After Kolkata-born economist Abhijit Banerjee was declared one of the winners of the Nobel Prize for economics, an usual war of words began trending on Twitter. The battle was all about food, and would leave one wondering what the coveted award had to do with gastronomy.
It started with a woman tweeting against 'dhoklaeaters', telling how the Bengalis who ate fish, mutton, beef and pork, gave the country Nobel Prizes, national anthem and vande mataram. The tweet went viral, irking many social media users who came out against her for her comments.
Dear Dhoklaeaters
— Aparna (@chhuti_is) October 15, 2019
We gave you:
6 Nobels
1 Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
National Anthem
Vande Mataram
We eat fish and motton. Beef and pork.
Keep your Dhokla, Khandvi & thepla away from us.
GET OUT.
The 'dhoklaeaters'—primarily Gujaratis—also went on to give a list of their state's contributions to the country. And it is not just Bengalis or Gujaratis who pitched in with their two cents. In the avalanche of tweets that followed, it is next to impossible to track what was said, and left unsaid.
Dhoklaeaters gave-
— Doctor Outsider (@Tiara_Ray10) October 15, 2019
Father of the Nation- Mahatma Gandhi
Iron Man of India- Sardar Patel
2 PMs- Morarji Desai, N. Modi
Father of India's space programme- Vikram Sarabhai
Business tycoons- Ambanis & Tatas
6 times Oscar winning producer- Ismail Merchant.
Urs truly,
Also a Bong.
Distasteful tweet....I am also a Bengali n feel proud about that too....I am also proud about my food habit....But I have stayed three years at Ahmedabad....A nice place....And more importantly d common Gujaratis r very very simple in nature...Love them....!!!
— Njoy (@8urservice) October 15, 2019
Dhokla, Thepla are made for breakfast every week in my house. I'm half Bengali, half Gujarati, grew up and live in Ahmedabad. This Bengali elitism where other cultures, food habits are often looked down upon is extremely distasteful. Have experienced this multiple times. https://t.co/UC8fg9sPk0
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) October 15, 2019
I love Indian Twitter. A Nobel Prize for Economics has become a battle between vegetarians and non vegetarians. Sadly, there is no Nobel Prize for idiocy. Now go eat a dhokla or a dimsum - neither will give you a brain. It is not in their job description.
— Naomi Datta (@nowme_datta) October 15, 2019
A lot can surely happen over food.
