Sunetra Choudhury for NDTV: I have been thinking about this story ever since the man from Dadri got killed because he was suspected to have eaten beef.
I have been thinking of sharing what happened 20 years ago, because all around me, I see people acting in a strange manner, their own coping strategies to the news that our dinner plate is now food for politics.
Like my friend MQ who put this out as his Facebook status -- "I don't eat beef and nor do I store it in my fridge. With this declaration I hope not to be dragged out of my house and killed. Inshallah I bought myself a few extra days to live, until the crazy freaks find another reason to kill.'' I love MQ and to show my support, to tell him he's not alone in his fears, I wanted to like that post, or just add a comment to it, but it all seemed too inadequate to convey what we were all feeling.
What I do have is the story of when I accidentally served beef to my God-fearing-vegetarian-on-Saturdays-temple-going-parents.