We are what we eat. "Tamasik diet is a foundation of pessimism and leads to a painful life. Unfortunately, the majority of fast food like pizzas, pastries and burgers, which are consumed by most of us is Tamasik whereas Rajasik food like eggs, meat and pepper creates egotism, anger, greed, and other irreligious feelings," read an email that was sent to all the students of IIT Delhi. The email was sent by the institute's Wellness Club, which proposed to an additional 'Satwik Mess' apart from the already existing one, to serve 'holistic food' to the students.
Undoubtedly, the email has quickly become controversial. However, the club's coordinators say that the email was drafted by a set of juniors and do not voice the club's interests. "By irreligious, we meant harming someone or having an unwell feeling. We will issue a clarification to this soon," says Saurabh Dhabu, one of the students who had sent the email. The other student, whose name was mentioned in the email told EdexLive that she is not associated with the club and does not know anything about the club.
But that is not to say they disagree with the concept in principle. Elaborating on the concept of a Satwik Mess, Saurabh says, "A lot of students have told us how they are unhappy with the food served in the institute's mess. A lot of them are Jains and a few others are used to eating simple food. Now, you can't cater only to their demands. So, we thought that a feasible solution here will be to construct a new mess that provides holistic mess."
Thus began this germ of an idea. "The Wellness Club wants to take the initiative of having one such mess in the campus that would be closely monitored by our representatives to provide healthy Satwik bhojan to the interested students," reads the email. Saurabh adds that the concept of a Satwik Mess isn't new. "IIT Delhi had one such mess four years ago. IIIT Hyderabad and IIT BHU also run similar messes," he says.
The email also has a link to the survey that asks the students if they're ready in the Satwik Mess daily. "As many as 484 students have filled up this survey until now," says Saurabh. "The majority supports this idea. Only 18 to 19 per cent of the students say that they won't be interested. If they prefer to eat in the regular mess, they can go ahead. It is their choice," he adds.
However, the IIT Delhi administration, confirmed to The Indian Express that it does not have any plans to construct such a mess.
