, and i am only too happy not to hold myself responsible either. Many here find my display of vegetarianism offensive, but so do i when Yong Lee asks "NO egg also ?!!!" when i order for "VEG Fried rice, no egg". From where i come, a similar order would have been understood and assimilated in a jiffy while the hotel guy happily rakes in the moolah.
One has to be very clear while mentioning what one wants over here. The other day i had ordered a Veggie delight at subway, and asked the lady to "bake it" for me...( i forgot they say 'toast' )...the lady with a weird look, started filling in small pieces of what looked like dried meat!...puzzled i asked "hey i ordered a veg burger, that does not look like veg to me !"
lady: "me neither! it was kind of weird why you asked me to put bacon in a veggie burger!"
me : "eh ? i wanted it baked! not bacon!"
lady:"oh :D...."
Much of my shopping initially over here was based on thought and gumption ....
"PEPPPA-ROO-NEEE.....hmm, i think it's a kind of pepper they sell here....why does it look like carrot pieces though ? put it in, we'll ask the lady at the counter!"...
It's an odd concept - vegetarianism. i am doubly sure we are all born non-veggies of which some choose to be veggies; at least the stomach's sporty about the idea of a non-veg diet. As in its like owning a car that can do 150 mph while most would be ecstatic to reach 30 mph in bangalore. So while i get entangled into a leaf eating routine for the rest of my life and save the "crores" of goats and sheeps, my alter ego munches over the ones i "saved", in absolute bliss.
In due time i realized though, that it's a choice we make more than anything else that determines what we eat, and has nothing to do with whether we go to hell or heaven, if there was one in the first place!
As a kid, i was brainwashed and hand ironed into thinking that being a vegetarian was the only logical step in my eventful life as a human being. My grandmother was the veggie-cop at home who'd sniff around even the slightest smell off us, often ending up dissapointed on finding that it was my sock that needed washing more than my belly that needed cleansing.
My Granny had taken the veggie thingy way too personally ! It used to be an absolute entertainer to watch my grandmother use the choisest words in kannada, tamil, hindi and sometimes even in urdu to berate the fish seller who'd dare to lurk around on our street.
"Shiva shiva ! en thandyo belge belge ! badmaash ! nin maneg benki haaka !"
( What have you got ! you rabid thief ! hope someone sets your house on fire!"),
would come the volley of curses from my granny, while only 2 seconds ago she'd be chanting "Shiva shiva, paramaathma, olledaaglappa ellargu!" ( Dear Lord, let everyone live happily!)....the fisherboy would be at his wits' end to comprehend the reason for such a sudden outburst of anger.
while we used to enjoy rolling and lauging at the puzzled fish seller , we'd make sure our nose was tightly closed with a thick towel. I'd even tuck my nose into my t-shirt just to leave my hands free, so that i could point at the fish seller and roll in laughter. Unable to stand my granny's taunts he finally came up with a clever idea. He'd leave the fish box at the end of our street, walk to each and every house tapping their gates, shouting "MEEEN MEEEEN !!!"(fish!, fish!). It made his job all the more difficult considering that, earlier, propective customers on our street would come out to buy the fish at the smell of it rather than his shouts!"....and needless to say this change in his strategy gave us bouts of laughter even "non-stop nonsense" could'nt manage. Our neighbour, an american lady on tour, must have wondered why he taps at her gate and calls her 'Mean ! Mean !' when she had no recollection of ever offending him!
Granny used to go to great lengths to protect the 'sanctity' of our place and the surroundings by trying to keep it free from anything non-living as possible. I had secretly vowed to sleep less while she was around, lest she take me for dead and throw me out unceremoniously like the dead rodent brought in by the neighborhood cat. She'd not let anyone into the kitchen if she got an inkling of doubt that he/she was a non-veggie. Considering that my kitchen was a place i frequented most while at home, i could not imagine not being let into it because i laid hands on something non-veg!....the fear did sink in well!
Nonetheless, it did not deter me to use this idea to irritate granny whenever the opportunity came up that had the potential to disprove her theory. One day i was watching this kannada movie called "bedara kannappa" ( kannappa , the hunter). I pretty much was enjoying the movie until a scene in it required the protagonist to present Lord Shiva with something to eat. I was quite sure that as always it would be the usual offering of milk with some fruits and stuff, but fate took a different turn that day.
out of the blue, kannappa shouted in the movie,
Kannappa : " Oh Lord, please accept this dead rabbit as my offering to you and bless my soul!"
Shocked out of my skin, i immediately turned towards my granny for an answer, who looked as puzzled as the fisherboy was when my granny had chosen him to use her huge vocab of curses. She had convinced me that not only were humans born veggies, Lord Shiva was a veggie by birth too !...now that's taking things too far, one might argue.
I knew granny was thinking fast, so i decided to play spoil sport..
me : "nodaajji !!!, shiva goo maamsa thinnok aasey, adikke kannappa kottidanna thagond bitta! Iga parvathi shiva na aDuge maneg sersolla !"
(Look granny ! Lord Shiva happily accepted the dead rabbit, now parvati will not let him in her kitchen!")
offended and beyond speech, granny screamed to my mother,
"nodey ee jaggi ododanna bittu TV mundgaDe kuthidaane !"
(Look, your son's watching TV instead of Studying!)
with a badly twisted red ear i spent the rest of the day reading "ajanta caves" with leaves for dinner. Smartness isn't an asset if one does not use it smartly, i thought of myself, yet thanking kannappa just for the heck of it.
My Questioning spirit somehow didn't appeal to the gods either, and i'd innocently get into things i'd rather be away from.
It was a time, when teachers didn't expect me to be able to count more than 10 and clapped for spelling my name correctly. My intense liking for dosas is a fact many can't say they dont know. One day i had been to this neighbour aunty's house while she was busy making dosas. How could have i resisted that ?! i pestered aunty to give me some too.
aunty : "Nodu jaggi, idu special dosey, nim maneli maadodilla...sari na ?" ( This is a special dosa they dont make at your house)
me: "sari, dosey ne taane aadre ?"...( but it's dosa only right ?)
aunty: "howdu, aadre special...parvaagilva ?" ..( yeah, but it's a special dosa, is it ok ?)
me:"sari" ...(ok!)
after two hot dosas, which tasted way different from the usual ones mother made at home, i decided that it was time my mother learnt to make such dosas and went back home.
Me: "amma, ivath aunty maneli dose thinde...aunty special dosey andru" ( I ate special dosa in aunty's house today)
mother:" yaav aunty no ? padma aunty na ?" (Which aunty ?!!! padma aunty ??!!!)
me :"Howdu, dosey chenaagithu!" ( Yeah ! it was great !)
mother:"special antha heldra ?"( Did she mention 'special' ?) ...now concerned
me:"howdu. num maneli maadolvanthe....yaake ?" ( Yeah !, and also that we don't make it at our house.....why, may i ask ?)...now almost agitated.
mother: !!!!
mother :" hegitho adu ??" ( How was it ?)
me:"upppupp ithamma, mathe yellow ithu" ( it was salty salty, and yellow)
mother:" madhyadalli billee itha ?" ( was it white at the center ? )
me:"howdu!! ninge madodikke barutha ?"( Yeah ! do u know how to make it ?)....full wide smile !
mother: "ayyo ayyo paapi omelette thindu bandyeno ?!!" ( You evil sinner ! you ate omelette at aunty's place ????")
me: "eh ??? oh!"....shell shocked
mother:" ammma, nodu nin mommaga omelette thindbandidaane!!!" ( Mother !! look your grandson's eaten omlette and come home !)..... Fuming like a kettle...
now, now..this was not required! granny had had her quota of curses in the morning!
granny: "ene adu ?" ( What is it ? )
mother:"jaggi motte thindu bandidaane !" ( Jaggi has eaten EGG !! )
granny: !!!! "ayyo ayyo paapistha motte thindyeno !!! shiva shiva" ( oh you evil sinner !! did you eat EGG ???)
ME : kannappa, kaapadappa !!
me: "dosey ajji thindiddu naanu, motte alla !" ( No granny, it was dosey ! not egg !)
what followed was a sequence of slaps on my cheeks alternating with pinches on my ears, with tears rolling like there was a hole in my eyes. mother had already gone out to kick aunty, while granny took time off to give me some good old spanking.
well, rest as they say is history, but it was a evil day for me...probably that time of my life when i permanently switched the "to non-veg mode" off out of fear.
eons later, one day
while NEC's ad "anDe khao monday Khao, murgi ke anDe" was titillatingly well made, one news bit announced that day "now we get vegetarian eggs!"
i couldnt believe my eyes !!!! so finally the egg decided to be a vegetarian after all, i convinced myself, while turning towards my mother who also was keenly listening to it.
"ammma, motte non-veg alvanthe!" ( Look egg is not non-veg !). ... Almost sounding like my point was just vindicated.
Mother was quiet :D.....granny was busy driving the mosquitoes out.... and my taboo stayed on...
It's Veggie Delight ever since for me( with the exception of cakes :D), though it could have easily been V-egg-ie Delight had it not been for that fateful day!
posted by Jagadish at 6:14 PM
35 Comments:
Nimajji shaapa thatatte nodu :D..
aduke helde beef thinno illi antha.
Did you know its blashphemy to abuse fish for a mallu :D?
hehehe :D.....no non-veg for me :P...
level article maga:-)...
-boda.
thanks boda ;)....that omelette thingy still gives me the nightmares :D
Oh my god!
Juggs, your sense of humour never came down (even in non-veg world!).
Superb writeup dude, my favourite bits being-
1. Veggie cop (granny)
2. Smartness isn't an asset if one does not use it smartly
3. v-EGG-ie Delight
Being not very different from your story, mine too had similar incidents, though I never ventured to eat that "special dosa" :-)
hahaha thanks Supreeth :D...
hmmm, i am definitely interested in listening to those incidents of yours :)...
non-veg world nalli "veg-only" anta andu andu saakaagi hogide, bega illinda right heldre saaku...naane Aduge maadkond saakagide :D
:)
my colleagues look into my dabbi and ask what it is.. i say this is this and this is this... they say ok where is food?
k!
this is a delight indeed.. and its the best veggie delight i hav had! :D
I reckon that i have told this many times before.. but u still are THE BEST when it comes to blogging!
(applause)
So when do u plan to take me to a leaves and fruits early man kinda dinner? :P
I promise to bring indian masala along for the bland vegetarian food we are bound to eat. ;)
anon: thanks! glad u liked it :)
oh no! not to a leaves and fruits dinner ! hmmm i wouldnt want my guests to suffer like i do :P...
hey pj, good one :)...time pass alva ? :D
super jaggi, go on. keep writing. ur the best blogger i have ever met
Hmm. I am vegetarian and it is not out of fear of going to hell that I stay that way nor is it a 'brahminical' rule that has been etched onto my brain since childhood.
I think each one needs to find his/her reason to be vegetarian or non-vegetarian. There are a lot of people who cannot change because of the way they are brought up and yet secretly wish they weren't that way: that goes for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
I personally believe that if one cannot go out there, look the chicken in its eye and heartlessly slash it to death without feeling a scintilla of remorse then eating the chicken killed by someone else amounts to scavenging.
-kk
Hey Kk,
I believe there is no reason to take on a very cannibalistic attitude towards a lifestyle such as non-vegetarian.
I think even if trees and plants had legs and hands and were barking.. then you would be thinkin twice before eating them.
Like that, all living things are then banned from eating.. and that will lead to demise of the whole dynasty of living beings all together.
so the law of jungle still holds... the one who is capable of eating shall do so. it cant be changed for any moral reasons. Early man did eat non vegetarian it was his lifestyle.
so us boasting to be vegetarians right from the aadi vaasi(early man) is not true. So at some point we have changed for moral reasons... if they hold true to u. then continue or else jump to the other side.
kokimahesh: hey thanks :)...glad u liked it :D
kk: your point is right about us making the choice, but i didnt get your point about the chicken thing you have mentioned....it is a cycle isnt it ?...food chain etc...
If everyone were to be veggies, then there wouldnt have been enough vegetables and grains to feed so many people, isnt it ?
hey pj, good one :)...time pass alva ? :D
Hun kano...
also its just how much ppl here find veggie silly and not something that fills stomach... kinda ulta of how we look at meat as something that can;t be eaten and that its shitty and cruel and all..
k!
Hey Kirthi, I'm inclined to disagree with you... yet again! Let me give you an analogy... you love trees. You don't like to see them cut, and you would never actually go and cut down a tree. Hence, if you don't have the heart to cut down a tree, you shouldn't be using paper at all. Or wooden furniture. Etcetera.
You're right that we all have our own reasons for being vegetarian or non-vegetarian... but being non-vegetarian doesn't make a person amoral or a murderer by proxy. Drawing such distant connections is trying to paint everything in life in black and white. Thats not how it works.
Jagadish, sorry to spoil the humour with all this serious stuff :) nice, funny post... carry on, dude!
PJ: :D ... funny how different cultures can think so differently...or is it because their concept of vegetarianism extends only up to 'raw fruits and vegetables'....may be they don't know about Dosey and idli :D
Prashanth: that's a good point. Anonymous makes the same point too about trees. funny i didnt get this point earlier...as in 15 years ago :D...i could have put it across granny then :P...
about bringing in serious stuff here :D....that's ok, as long as i am not in the line of fire :D :D...
:)) nicely written! enjoyed readin it!
shub and intern : thanks :)...glad u liked it :P....
KOKIMAHESH.......??!! hmmm!! nice one...just one thing put fullstops once in a while atleast i dont understand some of ur sentences(mebbe becos i forget the first part of the sentence b4 i finish)
i forgot my userid and password can i post my write-ups in urs?!?!?! ;) ;)
--neeraja
neeraja: :)....hmmm, yeah some of my sentences are quite long....will have to do something about it :)...
oh ! u forgot ur userid again !...well it would cost you money if you want to post on my website ;) :P....
Good one. Being in veggie friend (Jain family) circle in my childhood I was veggie, even though mom used to cook at home, I never showed interest in having it. Non-veggie stuff was fading from my life until the day, I came to USA and realized that I cannot live anymore without spicy food.
Even now, my frist perference goes to veggie food. Leaves are betters than flesh. :-) I enjoy being a veggie in China, wonderful place to survive as veggie.
suneel
Jagadish :) great to read your posts... and your ajji swears just like a typical ajji :)
Firstly, This was very funny and i could completely identify myself with ur story..
Punya Ajji nimage gomutra/Ganjala kudiyoke heL liLla.. My grandfather did that to one of my cousins..Yuck i wonder how he drank it..
Mom has her inhibitions too.. My bro is a Veggie at home and a non-Veggie(at times) outside.. For me it a bit different. Pattavaagi non veg hodhDe yeradu sali, adhre ashtondu ishtavagliLla adhuke bitte..
When mom came to know my bro drinks sometimes and eats non veg all she had to say was" Nimagella munji bere, neevu brahmanaru anthe. CHee..Nan Maneli nan satmelu koli kuri saayas baradu" Wonder how that wud happen though..
Suneel: strange to hear that china a good place to be a vegetarian ! i thought that was the last where one can aspire to be a vegetarian :P
VC: thanks :P....oh you should hear the creative swears my grandmother used to come up with. She'd go non-stop cursing around whenever anyone ticked her off :P...
some very creative swears i remember which she used to use are:
"LangDa nai", "Community nai", "nin maney kai Hoga!" and so on....my uncle used to get a lot of these from granny, and i used to sit next to her whenever she used to take uncle to task, just to hear her spew curses on him, and laugh at uncle :D :D....he couldn't hit me, and couldnt stop ajji :D :D....never seen someone so helpless :D :D...
Shubhaprada: thanks :P...oh i've had my share of problems with ganjala, though no one ever forced me to drink it. Ajji did try to convince me once, saying "It's good for your memory!"...(Ah! well yes i'll never be able to forget it, if i ever drink it). I can understand your cousin's plight though :D...
hahaha ...parvaagilla dhairya maadi try maadbitri neevu anni non-veg :P.... nange inna non-veg thinno yochney bandilla, attisi konDu bandu vodithaare amma haagenaadru maadidare :P..
bangaloreguy: thanks :P...soppina ruchi numge gothu ;)
Prashanth(MSP):
He he he .... me veggie and don't eat onion/garlic who till a couple of years back did not have "cheese".
So imagine how i ordered my food in US of A.
"XYZ dish, NO meat NO fish, NO chicken, NO Egg, NO onion, NO garlic, NO cheese, NO mayoneese" ......
and then wait till the bizzare expression of "a baby being woken up from sleep and then scared to its wits end" created by the above barrage of words slowly drains from his face ...
and then almost audibly mutters " ...%&@* Indians" before serving with a big smile "Enjoy your 'food', sir".
and me thought I was wierd.
Heyy!! Long, long, long time since I checked your blog! You're so ha-ha juggy! :) JFYI, I realised that most veggies are veggie by background initially and then by choice. No point arguing about it being brahminical or otherwise... it's just the way society develops! And vegetarianism, was a much later introduction into 'hindu practices'. Precisely, it was a product of times considered a period of rennaissance/revival, with Adi Shankara (8AD). This was also a time, when Buddhism was very popular. Ahimsa was the philosophy that was adopted back into hinduism. So much for the half-baked-gyan :)
Prashant : :P...vwggie needs are sometimes excruciatingly difficult to fulfill :D
hey Deepa !
thanks :P...
yeah its been a really long time since you last commented here :)...
hmm...vegetarianism surely was a later addition into the system, and probably has more to do with preachers than to do with going to heaven/hell :P....
like u mention, a veggie is by background initially and later by choice ....
I really lost track of the comments. And it seems everyone appears to have taken the 'scavenging' part of my statement too seriously. And probably no one noticed that I said 'I believe': I am not expecting any reader to be swayed by my statements or switch to vegetarianism.
You are talking about ecological balances?? Do you know how skewed the ecological balance becomes when you have aritificially created hatcheries and poultries or for that matter the endangerment to several species (whales, tigers, deer) when people for the sake of preparing 'delicacies' hack them down mercilessly?
Lets leave all that aside and look at it from a slightly different angle: I have colleague who enjoys eating chicken because it tastes good. He was a vegetarian and still claims to be one (puhleez!!!) Yet he would chicken out from the kitchen when his roomies brought the chicken out of the fridge to cook it. Well if you don't have the gall to see it then why eat it?
Forget about ajjis and pattis: what does your mind tell you? Do you feel good about the food you eat?
kirthi: i do get ur point of view, and i held this view for a long time too. However, there are practical problems we need to address before we can expect everyone to be vegetarian ( assuming that the idea behind this discussion is to protect the countless hapless chickens and cows).
1. What is the practical alternative to non-veg ? is it possible to grow the req amount of grains each year if everyone turns veggie ?
2. what about the land required to cultivate these grains ? with the ever increasing population, where can u get more land to grow food ? cut down trees, burn down forests ?..well that is going to do more harm to the system than carrying on with poultry etc..
3. do u suggest that humans shouldnt touch non-veg ? y ? they might call it a delicacy and eat it, but it is still because they are hungry in most cases when they eat it...forget the small percentage which do it for fun...
as to your question whether i feel good about the food i eat...hmmm, :D...yeah, i do :)...veggie food is good :D... but i didnt get your point here again..u mean that if one feels good about the food one eats, then he/she is in his right to eat what one wants ?...and also, if one can see frozen chicken and not chicken out, then is he/she eligible to have that chicken without having to feel guilty about it ?
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