Diners are wary of the meat they eat, restaurants are worried about the drop in sales but there’s one group of sellers that’s impervious to the concern over carcass meat from dumpyards making it to customers’ plates: the clutch of vegetarian restaurants across VIP Road.
“This is why one should be a vegetarian,” smirks Sudip Luharuwalla, who runs a vegetarian dhaba on Bangur Avenue. “Vegetarian food is always the safest. We have not been affected in the least by the carcass meat discoveries,” he says.
The contrast in their attitude is marked with that of the handful of non-vegetarian eateries that operate in this vegetarian oasis. Nishikanta Dey, who works at Kalika Roll stall in the same neighbourhood, says regular customers for chicken roll have switched to chilli baby corn rolls and schezwan paneer rolls now. “Most eateries in Bangur Avenue and Lake Town are vegetarian given that communities of north Indian origin live here. We are the only ones selling non-veg food but now people are afraid of ordering meat,” he says.
There is just one shanty-like stall that sells chicken in the supermarket here. “People are buying less meat now. Those who still come want the chicken to be cut right in front of their eyes. Even if I tell them, this is a fresh cut they don’t believe me,” said Montu Mondal, a butcher at the stall.
Suchi Agarwal hails from a vegetarian family but sneaks into Kalika with other so-called vegetarian friends in the evenings to have egg-chicken roll. But things have changed over the last week since the rotten mean scandal came to light. “As it is, we can’t eat meat products openly at home so we have to sneak into these small shops for it. And now even this has become unsafe. It’s too much!” scowls the lady who runs an interior decoration store.
Hard core non-vegetarians like Pallavi Kundu are equally crest-fallen. “No mutton, no chicken…Khabo ta ki?” she says. The is the question being mulled at every table here over menu cards.
No wonder people like Gyanranjan Roy, a retired businessman in Bangur Avenue, are sure that the meatless diets are a temporary fad. “People will return to eating even more meat once the dust has settled.”
Picture of confidence
In contrast, Salt Lake does not seem to have been impacted much. The food stalls behind City Centre have not faced any major drop in sales. “Everyone has heard of the controversy and is appalled,” says Bhola Das of Mirch Masala, a roadside stall that has chicken tengri kebabs and chicken wings up on skewers.
“Customers are all asking us if our meat is safe but once we assure them that we buy our chicken fresh from Baisakhi Market they are going ahead with placing the order. Chicken items are the most popular across the board and people don’t want to forego the option,” says Das.
Input from Brinda Sarkar
Are you avoiding eating non-vegetarian food? Write to us at saltlake@abpmail.com
