Non-veg food will be included in school art festival's menu from next year, says Kerala minister
Kozhikode (Kerala), Jan 6: Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes will be served at the state-level school art festival in Kerala from next year onwards.
This was stated by General Education Minister V Sivankutty against the backdrop of a controversy among certain quarters protesting that the all-vegetarian menu served for the festival smacks of an upper caste "Brahmanical hegemony".
"Both types of delicacies will be included in the menu next year. For this, changes will be made in the festival manual, if necessary," the minister has said.
The social media was abuzz on Thursday after certain prominent handles raked up the issue of choice of food for school students and alleging "Brahmanical hegemony".
Sivankutty had rubbished the charges and said the debate was totally "unwanted".
The minister said the same sort of vegetarian food was being served for the youth festival for the past 60 years in the state and there was no controversy.
For decades, lip-smacking vegetarian delicacies have been served among participating children, their teachers and parents at the food pavilions of the annual gala, known for its massive participation of children.
Sivankutty, when he met the reporters on Thursday at the festival venue, had said thousands of people enjoyed the food being served at the festival.
"Some 30,000 people were served food on the first day of the festival while the second day saw around 40,000 people relishing the food. It's like a festival and the government will give food to anyone who reaches the counter," he said.
Sivankutty said the state government was not adamant that meat should be kept out of the state youth festival.
"But, there are practical issues of preparing huge quantities of non-vegetarian dishes to serve such a massive number of people," he said.
Besides breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks and tea along with desserts are also provided at the food pavilions of the youth festival.
The controversy over not including non-vegetarian delicacies in the menu erupted after some netizens questioned the years-long practice of serving only vegetarian items during the festival, triggering intense exchange of views in and outside social media platforms.
A Facebook user had charged that the "vegetarian only" menu in the festival was part of "vegetarian fundamentalism" and a "reflection of caste belief".
Citing the eminent culinary expert Pazhayidam Mohanan Namboothiri, a Brahmin, helming the catering team, another person had lamented through a Facebook post that the presence of Brahmins in the kitchens of art festivals was the "commemoration of the surrender of renaissance and democratic values at the feet of Brahmanism".
However, several online users harshly criticised the debate as an attempt to give religious colour to food and to create division in society.
Reacting to the criticism and the social media debate, Namboothiri had said the vegetarian dishes were not his choice but he was acting as directed by the government.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
