THE FLAVOURS OF NATIONALISM

DescriptionIn this extraordinary memoir, Nandita Haksar uses memories and ideas offood to ask fundamental questions about what we eat, who we eat with, whostarves and who feasts, which foods are forbidden or denigrated-and whatall this says about our country. Starting with her childhood in the 1950s,Haksar takes us on a fascinating journey through India, from wedding feastsin her Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Old Delhi and Lucknow, to humanrightsactivism on behalf of Nagas in Manipur; from listening to testimonies ofwomen working in Kerala’s fisheries, to witnessing the impact of a globalizedfood industry on livelihoods in Goa. She examines how our tastes andattitudes to food are shaped by caste, class, religion, race and gender, and sheaddresses the recent controversies over beef-eating, and ’Hindu’ vs ’Muslim’food. Scattered through the book are brilliant anecdotes-by turns startling,amusing and moving-about culinary rituals and curiosities, and memorablerecipes from the many people Haksar has eaten with.And always at the heart of the narrative is a fundamental question: How can apeople who won’t eat together, as equals, stay united? 3