Just as the no-meat policy for Ganpati ends, Domino's decides to go all-veg for Navratri. Sarita A Tanwar ponders her veg-only fate
Domino's has announced that starting October 1, they will serve only vegetarian pizzas at 500 outlets for the nine days of Navratri. My first thought is to write an angry, open letter to the chain for discriminating against chicken-and bacon-eating folks. Second, is to sue them. And third, is how to ensure this bit of news does not reach my mother-in-law.
If Mummyji hears about the pizza chain's move to only serve veg pizzas for nine days, she might want to adopt that strategy in her kitchen too. This is disturbing. I have been doing a mental countdown to the day I could eat chicken (blame my half-Punjabi genes) since there is a no-meat policy at home during the 11 days of Ganpati. And I am on the brink of a break down because just as the non-veg curfew was ending, Navratri and Domino's are bringing it back again.
Now I am afraid the MIL will ask, "If an American company can go veg for our Devi, why can't you, like a good Brahmin bahu?" I dial for a Barbeque Chicken pizza (while I still can), and ponder over this serious problem. The state says I cannot eat beef on all the days of the week. Mom says don't eat non-veg on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Cook won't cook it on Mondays and Thursdays because she fasts on those days. And given that there is a festival or pooja at least on one day of the week, it is getting increasingly hard to keep track of the days when I can eat what I want to. I remember a time when I only had to look at the time before meals, now I feel like I have to consult a calender, a pandit, and check the position of the stars before grabbing a bite.
My colleague who consumes three pizzas a day, frets, "I can't understand why an American pizza chain is acting like a family elder and deciding what they will or will not serve us. I think this veg brigade takes delight in this forced vegetarian days. We meat eaters don't enforce our eating habits on others. What if we decide that the bhaji brigade can't eat veg food for select 9 or 11 days or even an entire month (as in Shravan) How will they manage?
Imagine a world where Domino's announces that for the entire month of Ramzan, they will only serve non-veg pizzas?" I think she needs to load up on the proteins for she is losing her mind. Another colleague chimes in, "Arre bheja mat kha. Waise bhi navratri ka season hai (Don't eat my head, already it's Navratri)."
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