FORTUNE COOKIE: Keep out the Food Taliban  

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s decision to suspend the sale of mutton and chicken on the four days when the Jain community observes Paryushan, the period when it stays away from all root vegetables, has its origins in a resolution that had been adopted by the civic body as far back as 1964. 

It made no sense then (when the ban was imposed for only two days) — and it makes no sense now. 

What doesn’t make sense is the opposition of the Congress because back in 2004, the then Maharashtra government, presided over by the Congress-NCP combine, had passed a resolution extending the ban by two more days. 

When state agencies and civic bodies start dictating what people eat, they can only invite competitive irrationality inimical to the best interests of a rainbow nation

When state agencies and civic bodies start dictating what people eat, they can only invite competitive irrationality inimical to the best interests of a rainbow nation

The ban used to be quietly imposed in the past, without leading to any excitement, but this time, the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have decided to join hands against the BJP on this issue. 

The satellite town of Mira-Bhayander, has upped the ante and extended the ban to all eight days of the Paryushan period.

Those are the facts of the matter that has has, rightly, led to an outpouring of anger against the Talibanic diktat based on a resolution passed more than 50 years ago. 

When the state and its functionaries start intruding into the kitchens and personal lives of its citizens, they only succeed in opening the floodgates of irrationality. 

Tomorrow, if the Catholics start demanding a similar ban during Lent, will the civic body oblige them with the same alacrity with which they acted in this instance? 

And what if the Muslims, taking a leaf out of a recent order issued in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, start asking for all restaurants and food stalls to remain shut during Ramzan, and for adherents of other religions to refrain from participating in any festive activities when the fasting period is on?

If religious sentiments start becoming the drivers of state policy, there will be no end to such absurdities. 

What people eat is their private business. 

The purview of the state ends with ensuring that food is produced, sold and consumed in hygienic conditions — and it is exactly in this department that it fails miserably not only in Maharashtra, but elsewhere in the country. 

The travesty of Maggi being banned because of a red flag being raised in (of all places!) Bahraich, UP, had led to this concern.

Anyone who has eaten at Aminabad, Lucknow, the home of Tundey’s kebabs, knows what I mean. 

Even our iconic eateries thrive in grit and grime.

The state is taking the easy way out — impose populist bans, often to the detriment of members of one community (a ban on mutton and chicken, and beef, which is permanently banned in Maharashtra and Haryana, hits butchers economically and butchers in our country are almost always Muslims), and ignore its role in the upkeep of public health and food safety. 

If religious sentiments start becoming the drivers of state policy over food, there will be no end to such absurdities

If religious sentiments start becoming the drivers of state policy over food, there will be no end to such absurdities

A state that has failed in formulating and implementing food safety standards for street vendors and restaurants in the unorganised sector, starting with dhabas, must first get its act together, before going around imposing irrational bans. 

I must end my rant with the most comical situation that can arise if a civic body somewhere in this country decides to ban the sale of fish, mutton and chicken when a section of Hindus follow the dietary restrictions of the Navratras in the run-up to Dussehra. 

That would have the Bengalis up in arms — and foaming at the mouth — because it is inauspicious for them not to consume at least one non-vegetarian item per meal in the nine days when Ma Durga descends from the heavens to be with her extended family. 

 

Savour the flavours of Pakistan 

We must thank our stars that the collapse of the NSA-level talks hasn’t prevented the Shaan-e-Pakistan, a celebration of the cuisine and culture of our neighbour, from taking off. 

The curtain-raiser takes place today at the Pakistan High Commission and then the food and fashion fiesta will move to The Grand Vasant Kunj on Friday and Saturday. 

Shaan-e-Pakistan will showcase the culinary skills of two celebrated Pakistani chefs who are big on local television. 

You’ll get to sample the fare of Lahore’s Food Street at Shaan-e-Pakistan

You’ll get to sample the fare of Lahore’s Food Street at Shaan-e-Pakistan

Both chefs have the reputation of being culinary all-rounders. 

Muhammad Zakir Qureishi, who started his career with the Sheraton Karachi, is equally at home with kebabs as he’s with South-East Asian specialities (he even has an egg sandwich recipe that sounds delicious!). 

Equally international is the other showcased chef — Gulzar Hussain, who studied in Japan and spent three years working at the Ginza Tokyo Hotel, comes with a repertoire of recipes that extends from kebabs, kormas and koftas to masala burger, to Thai delicacies, to comfort desserts such as Meethey Samosay and dozens of halwas.

Gastronomic diplomacy has its place in world history and it’s gratifying to see India and Pakistan engage in it with such passion. 

Prime Minister Modi did it at the Hannover Messe — exposing Germany to India’s soft power. 

And now, it is Pakistan’s turn to reach out to Indian hearts via the stomach. 

A happy stomach is the precursor of congenial diplomacy. 

 
Monuments such as the Qutub can be turned into fine dining and high-street fashion hubs

Monuments such as the Qutub can be turned into fine dining and high-street fashion hubs

Give our monuments a life after sundown

In the past week, I have had opportunities to have dinner at restaurants in the neighbourhood of Qutub Minar, but I never got to see Delhi’s defining historical landmark. 

I was denied this sight — and I am sure international tourists must be feeling more cheated than I — because the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) doesn’t have the money to light up the monument. 

It could, if it freed itself from a hidebound law that makes monuments out of bounds for the public once the sun goes down. 

Monuments have ceased to draw people just because they have a lineage and a unique history. 

There has got to be more to a monument than stones and mortar and years of antiquity. 

Monuments become instant people magnets wherever they also double as food, retail and entertainment spaces.

Go to the Nizamuddin complex on any evening, more so on a Thursday, and you’ll see how a dargah of a Sufi saint who lived 900 years ago can become the centre of a celebration of life in all its beauty. 

Open up the past to the present and see how the magic plays out. 

I am proposing a liberalisation of the national policy on monuments now because I am encouraged by the Aam Aadmi Party’s thinking, which I dealt with in my previous column, on deregulating Delhi’s claustrophobic laws governing the running of restaurants. 

The Union Ministry of Culture, whose satraps lord over the ASI, would do well to take cues from the Kejriwal government and loosen up. 

Earmark spaces around national monuments for restaurants that blend into their pasts. 

How about Turkish and Afghan restaurants in the Qutub Minar complex? 

Or a celebration of Mughlai cuisine at Humayun’s Tomb and the Red Fort? 

Invite the country’s leading fashion designers to open stores within these precincts, giving tourists a relief from the traps that thrive around our national monuments. 

Showcase Indian teas and spices and traditional sweets at these new people magnets.

Create a year-long cultural calendar for these spaces and breathe life into them. 

Bring our monuments out of the shadow of the dead.