Vegetarian. All my life, I have grown up with this word attached to me like a shadow. Being raised in Mumbai, where a large proportion of the population is vegetarian, the disparities in the type of food I ate did not manifest themselves. The wide varieties of food available to me only led me to believe that it was okay to be a vegetarian, and that this 'restrcition' would not affect my social life. However, the truth of the matter became painfully clear the year I moved to Dubai.
Adjusting to my new life in a predominantly British school was hard; however, having this dietary restriction only made things worse. Having to explain to others that I was a “full vegetarian” and didn't have “cheat days with chicken” became a daily routine, and although this was just friendly banter, it became an arduous task to constantly argue with others over this lifestyle choice. Going out for dinner with friends became a dilemma, and something as simple as inviting friends over for dinner came with the added quandary of ‘Would they like vegetarian food?’
This predicament soon came to a head on my 12th birthday, the first one I was to have in Dubai. All throughout the planning of my party, the question that gnawed at my mind was, “What terrible disappointment would my friends feel since they would only get vegetarian food?” As these thoughts ran through my head, I walked into the kitchen and saw that my mother had prepared an all-Indian dinner, and panic coursed through me. Not only would my friends have to be vegetarians for the evening, they would also have to eat food they had probably never heard of before!
My friends arrived and we had a good time playing football and baseball in the backyard, oblivious to the foreign aromas that permeated the kitchen inside. All too soon, it was dinner time, and we filed into the dining room, dread rising in me at the potential reaction my friends would have to the exotic platter in front of them. I expected gasps of surprise, murmurs and whispers, and I feared the worst. To my surprise, however, my friends silently took their seats as my mother explained to them what each plate contained. The menu consisted of typical Indian food, such as curry and naan bread, other more elaborate dishes such as pav bhaji and biryani, as well as some Indian delicacies to complete the intricate menu that my mother had prepared. The dinner proceeded, and by the end, not a single plate was left with food on it. My friends, who regularly joked about the fact that I was a vegetarian, had cleaned out every morsel of food on the table. They had been vegetarian for the evening, and they had enjoyed it!
No comments:
Post a Comment