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Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- Indian Express
What racists don't understand about Zohran Mamdani, biryani and the West's ‘uncivilised' culinary history
Award-winning film director Mira Nair's son, 33-year-old progressive Zohran Mamdani, is shaking up Trump's America as few could. He swept the Democratic Party's primary nomination process, defeating the redoubtable Andrew Cuomo and is contesting the New York city mayoral elections. This is historic, as he keeps shattering at least three of Donald Trump's most aggressive planks — toxic anti-immigration hounding, his belligerent (Islamophobic) support to the Benjamin Netanyahu government as it kills thousands of people in Gaza and the devastation of welfarism and minimal equity for the needy. So stung is Trump with the young challenger that he has inflicted the most vitriolic McCarthyistic abuse on him, calling him a 'communist lunatic'. What is more worrisome is the avalanche of racial censure that Mamdani invited — for eating his biriyani with his fingers. This is exactly the way it should be and is eaten by all south Asians and many others. Republican member of Congress, Brandon Gill and professional India-baiter, far-right activist Laura Loomer, called this 'uncivilised'. The fact that most Americans eat their pizza slices and burgers by hand and dream of 'finger licking good' Kentucky Fried Chicken was conveniently forgotten. Forgotten also was the fact that for some 15 centuries after Christ, commoners in the west ate from wooden plates and bowls and used pieces of bread to pick up the sauce or gravy that remained, even after their knives had poked and picked whatever food they could. Till the late medieval period, water in Europe was not only repellingly cold but rather hazardous to drink, especially from contaminated rivers and pools. It was more so in crowded, unsanitary urban areas, though the poor hardly had any choice. Those who could afford it drank only beer, ale, wine or other spirits and many hardly ever came in contact with water — even for cleansing or hygienic purposes. Undergarments were stitched on to bare bodies for several months a year right up to recent times, which explains the western craze for perfumes and sweet-smelling flowers. In fact, those who are convinced that using fingers to eat is uncivilised would baulk at the very idea that the civilised fork was unknown to the west, until an eastern Byzantine princess brought it to Venice in the medieval period. She was married to the city's Doge — the duke or the ruler, who has nothing to do with Elon Musk's whirlwind slaughter of public posts and welfare schemes. More interesting is the fact that the princess carried this quaint piece of cutlery, a two-tined gold fork, from the Byzantine Empire, basically to pick fruits that were preserved in syrup and sugar, known as suckets. The pretty lady felt it was logically the most efficient and clean method of eating a sticky sweetmeat, but the Church was scandalised. Sarah Coffin explained in the Scientific American (touché) that 'The fork was associated with the life of luxury and sweets. This somehow got translated by the Church as being a negative form of decadence. It wasn't associated with Christian values on the grounds that it wasn't essential to life. Instead, it was perceived as something that would be used by a seductress of the East.' By the way, Coffin has authored six award-winning cookbooks and is the founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, that was named the 2012 Publication of the Year. Most recently she was named Editor-in-Chief of the digital resource Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Food Studies. Coffin goes on to explain that the fork was late to join the knife and spoon to complete the West's cutlery trio. 'The fork started its existence as a utensil to hold a piece of meat or to hold something while you carved it. Its entrance into individual usage comes really as a dessert object.' Sweets from the Byzantine and the very-Muslim Ottoman empires; there were several other foods from the Orient that left their mark on the cuisine of Europe — from which arrived Trump's legit Americans. Noodles came from China and was loved by Italians, leading to further development as different delicious pasta preparations of Italy. Coffin suspects, however, that 'instead of learning how to use chopsticks, Italians preferred to repurpose an implement they already had. In order to eat long noodles, they used a toothpick-like utensil called a punteruolo. It was made more efficient by the addition of another prong.' It was not before the 15th century that the wealthy merchant class in Italy and the upper crust of Europe started using forks regularly, even though the less fortunate looked at it as ridiculous and lampooned its use by the rich. In fact, northern Europe refused to use this cutlery for centuries and accepted it only in the eighteenth century. This was when the Industrial Revolution produced forks in bulk and at affordable prices. Even so, Europeans carried their own cutlery set for personal use to dinners and invitations. South Asians and people of the Middle East considered water-cleaned hands to be purer to pick up their food which invariably had more variety and came with their own gravy. This necessitated the use of fingers that are far more adroit in picking up dispersed food on plates on or clean leaves than knives or forks. The high-gluten and low amylose (high amylopectin) wheat of China and Southeast Asia was more elastic and sticky and led naturally to their noodles (lamian) and dumplings. These are/were best held and picked up by chopsticks. Similarly, their glutinous rice (nuòmi) or Japonica rice (jingmi) have almost no amylose and are naturally so sticky and cohesive that chopsticks are indispensable. On the other hand, most South Asian rice varieties fall under Oryza Sativa subspecies Indica that have some 30 per cent amylose. They are thus less, sticky and more fluffy, lending themselves to fingers for picking up and eating. So, what uninformed racialists need to understand is that different people use their best-suited methods to navigate through their specific bounties of nature and their own methods of cooking. The writer is a former Rajya Sabha MP
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Business Standard
12 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Active negotiations under way with over a dozen countries to finalise BIT
India is actively negotiating bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with over a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Oman, European Union, Switzerland, Russia, and Australia, a government official said. Besides these nations, talks are underway with Tajikistan, Cambodia, Uruguay, Maldives, Switzerland, and Kuwait. These investment treaties help in protecting and promoting investments in each other's countries. With India approaching to become the third-largest economy and a hub for global manufacturing, the government is taking a series of measures to further improve its investment regime that encourages investors. "It is expected that in the next 3-6 months, BIT with some of these countries will be finalised and announced," the official added. The government in the last Budget has announced revamping the current model Bilateral Investment Treaty to make it more investor-friendly and attract foreign players. The country signed BITs with two countries in 2024. Last year, the Centre announced implementation of these treaties with the UAE and Uzbekistan. Unlike a chapter related to investment promotion or facilitation in free trade agreements recently concluded, the investment protection element under a BIT provides a wide range of obligations and commitments bestowed upon foreign investors, which are expansive in nature. In a BIT, the provision of mandatory exhaustion of local legal remedies for a period of five years before resorting to international arbitration is beneficial for both the investor and the state involved in a dispute. India's approach of requiring local remedies aligns with its stance to protect taxpayer money and avoid prolonged and costly legal battles, while simultaneously providing arbitration as an alternate dispute resolution mechanism to investors. Recently, India reduced the time period of local remedy to three years under the India-UAE BIT 2024. "India remains committed to negotiating agreements that safeguard its economic interests while balancing investor confidence and domestic policy space," another official said. There is an ambitious effort of reconstructing India's BIT network to pre-2015 levels on renewed terms and consistent negotiations with a wide range of partners, with balance of interests between investors and the host state. At the same time, India has committed to well-recognised international standards of protection and beyond to afford a stable investment protection framework for foreign investors. Commenting on BITs, Rumki Majumdar, Economist, Deloitte India, said these pacts will offer the country a unique advantage by enabling India to craft highly customised partnerships based on mutual strengths. "Unlike multilateral frameworks, which often require compromises to suit a broad group of nations, bilateral treaties will allow India for case-by-case negotiation, ensuring that the terms reflect the specific economic complementarities between itself and its partner countries," she said. Majumdar added that India should focus on BITs as not just legal instruments, they must be strategic economic enablers, helping India jointly unlock higher value from its comparative and competitive advantages. According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, India must "pull out all the stops" and improve tax certainty and stability to attract more foreign direct investments into the country. FDI inflows into India crossed the $1 trillion milestone in the April 2000-March 2025 period, firmly establishing the country's reputation as a safe and key investment destination globally. Last fiscal year, it stood at $81 billion. About 25 per cent of the FDI came through the Mauritius route. It was followed by Singapore (24 per cent), the US (10 per cent), the Netherlands (7 per cent), Japan (6 per cent), the UK (5 per cent), the UAE (3 per cent) and Cayman Islands, Germany and Cyprus accounted for 2 per cent each. The key sectors attracting the maximum of these inflows include the services segment, computer software and hardware, telecommunications, trading, construction development, automobile, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
Time of India
41 minutes ago
- Time of India
BIT network expansion in fast lane: India in talks with 12+ nations; Saudi Arabia, Russia among priority partners
AI image India is actively negotiating bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with more than a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Oman, the European Union, Switzerland, Russia, and Australia, a senior government official said. Talks are also underway with Tajikistan, Cambodia, Uruguay, Maldives, Switzerland, and Kuwait, with some treaties likely to be finalised and announced in the next 3–6 months, PTI reported. These agreements are aimed at protecting and promoting investments in each other's countries. As India moves toward becoming the world's third-largest economy and a global manufacturing hub, the government is working to strengthen its investment regime and attract more foreign investors. In line with this, the government announced in the last Budget that it would revamp its current model BIT to make it more investor-friendly. India signed BITs with two countries in 2024 and implemented BITs with the UAE and Uzbekistan in 2023. Unlike investment facilitation chapters in free trade agreements, BITs offer broader investor protections, including a wide range of obligations enforceable by international arbitration. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Искате да научите повече за новото BMW 2 Gran Coupe? BMW Научете повече Undo Notably, India has a provision requiring foreign investors to exhaust local legal remedies before seeking international arbitration — a clause designed to protect public funds and reduce legal costs. Under the India-UAE BIT signed this year, the mandatory waiting period for local remedies was shortened from five years to three, indicating a flexible yet cautious approach. "India remains committed to negotiating agreements that safeguard its economic interests while balancing investor confidence and domestic policy space," another government official said, quoted PTI. The broader goal is to rebuild India's BIT ecosystem to pre-2015 levels but on modernised terms. India is seeking a balance of interests between investors and host state obligations while aligning with global protection standards to offer a stable framework for foreign capital. Deloitte India economist Rumki Majumdar said BITs give India the opportunity to pursue tailored partnerships based on complementary strengths, without the compromise typically required in multilateral deals. 'Bilateral treaties will allow India for case-by-case negotiation, ensuring that the terms reflect the specific economic complementarities between itself and its partner countries,' she said. Majumdar also emphasised that BITs should not be treated as mere legal tools but as 'strategic economic enablers' to unlock greater value from India's competitive and comparative advantages. According to the Economic Survey 2024–25, India must 'pull out all the stops' to improve tax certainty and regulatory stability if it is to boost FDI inflows. Foreign direct investment into India crossed the $1 trillion mark in the April 2000–March 2025 period, reinforcing its image as a safe and attractive global investment destination. In FY25 alone, FDI stood at $81 billion. Mauritius accounted for 25% of the inflows, followed by Singapore (24%), the US (10%), the Netherlands (7%), Japan (6%), the UK (5%), and the UAE (3%). Germany, Cyprus, and the Cayman Islands accounted for 2% each. The sectors drawing the most FDI included services, computer software and hardware, telecom, trading, construction development, automobiles, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
