Posted on 02/10/2013 2:14:39 PM PST by nickcarraway
A Bay Area Hindu man’s life has been dramatically altered after accidentally being served a sandwich containing meat on an airplane.
The tenets of Anshu Kumar’s religion require a strict vegetarian diet, and Kumar had never eaten meat.
Before traveling on Asiana Airlines, Kumar confirmed via email that his in-flight meals would be meat-free, and once on board, a flight attendant assured him again he would receive a vegetarian meal.
But, a few bites in, Kumar noticed an unfamiliar taste, and what he thought might be potato turned out to be meat.
Eating meat, even accidentally, is considered a sin for devout Hindus.
“When someone of that background does accidentally eat meat, there’s a sense of deep revulsion, agony I would say,” said professor Vijaya Nagarajan, a religious studies expert from the University of San Francisco.
Kumar says he is now forbidden to touch the altar where he prays daily for forgiveness, and he must also travel back to India to perform penance.
He said he is also is no longer allowed to eat with his family.
“For the person who served the meat, it is of little consequence, but for the person who accidentally ate it for the very first time in their entire life, and for how many generations, it’s like a break in the fabric of their community,” Nagarajan said.
Kumar is asking the airline to label its food.
Nick, this is just a case of someone accidentally serving the wrong thing to someone. It happens all the time. I called a McDonalds I frequent to complain about something that happens very often with my salad (no lime sauce for my Southwest salad). Big deal. My wife and I don’t get salads at that one anymore unless a certain crew is there to ensure it is there, as we don’t use salad dressing.
Things happen. Sometimes bad things happen.
Just because some people are finding humor within this rather innocent thread does not make those people “Obama supporters” or the like.
The man was not served something that was unhealthy. He was served something that was against his religion and for which he, if not at his own house, would need to double-check if he was truly concerned. It was a simple accident.
Get over it.
Dude, like really bad karma! You’re gonna have to come back a few times as a bug or a rat before you live this one down!
;^)
Not at all.
You complain about it to the person who served you, and you continue on with life.
What about this beef-eating on an airplane has you thinking FReepers are now Communists?? You are not displaying logic.
“Step Away From The Keyboard!”
Yup, in India he would get sauteed cattle grass.
I don't know. Is a fly just a piece of meat? I suspect it contains protein, but I saw my dog swallow a fly once, and she survived.
They have too many gods including animal gods!
It does, but now it costs you $8.95 credit/debit card only please.
This morning on Fox & Friends they were suggesting the Bacon of the Month Club for Valentines Day. It was serious.
On the positive side, he's never had Spam.
I do, too. In the words of the gospel song Down in My Heart,
"I've got that beautiful belief that baffles Buddhists...""I've got the happiness that hassles heathens..."
Bad Karma is what made me a human on this pass. I don’t think it could get much worse.
My dream is to be reincarnated as a dog.
The difference is that Obama has pushed regulations requiring Christians to sin against that God of theirs.
He softened it a bit, saying they could hire someone to sin against that God of theirs instead of sinning themselves.
In this case, someone accidentally served the wrong sandwich to this man. It’s apparently a big problem for him, but it’s still an accident. It’s comparable to me having a Playboy delivered to my house when it was addressed to my neighbor. If I open the envelope I’m exposed to something that is in opposition to my stated moral standards. At that point I can’t unsee what I’ve seen any more than Kumar can uneat what he’s eaten. (Well, actually I guess he CAN uneat it. After all, it’s airline food). But I wouldn’t make it a national news story.
My son has a deadly nut allergy. I occasionally give him food containing nuts. I've done that since he could read. I've taught him he can't rely on ANYONE but himself to protect him from nuts. He is trained to scrutinize every label for the presence of nuts.
I wouldn't allow him to actually get the food in his mouth. But he knows there will be a confrontation with Dad if he doesn't catch my "mistake" on his own.
They still serve food on flights, who knew?
He could be heard exclaiming, “OH hari krishna, it doesn’t matter anymore, give me a bacon martini!
Since he ate a couple of bites of meat by accident, and no doubt begged forgiveness, I don’t see why he cannot touch the altar and can’t eat with his family.
That’s one of the ways Mozlems forcibly converted so many Hindus during the Mozlem invasions. They forced meat into peoples’ mouths and then the people so forced were rejected by the rest of Hindu society.
They should not be so rigid when people do things by accident or are forced.
I had a similar experience many, many years ago. I ordered a vegetarian meal, started to eat the rice and I could tell it was made with some small bits of meat or meat broth. I spat it out and made them take it away. It was at least 25 or more years ago. Never ate airplane food again. But I didn’t feel it was my fault, although I should have been smart enough to not eat any airplane food in the first place.
But if an airplane serves “vegetarian” food, it should be what it claims.
Hinduism is not a cult. It’s more ancient than any other religion and practiced by many hundreds of millions of people.
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