To let (Non-veg only)

My mom asked me to put up a “To let” board for our flat, and I said I wanted to hang a board on the front that says “To let (Non-veg only)”. My mom said, “who would do such a thing? What will people think?”. When I pitched this idea to my friends, they laughed at me as I told them a joke.

But, they don’t laugh at signboards and ads where house owners ask for “veg only” tenants. While it is acceptable for a community to filter out and welcome vegetarian families, it is considered a joke when I want non-vegetarian tenants for my house.

Have you noticed that it is often considered a sin to ask a vegetarian if they eat “non-veg”. How do I know if they’re vegetarian if I didn’t ask them? Not to mention the discrimination against a certain class of people who eat a specific type of meat.

There is subtle discrimination against people based on their food habits. It starts with the general vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian divide but runs deeper as we travel North. In some North Indian states, people from the Northeast are not allowed to rent houses, as their cuisine uses fermented condiments and spices. Even if they are able to rent, they are often not allowed to cook their traditional dishes.

This is prevalent all over the world. People who eat beef in Tamilnadu are considered to be part of a certain community, and fried chicken is often associated with the African-American community in the US.

The world claims to have come a long way from discrimination based on religion, caste, and ethnicity (they say so), but the truth is that discrimination has become more indirect based on people’s cuisine and food habits.