To be a Vegetarian To be a Vegetarian

  I discovered the problems faced by `pure vegetarians` when they are travelling abroad during  my first ever trip overseas in 1976 ; a five week trip to five countries under a travel grant from Round Table India. While I had no problem in getting South Indian vegetarian fare in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Colombo,  I had a problem when I visited cities in Australia & New Zealand as a part of the trip. I remember visiting various restaurants with my hosts.  Whenever I ordered for a pure vegetarian dish, the response from the waiter would invariably be `No Problem ,Sir`. And every time I would be served a plate of  king sized boiled potatoes, tomatoes,  or carrots arranged neatly on the plate surrounded by celery & cabbage leaves. Occasionally the potato will appear in the form of finger chips on the plate. I was  expected to add pepper & salt to the dishes . I would also add tomato & chilly sauces to make the bland vegetables palatable. When this happened where ever we went to eat, I started shuddering at the thought of having meals in restaurants. Looking at my disappointment, some of the kind hosts with whom I was staying,  offered to cook  special Indian meals at home with some tips from me. I can never forget the delicious Vegetable Pulav which my Australian host cooked for me in Perth without any help from me.

After that experience, on all my foreign trips, especially official trips where I was attending meetings or conferences for a couple of days or more  I began to carry some podis ( dal powders), pickles, Vattha kuzhambu paste, banana or potato chips etc. As soon as I checked into a hotel, I would rush to a nearby super bazaar to buy some milk, yogurt, bread, cheese slices  and bananas and stock them in the refrigerator in the room to provide me a back-up meal for lunch  or breakfast,  if needed.   In the evenings, if there were no official dinners, I would order a plate of white rice from room service  and  have a sumptuous , three course South Indian meal in my hotel room.

 I remember once I hosted a dinner for six South Indian delegates in my room. The delegates from Andhra were excited beyond words when I placed on the table a bottle of `Avakkai pickle` and also Ghee which I had carried with me during that trip. I found this more economical than hunting for an Indian restaurant when I am abroad and spending a lot of dollars on a taxi  for a vegetarian  meal which cost only a couple of dollars. And remember, those were the days when we were allowed  only a limited Foreign exchange. So every penny counted!

I must confess that over the years I  became an `Eggitarian` or `Eggarion` as they say,  so that I could  have at least a sumptuous breakfast in most of the Hotels where I stayed.

The world has come a long way since my early experiences of travelling abroad. Today vegetarianism   has caught up in a big way all over the world. Getting a decent vegetarian meal in most of the restaurants abroad is no more an issue.  Italian restaurants serving delicious cheese and vegetarian Pizzas also offer a good alternative to vegetarians when they travel abroad. Besides opening of  Saravana  Bhavans  &  Sangeethas in many cities of the world are helping a staunch vegetarian to survive without having to become an `Eggitarian` like me.

Published in the Adyar Times Issue dated 18-24^th February,2019 under my column `Rajan`s Random Reflections`