A baking studio’s ‘Brahmin cookies’ are getting lambasted on Twitter over inherent casteism.
Casteism in India has far-reaching effects, pervading many aspects of life which are not immediately understood at first glance. Much of it is churned out in the form of seemingly harmless things, such as these ‘Brahmin cookies’ freshly baked for someone’s thread ceremony. The cookies depict a Brahmin figure wearing a thread. The baking studio in question is known for custom-designing cookies for various occasions.
These cookies, though they masquerade as a “private choice” would ultimately end up upholding the caste hierarchy and legitimise rituals that contribute to casteism, and this was the opinion that most Twitter users seemed to hold. It’s safe to say that these cookies were a hard pass for people on the microblogging platform.
“In Isabel Wilkerson’s words “Evil asks little of the dominant caste other than to sit back and do nothing.” Dominant caste finds innovative ways to shamelessly preserve the Caste system,” wrote one Twitter user.
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This is not the first time that such a debate has happened on Twitter. Recently, ‘pure veg’ started trending on Twitter after a user called such signs outside restaurants “offensive” and “un-inclusive”. “All these “pure veg” signs across food outlets are offensive and un-inclusive. Blatantly implying that other food preferences are “impure” and legitimizing the discrimination against people with diverse preferences,” the Twitter user wrote.
It soon started a fierce debate on whether or not “pure veg” was essentially a caste signifier or if it meant unadulterated vegetarian food, that is, without eggs, onions and the like. Others said it means exclusively vegetarian food is cooked at such restaurants.
Earlier, there was also debate after a Twitter user going by @peeleraja shared photos of restaurants and cafes in Bengaluru using the prefix “Brahmin” in their names, available on food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy. The Twitter user who shared the photos of the eateries also shared their experience of casteism as a child in school.
They pointed out: “There is no one specific Brahmin cuisine. There are Brahmins across the subcontinent with varying cuisines including fish and meat. There is no one Brahmin way of garnishing your food. When you call your eatery “Brahmin”, it is a plain and simple caste signal and nothing else.”
