Jaya hotel serving beef

 A roadside hotel named "Jaya" near Sakhigopal on the way to Puri not very far from my ancestral village was recently in news for serving Beef masquerading as Goat meat. "BHATA MANSA" (Rice and goat meat) is popular dish among Odias who consume plateful of the curried meat along with mounds of rice followed by evacuating the undigested remnants next day morning in open fields, their bottoms barely an inch above visible Pyramids of shit. 

Two men who ate the Beef curry thinking as goat meat got suspicious only to find their doubt confounded. Full of remorse due to inadvertently committing a sacrilege, in order to do penance by cleansing themselves they sought refuse with Pandits of Muktimandap, an assembly of Brahmins of Sasan villages near Puri and my "Biradaari" (fraternity), most of whom are GODARA (filaria infected thick legs) and KURUNDA (Again filaria infected men with supersize balls). Per the advice of these Pundits, the youth duo tonsured themselves, took bath at Narendra Pond in Puri, drank "GOBARA PANI" (cowdung laced water) followed by a trip to Lord Jagannath temple to purify themselves of any sin they committed out of eating beef. 

Now back in United States 6 years ago during our drive back home from Oklahoma, we made a stop inside the state of Arkansas at a Taco Bell (A Mexican Fast Food Chain) for lunch. It turned out, it turned out what could to be a Taco Hell of an experience to many, especially for the staunch Hindus. No sooner I took a bite of my order of Chicken Taco, than I could taste and smell something different. The Taco had brownish beef inside. The manager profusely apologized and promptly replaced the mistaken order with my original order of Chicken Tacos. 

I immediately rushed to the bathroom, did a "THOO THOO" to spit out everything out of my mouth, followed by a thorough rinsing. It was no fault of the young server of that Taco Bell, rather an apparent case of miscommunication, the message lost in translation and accent, as in remote places in America those not familiar with the Indian accent can have a very tough time understanding them.  

In Hindu mythology, after the legendary "SAGAR MANTHAN" churning of the sea by the "Deva" (Gods) and Asura (Demons) it was decided that the Gods and Demons would share in harmony the "Amrit" (nectar) coming out of sea which would make all immortal. When it came for the demon Rahu's turn to drink the nectar, no sooner he drank it than his head got chopped off. But before that the nectar through the food pipe had already reached Rahu's neck and his head become immortal. Similarly, as the beef didn't go beyond my throat, I stayed brainwashed about beef, though my body still remained pure. 

The default meat in America is Beef, unless otherwise specifically mentioned in the order. A good example is the Cheeseburger. Though sounds vegetarian, the burger is melted Cheese covered default meat is beef. But I didn't go that far to tonsure my head, drink GANGA JAL (water from River Ganga which washes off the sins committed) as I got no access to Cowdung laced water. Nor I bothered to shoulder a new PAITA (sacred thread worn across shoulder by Brahmins).  

A la Narsena Naidoo in the short story "JATIRA DHAKKA" (The jolt from Caste) from our middle school Odia Literature textbook, I lost my caste that day. Before being ostracized, I needed to follow the path of purification prescribed in that epic short story - JA PURI JA. GOBAR PANI PEE, TEBE JAI JATI PHERI PAIBU - Go to Puri (sacred temple city of Hindus). Drink Cow dung laced water, then only you can get your caste back. Never did that and forever lost my caste.