No matter what part of India you go to, except maybe, come to think of it, the more contentious parts, the one question you are most likely to be asked is this — veg or non-veg? It may be asked politely, insinuatingly, in warning or in concern. And depending on where you happen to be your response too will generate varied reactions.u00a0In Kolkata, from where I’m writing this, the question is part afterthought followed by anxiety.

After you are handed your lunch, suddenly the conference volunteer will ask ‘veg or non-veg, veg or non-veg, veg or non-veg’ in steadily escalating register. When you say non-veg, non-veg, there is an exhalation of relief, a full relaxing of the body that a possible disaster has been averted. This is probably understandable in a place where fish is considered a sea vegetable and vegetarianism is a minor curiosity in a curious minority.

Illustration/ Amit Bandre