Why do Indians not eat beef?
[This post is by request of Stephen, a friend and former co-worker, who was pondering this question as he chewed on BBQ ribs in Texas.] India probably offers the highest number of variations on dietary habits, outside of food allergies. There are lactovegetarians, ovolactovegetarians, nonvegetarians and radicexcludarians (a word of my own invention for certain groups, such as Jains, who don’t eat anything that grows below the ground). Some dietary habits even vary with time, such as in the case of people that are vegetarian on certain days of the week but are omnivorous on others. It is understandable for the average outsider to be overwhelmed in the face of such astonishing dietary diversity. Even so, there is one rule in which an outsider can find solace, when trying to understand Indian diets — the no-beef rule. Most Indians do not consume beef, beef lard or any bovine-derived products other than milk. It is fair to say Indian meat-eaters are about as squeamish about beef as Indian
