The indigenous knowledge that rural and urban India once proudly acclaimed seems to have faded away, just like some food items from our plates. Through the lens of my family, we see how various axes of intersectionality come together and shape what people eat every day. I aim to figure out how the plate has evolved through the generations by bringing a couple of generations of my family on the plate.

My nani, daughter of a wealthy rural halwai family, was raised relishing non-vegetarian food - eggs, chicken, fish, etc. She was then married to my Nana, whose family was purely vegetarian - and so we expect her to convert to a vegetarian immediately. But what came as a surprise to me was the fact that nobody in her new family told her not to eat non-vegetarian food anymore. It was a different matter that she still couldn't eat non-vegetarian food because there was no way she could get it - women in the family didn't go out, and no one in the vegetarian family would buy her chicken from the market. However, whenever she visited her father's place, she would eat all the non-vegetarian food she craved for - and Nana and his family, who were well aware of the fact, did not have any problem. With time, she visited her native place very less often and slowly gave up eating non-vegetarian food due to age and health concerns. However, she admits that she still misses the food, and there is no shame in admitting this in front of her husband, a follower of Arya Samaj.

This is only one of the many stories in my household where a woman continued her own food practices even after being married to a family of opposite traditions.

Such is the case of my eldest mausi, too, who, after getting married into a non-vegetarian household, continued being vegetarian and never allowed non-veg food in her kitchen or utensils. Thus, even though readings from class indicated that the burden of following family traditions often falls on the women, these instances from my family suggested otherwise.

However, there are several practices like not eating without bathing, not leaving any food on the plate after eating, and various kinds of fasting, which were made for both men and women but are now only followed by women in my family. Also, like in many Indian households, women in my family too, eat after their husbands, and usually on the same plate. My mom says that there is no restriction and she can always eat before Papa, but she likes to wait for him, and as food wastage is a sin in our family and culture - so in case Papa leaves anything on the plate - she is there to eat it.

My youngest mausi, a widow living in Bengaluru with her in-laws, says there are no restrictions whatsoever - she can eat, wear, worship, and do anything she wants, which again is in contrast with the mainstream narrative of a widow.

My Dada, a halwai by occupation, and his family are followers of JaiGuruDev, so everyone in my paternal family is a pure vegetarian. Interestingly, even though many of the younger generations (my paternal cousins) went outside to study - no one ever ate non-veg food (including eggs), as they claimed. My family says that cruelty to animals is morally incorrect and that eating non-vegetarian food is the root of all diseases. This ideology is deeply rooted in all family members, however true it might be.

However, a maternal cousin of mine, who lives away from family and has been vegetarian since birth, started eating eggs as she recently joined a college gym for a natural protein source. She says protein powder was out of her budget, and all her friends insisted on trying the egg. Thus, there is a mixed notion among younger generations in my family on how far they can stretch the family rules.

After discussing their income class and how it affects food habits with one of my mausi, she said there was one period in her life when they incurred huge losses in business and faced financial instability. This not only affected their lifestyle but also drastically changed their food habits. Plain rice, roti, dal, and vegetables were what they ate all three times and hardly went out to eat. Paneer, fruits, etc., were brought once a week, and milk also came in minimal quantities. But as situations improved, they could focus more on their health and started buying what she calls fancy luxury foods - like broccoli, lettuce, sweetcorn, strawberry, dragonfruits, cheese, greek yogurt, and other dairy products, etc. Thus, class strongly correlates with what people eat, and exotic food is often considered a luxury, as seen in my family.

My nani tells me about a variety of mangoes called Rajbhog Aam, which used to be big and very sweet, that she ate in her childhood but no longer finds in the market. Various dishes like fara, thande masale ki sabzi, litti chokha, malaiyyo, etc are common at my home but not so popular otherwise.

While I come from an upper-middle-class family in Varanasi and had access to all kinds of food I asked for, I still faced some challenges when I shifted to Delhi. When I went to a cafe with my friends here, I was surprised to see that bread was also served with Pasta - I was clueless about what to do with the bread. There were many dishes on the menu that I couldn't even pronounce, and I found the entire experience very overwhelming. I remember googling all those dishes and learning to pronounce them to "fit in" with my friends' group. Can this be termed a modern form of Sanskritisation?

My mom also shares a similar experience. A few months after she was married, she was surprised and clueless when my father bought chow mein from the market and asked her to make it. The experience made her feel as if she came from a "backward area".

She told me that things like chow mein or even chocolates were alien to her and weren't available in the place she came from. She also found it amusing that oils and dry fruits were sold in packets and had their own brand. Such commercialization of food didn't happen in her native place - possibly because of the transportation and lack of supply chain.

I also observed that in the face of adversity, people give up their beliefs and practices in order to survive. My mama, though brought up in a vegetarian household, when met with an unfortunate accident in his childhood, was advised by the doctor to start eating eggs and chicken as a rich source of protein. My Nana had no choice but to accept it. Interestingly, mama found meat very tasty and continued eating, even after recovering. He also started consuming alcohol whenever he ate meat, which is a typical pattern, as readings from class also suggest.

Thus, through the lens of familial anecdotes, my blog becomes a mirror reflecting the ever-evolving food choices and habits. While women in the family have been given the liberty to decide what they want to eat, certain rituals and practices are still borne only by them. The younger generation respects and believes in the family principles and ethics around food, though few have decided to challenge it in the name of nutrition and health benefits. Class also plays a vital role in determining what fruits/vegetables are brought home and how frequently they are consumed. Exotic variety is often seen as a luxury. Certain seasonal fruits are no longer available, while few dishes made in the family are local to the region and not popular across state/nation.

Sanskritisation was observed to have taken a modern form. Chinese/ packaged food was seen as upper-class and unavailable in rural spaces. All these reflect people's dynamic and ever-changing food habits and present a trajectory of how what comes on our plates has evolved and is shaped by various social and economic factors.