With the rising migration of students from villages, suburbs, and towns to larger cities and metropolises, university hostels have increasingly become a preferred and affordable choice for accommodation. Hostels serve as spaces that promote socio-cultural exchange through diverse interactions, as well as events and activities.
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One of the most important amenities in the hostels is the mess, which is run by people who are chosen by the university (mostly through tenders), in consultation with a mess committee which includes student representatives. Fixing the mess menu is seen as a difficult task, especially in a country like India. Most central universities have students from all parts of the country, which have diverse food habits. Thus, the mess committee often draws criticism from hostellers.
This becomes further complicated in a space like South Asian University (SAU), which is both constitutionally and characteristically international. The university includes students from not just India, but also Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives among many others. The recent scuffle among the students over serving non-vegetarian food during Maha Shivratri hints at social cleavage that underlies its apparently inclusive and diverse culture.
Generally, most hostels of the public universities located in New Delhi have a set menu for the month. But on occasions like festivals, they make special arrangements. For instance, food items like gujiya are served on Holi, as well as iftar is given to fasting students during Ramzan. But if one looks at the menus, one will notice a dominance of north Indian food habits, with some food items from southern and western parts of the country. In my 2022 study on public university hostel food in New Delhi, I found that students from northeast India find these spaces alienating. Hostels claim to promote inclusivity and a sense of community among their residents. However, this idea of inclusion is questioned by students from northeast India who find their food items missing from the menus. While they understand that they are expected to eat local and other food, they ask why their food can’t be served as well.
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Very often, students are also not happy with food quality. At other times, there are debates on whether certain food items should be included in the menu. Meat is at the centre of many of these deliberations. Eating meat in the Indian context is not a personal choice. It is rooted in one’s social identity, especially religion, caste and gender. In many parts of the country, eating meat is associated with a lower social status. Being “pure veg” becomes a symbol of one’s upper caste identity.
It becomes evident during certain festivals like Navaratri, where there is a prohibition on eating meat for nine days and most hostels make provisions to provide special sattvic food to fasting students. Interestingly, many of them also do not provide meat to other non-fasting students. This reflects how meat is seen as an impure food item that needs to be kept away from ritualistic occasions. The often-cited reason is that it can hurt the religious sentiments of the fasting students. What is ignored in the process is that universities are secular spaces that should provide inclusive food environments. This means that people should have the right to eat what they want – meat or no meat, irrespective of occasion.
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In recent years, there have been demands for separate messes for meat-eaters and vegetarians in several educational institutes. The serving of meat in SAU during Maha Shivratri led to some students, allegedly from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), unleashing violence in the hostel mess. It reasserts the fact that eating meat is seen as an act of resistance to hegemonic food habits. Otherwise, why should someone else’s partaking in the consumption of meat bother those who are fasting or not eating meat?
Very often, the demand for a separate eating space for vegetarians is seen as a solution to preserve religious harmony. This, however, goes against the idea of a university space that promotes social justice and equality. Such demands and practices will only lead to further alienation of students from marginalised sections. Historically, the role of food in educational spaces like schools and universities has been to foster feelings of community building and solidarity. In fact, many hostels do not allow residents to take food from the mess to their rooms or cook their own food. This is because hostel administrations believe that eating together will facilitate socio-cultural exchange as well as foster friendships. Eating in separate messes will be a violation of this spirit itself.
The writer teaches at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati.
