I have a very simple rule. I never eat food with more than three ingredients. I don’t understand the fuss about this particular one. We have to eat at least three times a day, and three times a day really is a lot.
Desi tashan itna na karo or “three times a day” is the basic mantra of the Kolkata native. It’s a very simple rule that is easily broken, and which has served us quite well in our vegetarian diet. The three ingredients that this rule is based on are vegetables, fruits, and sweets. In Kolkata, we are vegetarian, and for this, we all have to stick to the rules.
The rule of three times a day is a huge barrier to entry, and it’s only one of many. You can’t really get it done in a day.
There are many factors that affect our daily routine. One of those is food. Desi tashan itna na karo is a classic Bengali phrase made popular by Prabhat Patnaik, the popular Bengali poet and the founder of the All Bengal Mahasabha, and is now also commonly used by people of all religions and ethnicities.
The thing with vegetarianism, and in particular vegetarianism for women, is that once you start eating meat, you cant really stop. It becomes more and more entrenched in our lifestyle. For instance, my stepmother is a veggie and the whole family is. I have no qualms about eating chicken, fish, pork or beef. I am vegetarian because I am a bit of a meat lover, but I am also a vegetarian for health reasons.
In India, meat consumption has been going up steadily since the 1980s, but people really don’t want to eat meat. It’s just a way to get more meat. For example, women in India are eating meat daily. When I was in the United States, we had a meat-eating restaurant called the Vibrant India, where they had meat for every meal. It was like a buffet. In the United States, meat was banned for meat-eating in the restaurant.
So it is true that in India, people are eating meat more than ever. The most recent data available on the Indian government’s website shows a rise of 5% in meat consumption from the year 2001 to 2003, and the number of Indians consuming meat daily is also increasing. But in India, as in the U.S., meat consumption was banned in restaurants for meat-eating.
In the U.S., the number of restaurants that have permanently banned meat eating for meat eaters is still a small number. However, it does show that the government is doing something about it. But we’re talking about just about one percent of Americans now and that doesn’t even account for all the other vegetarian-eating Americans who go out to restaurants and order meat.
This is a big problem. But there is a solution. Meat eating in India is no longer illegal, but it is still very much restricted. Restaurants that do not serve meat will have to pay a fine of up to $500 and then they are also prohibited from serving any other foods. It seems that the government is trying to do something about the problem but it’s very unclear what exactly it is they have done.
Sounds like a good idea, but the problem is that the fine is only $25. And I don’t think most people would do that. So, not a good solution. But there may be other ways to make it work. To find out more you can look into the “What is not illegal” section of the Food and Drug Administration website for the United States.
