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.
Another experience happened during my first trip to Europe to attend The
AGM of WOCO( World Council of Young men`s services club to which Round Table
India is affiliated) held in Stockholm
in 1980.
I was attending a ‘House
party’ on the first night of our stay in Stockholm, at the residence of a
Swedish couple. The lady of the house was forewarned about the Indian guest who
was a strict vegetarian! Since vegetarianism as a concept was non-existent in
Europe those days, the lady had, in her wisdom, decided to steam cook an
artichoke, a vegetarian delicacy and garnished it with some leaves which she
proudly placed before me on the dining table. I was deeply disappointed.
Throughout the train journey, I was living on buttered vegetable sandwich
packed with lettuce and cabbage leaves with hardly any tomato pieces. Suddenly
seeing something (I had never seen an artichoke before in my life) which looked
like a mini tree was shocking— especially because I was very hungry and was
looking forward to some home cooked meal. Seeing the disappointed look on my
face, the lady approached me and whispered, “I can see that you don’t like what
I have cooked for you. Don’t worry, I have some cooked white rice. Can I serve
you that?” I literally jumped out of my seat with joy screaming, “Please. . .
Please”. When the lady brought a plateful of white rice, I mixed it with all
the hot, sweet and sour sauces available on the table and ate like a glutton!
I am sure my family would certainly not have approved of my
behaviour at the dining table that day. I couldn’t care less! Hunger knows no
manners! After a hearty meal and with a burp, I told the lady that it was the
best meal I had after several days.
On my return journey from Stockholm I
joined a Danish Tabler, who was driving to Copenhagen. Next day as part of the day long sightseeing
tour I had undertaken, the tourist bus stopped at a City Centre for the
tourists to have their lunch. I remember going to McDonalds considering it
would be safest for me to get a vegetable burger. When the burger came, I was
shocked to find
a suspicious looking red patty along
with the cheese slice and was horrified to realise it was a salami piece
(prepared from beef). I returned my burger telling the attendant that he had
mistakenly given me a beef burger. Twice I was given similar burgers. A local
Pakistani gentleman who was watching me then revealed, “There is no concept of
vegetarian burger here. If you are very hungry, I suggest that you remove the
salami piece yourself and eat the rest of the burger.’ I reluctantly followed
his advice with an extra plate of French fries, feeling guilty that I was
committing a sin by doing what I did especially on a day when back home I would
have been celebrating `Avani Avittam`- annual sacred thread changing ceremony!
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( Mango) 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 Indian restaurants in many cities of the world are helping a
staunch vegetarian to survive without having to become an `Eggitarian` like me.
