An existential quest!

Indians have not only pioneered a range of food items, historically, but are also obsessed with what they eat and drink today

A small observation. Much of the world’s misery could be traced to India, more precisely, to the Indians’ obsession with food.

Purely as an example, we have seen the water in the kettle boil. George Stephenson saw this and went on to invent the steam engine which changed everything. An Indian saw the same thing and invented the ‘idli,’ presumably the greater invention. Till date, no one has succeeded in fully mechanising (at reasonable cost) the humble chapati, another great invention.

Indians invented the spices, saffron and fasting (fastidiously called ‘dieting’). The fame spread far and near. So much so that many intrepid souls ventured out from different shores in search of India.

One guy called Columbus went and saw some land and was thrilled thinking he had found India. Later, another guy, Cook, landed up there and, probably to justify his name, thought he could start ‘cook’ing immediately. That piece of land is modern day America. Many expeditions failed but meanwhile, wherever the English, Portuguese, Spanish and the French stopped to pick up food and water, they also colonised. This is how most of the world was colonised.

Someone gave me this theory when I was on a UN deputation in Sierra Leone. He was not an Indian. He was Portuguese. And a coloniser to boot.