There was plenty at stake at a recent food fight at an old drinking hole in Kolkata.
Beefsteak was perhaps the least of it.
This is Sandip Roy in Kolkata.
Recently an influencer went to Olypub in Kolkata and ordered a mutton steak. The waiter by mistake brought him a beefsteak, a dish Olypub is well-known for. The influencer was upset. That was justified. He proceeded to berate the waiter. The line that stuck out was “What do you mean you made a mistake? Do you know I am a Brahmin?”
INFLUENCER
Hindus usually do not eat beef. The waiter happened to be Muslim. Why do we know all this? Because the influencer filmed the entire interaction with the waiter and posted it on social media. Unsatisfied with the waiter’s response, he then went to the police station. The waiter was taken into custody. The restaurant was shut for a couple of days. Mixed-up orders are not uncommon. What’s more uncommon is instantly documenting it for social media. A reel comes with intent. It needs drama; it aims to ratchet up the temperature; it seeks to go viral. Revenge might be a dish best served cold but outrage needs to be served hot. For this beefsteak to be well done it had to become a sizzler. Eventually the influencer burnt his own fingers in the fire he himself lit. He faced enormous backlash for trying to turn what appeared to be a mistake into a Hindu-Muslim incident. People questioned why someone who flaunted his Brahmanism had even gone to a restaurant that’s famous for its beefsteaks, a restaurant that’s been around since 1947. Food writer and columnist Rajyasree Sen says Olypub isn’t gourmet but its comfort.
RS1: It was a safe, friendly place where you got a hearty meal at dirt-cheap prices. Most importantly, no one cared who you were, how you were dressed, how much money you made, or which god you prayed to.
In a way it represents the best of a city like Kolkata. Sen remembers a time when her strictly vegetarian friends would accompany her to another restaurant in Kolkata and enjoy potato wraps while she had beef wraps. It was an easy going city.
RS2: Live and let live, and eat paneer or beef and let others eat what they want – is how we grew up.
Eat and let eat. Now we live in a time where a friend traveling by train was asked by her co-passengers if she could eat her dinner somewhere else if it contained meat. Luckily the ticket inspector stood up for her. But next time another ticket inspector might not. Ironically more conservative Hindus also tore into into the influencer for being a Brahmin and eating even mutton. After the backlash he deleted his post and said he was withdrawing the complaint though once an FIR is filed it must take its course. He posted an apology from Olypub for the mix-up, denied he was trying to inflame communal tensions and conceded he might have over-reacted. Sen says that’s a good sign.
RS3: And I am happy to see that the influencer has now had his steak replaced by a very healthy helping of humble pie.
But the aftertaste remains. It was about class power at its ugliest. The influencer was basically showing a hapless waiter that he could get him arrested. The influencer’s supporters asked what if the story had been reversed and a Muslim man had been served pork by mistake. The question no one is asking is did the waiter know the influencer was Brahmin and deliberately feed him beef? Intent should matter unless one’s real intention is cook up mischief anyway. Years ago an observant Hindu friend ate a McDonald’s burger in the US, I remember saying hesitantly “You know that was beef?” She looked shocked and then said “Oh I thought hamburger meant ham. It’s OK. I did it by mistake not intention.” Now all sides want to use their food to make a point like the university students in Mumbai who ate meat at one of the tables “designated for vegetarian food only” in a sort of eat-in protest. Everyone’s food sticks in someone else’s craw. In a sense Olypub was lucky. Olypub, though a bit shabby, is a favourite hangout for generations of media professionals and artsy types who all rushed to its defense. It was their sacred cow of sorts. Some other restaurant in some other neighbourhood might not have been so fortunate. The influencer just chose to have a beef with the wrong place.
This is Sandip Roy in Kolkata for KALW.