Eric’s Dialectic on Eating in India

In the elevator with my boss, Vinod, and Mritunjay, leaving work, my boss patted my stomach and said, “How is the stomach of steel?” It’s getting a little soft I said. I’ve been eating a lot here. At meals, everyone insists I eat more and eat more, and people are always offering more, and in an effort to not be rude or difficult, I don’t turn down the offers. Things came to a head two nights ago at dinner when everyone else was done eating, and it was just Mritunjay, me, and my boss’s wife left at the table. She offered me more food. I was stuffed, but I didn’t yet know how to say no. I hesitated, and she said I didn’t have to take more if I didn’t want more. I told her I wasn’t sure if that would be rude. Mritunjay said it’s a compliment to leave food on your plate, but also a compliment to clear your plate. I said no more food please, and I told her of my difficulties with saying no. Later she told me there was a funny look of fear on my face, when I looked out across a table still holding ample food, upon being asked if I wanted more, like, “Will I have to eat all of this?”

Much could be written about the overeating that is taking place here in Mumbai among the middle classes. There are a lot of big asses around here, especially in Bandra, a wealthy part of town with a lot of restaurants. When I go to the grocery store, the shelves are filled mostly with nothing but packaged foods. And these packaged foods are almost always manufactured by American companies, with some European products scattered. I see Oreos, Pringles, Quaker Granola Bars, Cadburry Chocolates, potato chips. There is little fresh produce because that is bought from street markets. And while the city is not overrun by fast food restaurants like, say, O’Fallon, Mo., is overrun, Pizza Hut and Subways are prevalent. I have also seen McDonald’s and Domino’s.

I feel somewhat guilty by this invasion of American junk food. True, it is Indians’ free choice to eat or not eat American junk food. America is not forcing Indians to eat unhealthily. Therefore it’s not technically America’s fault that there are so many chunky Indians in Bandra. But I do know that India has been opening its economy over the last 15 years to the importation of such foreign products. And Indian consumers buying these products are aiding India’s 9% economic growth rate. American companies also are being aided because it is these American products that are being purchased. Now that people are so fat, surely the health afflictions of rich people, like diabetes and heart disease, will take root. And again, who will help those afflicted? American pharmaceutical manufacturers. And surely some of these pharmaceuticals will be manufactured in India. Benefits and harms. This argument, I know, is too tenuous, but still, here it is.

Secondly, I feel guilty about all this American packaged junk food and all these American junk food restaurants because everyone here knows these are American companies. The boxes of junk food and marquees of these restaurants are written in English, not in Hindi. I’m embarrassed that this is what is seen as “American food.” Indians are slightly fond of pointing to the American restaurants when we are near them. “You’ll see here there is a McDonald’s and a Pizza Hut.” No! I don’t want to go there! Not all Americans eat that awful food!

But the main culprit of Bandra’s big asses
I’m pretty sure is that people just over eat at their regular meals. Food is a major, major component of an Indian’s day. In the U.S., to be polite, one is supposed to wait until all have been served before one begins eating. As far as I have witnessed in India, this is not the case. Here, once there is food on the table, one starts eating before there are even plates to eat from. One is also to hunch over the table and shovel food into one’s mouth using one’s fingers, and less often a spoon. Eating in India reminds me of dinner at the Simpson’s. However, the Simpson’s use utensils much more often than do Indians.

And then Indian meal companions keep insisting everyone eat more, even if no one wants more. Maybe this arises from India’s past when famine existed. Even today there are people living on the sidewalks and in highway medians who I would guess are hungry. Maybe it also has to do with history, when years ago carrying extra weight was a sign of wealth. So, at the Indian meals at which I’ve been party, everyone, including me, overeats. Vinod is my only coworker without a belly, and Mritunjay makes fun of him for being thin. And because we always finish all the food before us, and because it is so hard for me to say no when I’m in a foreign land and my hosts insist I eat more, my iron stomach is turning into a feather pillow under my shirt.

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