I have a problem with the terminology and statistics around vegetarian diet. People citing studies that 80% of Indians are non-vegetarian are simply not going down to the critical details. In most of the studies, the focus is on “Have you ever eaten meat?” So, let’s say I am answering the question. I will say yes, I have eaten it in the past. So now I will be counted as “non-vegetarian”. But I have stopped for more than a decade and even when I was eating, it was only when we went out to restaurants, because it was not cooked at home ever. Similarly, almost all meat-eaters I know do not eat meat on so many days of the year for festivals, fasts and various reasons that on any given day in India, I am sure that more than 70% of people are vegetarian. Funny thing is even amongst the Coptic Christians and various Abrahamic groups I meet here in the US, they do not eat meat all year round. During the 40 days of Lent (the period leading up to Easter), many Christians abstain from meat as a form of penance, self-discipline, and to honor the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For centuries, Christians abstained from meat every single Friday of the year to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, which they believe, occurred on a Friday. Many traditional Catholics still practice this. Eastern Orthodox and some Eastern Catholic churches observe multiple "lents" throughout the year where meat is entirely avoided. There are a few Christian denominations that mandate or strongly encourage a permanent vegetarian or plant-based diet. There is actually a Christian vegetarian movement. We need to stop asking: “What percentage of Indians are vegetarian?” and start asking a far more meaningful question: What percentage of meals eaten in India are vegetarian? A person who eats chicken twice a month and a person who eats meat three times a day are both classified as “non-vegetarian,” yet their food cultures are obviously not the same. Nor is someone who abstains from meat on particular weekdays, during festivals, fasts and sacred periods simply a “meat-eater” in the way that term is commonly understood. Food culture is better measured by frequency and practice than by a lifetime yes-or-no label. India’s distinctive feature may not be that every Indian is vegetarian, but that vegetarianism has shaped the eating habits even of millions who do eat meat. Abstinence from meat is woven into calendars, kitchens, festivals, pilgrimage, fasting and ideas of purity and self-restraint. That is a far more interesting cultural reality than the endlessly repeated statistic that “80% of Indians are non-vegetarian.” Photo: Amma buying vegetables at Jayanagar 9th Blk, Bengaluru. The sight is always a stressbuster for me.