Nowadays, people can not only be identified by what they wear but also by what they eat! At least that's what BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya says.

Poha, a wonderful, simple dish poha which all of India loves, and perhaps Bangladesh does too, is at the centre of an unsavoury controversy.

The most interesting fact is this – in Indore, where Kailash Vijayvargiya was born, poha is loved by Indoris! It is a favourite snack there.

Another set of people hugely puzzled by Vijayvargiya’s claim are Maharashtrians! Maharashtrians have poha every morning. School kids, office going people, everyone.

There is also an excellently researched article by Kaushik Das Gupta in The Indian Express about how variations of poha are popular in so many other parts of India.

Poha in Odisha is made from a smaller grain of rice. Odiyas use more of carrot and ginger in their poha as against the onion, peanut, masala-driven poha of Indore and Mumbai.

Bengali poha is called chire’r pulao, and to this, they often add raisins. Goans cook poha with milk, sugar and cardamom to make doodanche fov – a sweet dish during Diwali.

I believe that Kailash Vijayvargiya’s poha anecdote is not an accidental or stray comment. It is part of a continuous attempt in creating a sense of 'us' and 'them' in this country: that guy there eating poha is a Bangladeshi, that makes him different from 'us' roti-eating ‘shudh bharatwaasis’.

Listen to the podcast for the full story!

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