Since childhood I have had aversion to meat and other non - veg food items so much so that the sight of raw meat and smell of even cooked stuff is enough to put me off. We in our family except my late father have been strict vegetarians. This is due inter alia to belief in astrology that showed a marked presence of Jupiter in the horoscope , which doesn't agree to non-veg food items being taken.
Amusingly in my early days as a student of Class IV in Lady Irwin School, a classmate named Rajinder would literally bully me into asking my mother to cook meat . This perhaps had something to do with
his Rajput blood and genes or liking for non -veg in his family. Anyways his bid never happened for obvious reasons. As a kid, I remember once accompanying my father to the meat market on a Sunday, but I was too young to register anything in my mind , mercifully . He too took meat only once in blue moon as all others were averse to it and he had to cook himself.
In later years also whenever he cooked meat, other got 'compensated' with matar paneer.
At other places, it was either our landlord or an uncle- a first cousin of my mother, who would either send him some stuff or invite him over for dinner.
As I grew up, the aversion became stronger inasmuch as the second half of Sabzi Mandi became and still is a forbidden place for me. Even otherwise no other charm exists for me except a rare visit to the Bengal Crockery shop .
I remember once accompanying a friend who wanted to buy chicken as his father was visiting from his native place. I stayed at a distance. After sometime he came all smiles, saying that he got it because of me . The reason was that the shop owner had studied with me and after initial refusal, recognizing me chose to oblige.
Last but not the least , due to my aversion, I could not study for and enter the medical profession .
It was destined that way !
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