Defending veggie enclaves

Let me confess, I am not a neutral observer in this. I happen to be a vegetarian, both by upbringing and by choice, and so my biases are obvious.

I have no problem living among carnivores — having tried out flesh and fish in my non-salad days —but I am reacting to a recent burst of articles on non-vegetarians complaining about being unable to eat what they want when they take up residence in veggie-only housing societies.

I empathise with their predicament, but the debate has been fairly one-sided. The veggies have been painted as bigoted people who cannot tolerate the ‘other’.

Some vegetarians may be biased or bigoted. But let’s not assume that they don’t have a case. The line separating intolerance from the right to free association may be thin one, but it needs to be recognised.

If a group of vegetarians decides that they would like to create an enclave where they can live amongst fellow veggies — in an atmosphere free from non-veg smells and related garbage — it is not necessarily a sign of intolerance.

Allowing only veggies into housing societies specifically formed for that purpose is part of every group’s right to set up an association of like-minded people — something the constitution guarantees.

Now, I am not sure if Mumbai’s veggie-only societies have been specifically formed for that purpose, but I am assuming that, at least, in spirit they have been. And it is their right. If this makes me bigoted, please apply the label to me. But think about it: nobody objects when you form a ladies’ club, or a women’s organisation, devoted to some specific common purpose.

Nobody minds if you form an organisation of like-minded Dalits to fight for equal rights, or reservations, or such-like things. Nobody objects if you form an eggitarian organisation to promote egg consumption in society.

Nobody, but nobody, would object if you create a special nana-nani park reserved only for the elderly. Nobody objects to couples-only foreign tours, singles clubs, or women-only public trains. But a veggie-only society — how intolerant.

As an editor in public life, I find that attending parties means a willingness to consume alcoholic drinks — which I am not fond of — but people think I am an oddball if I decline. I get invited to dinner meetings where I cringe whenever I have to declare myself a vegetarian because the organisers have assumed everyone wants to eat animal parts.

When travelling abroad, I have to go to the nearest food store to buy myself a loaf of bread or some fruit to avoid feeling hungry. In large parts of Europe, they don’t know what a vegetarian means — they think it’s about eating leaves. However, I am clear that I am not being discriminated against when I am in Europe and can’t get a decent meal.

It just doesn’t make economic sense to create vegetarian restaurants or eating places.
Back home, I don’t see why vegetarian communities should not defend their interests or indulge their right to form enclaves of like-minded individuals. Today, such enclaves are being formed primarily because many communities — like Jains and Marwaris — are so rich that it makes commercial sense to build houses and malls exclusively for them.

There are restaurants catering to their exclusive needs, just as there are those that serve the needs of non-vegetarians.

I believe that complaints about having to stay in veggie-only societies are probably overblown. It cannot be anything more than an inconvenience, however much meat and fish are a core part of your diet. You can be 100% veg, but never 100% non-veg. So you do get something to eat even in veggie societies. Moreover, pure veggie societies are few and far between.

I suspect that much of the cribbing about veggie-only buildings relates to the fact that people want to live there, but find the accompanying restrictions irksome. But then, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

True bigotry is different from mere personal preferences. If you discriminate against a non-Hindu or won’t give him a job in your establishment that would certainly be bigotry. If you merely want to live among people with similar habits and preferences, you can’t straightaway label it as intolerance. That would be intolerable in a free society.

Email: r_jagannathan@dnaindia.net