In Kashmir, pizza culture smokes out family meals

By Sarwar Kashani, Srinagar, Oct 25 : The joys of homely Kashmiri food spread over a 'dastar khwan', cloth on the floor, and eaten with the entire family are fast disappearing here. It's the call of pizzas, pastas, French fries and burgers in the valley now.

Ask Henna Bashir, who works with an international insurance agency and celebrated her 22nd birthday at a pizza joint on the famed Hurriyat Road in the uptown Rajbagh area.

Henna says she and a group of her office colleagues - all in their 20s - are regular visitors to the eatery, a franchise of Mexican food chain Smokin Joes.

"I love pizzas. When your friends are with you, the delight is doubled," said Henna.

She and her friends gulped down steaming chicken pizzas and cold drinks even as Bryan Adams' "Here I am - this is me.... And tonight we make our dreams come true" number played in the background.

Henna is the face of a new Kashmir that is slowly getting a taste of global culture - and loving it.

People, particularly young professionals and students, throng fast food joints every day during lunch hours - a growing trend in the valley where traditionally eating out at hotels has been looked down upon.

Kashmiris have always preferred eating at home, with all family members assembling around a dastar khwan - a piece of cloth spread on the floor before serving food. The woman head of the house serves the food and the male head is the first to be served.

Every family member would wait for others to come in after a day's work and eat together. But not any more - Western culture has made inroads into the valley on this front too.

"This is a trend. You cannot stop it. Young people who went outside the state to study or work picked up this culture from there. They easily identify with it," Bashir Ahmed, a sociology teacher in the University of Kashmir, told IANS.

"We used to cherish joint families. My grandfather would never eat until my father returned from office. Even as children we would wait for hours till all our members assemble and a dastar khwan was laid for dinner," Ahmed said, recalling his childhood days.

But parents are generally not happy about the growing Western influence for which many of them are blaming the media.

"I don't like my children eating outside. I do stop them when I can but sometimes I get helpless. I would like my kids to eat in front of me with the family. But this doesn't happen now every day. They eat in restaurants thanks to the media," said school teacher Rukhsana Jabeen, a mother of three.

Seeing junk food culture finding an attractive response from Kashmiris, many international food chains have started their forays to cash in on the expanding market.

"This is something new and happening," said Manzoor Ahmed, enjoying the feast at the Smokin Joes that offers a variety of over 155 different pizza toppings at "affordable rates".

Iqbal Wani, who runs the franchisee, is a happy businessman. "The feedback is great. I am sure pizza culture is growing real fast in our valley. It will give locals a huge employment opportunity and the place will adopt a new food habit."

And youngsters like Henna are happy takers.

"We love to have a pizza party whenever we find a reason to celebrate," Henna told IANS. "More than that, my friends and I love the freedom to sit in this restaurant, listen to our choice of western and Bollywood music.

"I am sure my parents love to have some privacy just like I do. They will enjoy their own time and food and they let me enjoy mine. I have informed them that I am hanging out with my friends," she said.

As for a meal with the family, she said: "Well that can be a weekend joy now, not a routine," she said smilingly.

(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at s.kashani@ians.in)