Forced conversions to Christianity in the North East, Muslims facing discrimination, Hindus being exploited, religious riots have all been seen, heard, talked about and experienced. Kashmiri Pandits forced to flee their State, Godhra riots, the 1991 Bombay riots (MNS be damned, it was still Bombay then!), forced conversions of Buddhists in Ladakh to Islam ... history is rife with these and countless other instances of Indians' facing religious (in)tolerance.
Yet I say we are a truly secular nation.
How many Hindus in Lucknow (and all over the country) happily dig into a biriyani every day? The origin of the Biriyani can be fairly accurately traced to the Mughal courts, a Muslim creation. We have all sunk our teeth into the soft kebabs variations available across the country. This was a recipe that came to India from the Persia possibly with the Mughals again.
Can a true-blue vegetarian think of any dish without potato, tomatoes and chillis? These are not Hindu or even Indian in origin. They came to India with the Europeans who themselves discovered these in the Americas.
When milk goes bad and splits it is considered bad. This is the Hindu tradition.
Bengalis are known for their sweet tooth. Their desserts rosgullas and rasmalai are craved all the way across to Kandla and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Similarly it is difficult to find an Indian who does not enjoy the Punjabi Muttar Paneer. All these are made from cottage cheese, i.e. split milk!
The technique of making cottage cheese was taught to the Bengalis by the Portuguese Christians, thus setting the stage for our culinary delights that have now gone all the way to the United Kingdom as Indian dishes.
Our rather humble samosa is also of international origins. Its history can be traced back to the Middle Eastern sambusak. The raiders from the Middle East brought across the mountains with them. The samosa had a special place on the royal dinner tables of the Mughals where innovative chefs turned the sambusak, a rather boring pasty filled with pumpkins and nuts, into the kheema filled samosa. Slowly over time, however, the royal samosa made its way to local bakery as a snack with rather diminished stature.
This is where we are truly secular. We do not close our hearts and mouths to the gastronomical delights offered by the world. Instead we happily adopt the best of what is on offer irrespective of its religious, geographical or political origins. In fact, not only do we adopt culture and cuisine (for what is one without the other! says the foodie in me) we give full reign to our creative capabilities and transform the Middle Eastern pilaf into Biriyani and the sambusak into our samosa.
This is the true strength of India's culture and tradition, no matter what the critics say. And this is what we owe the variety of our cuisine to.
