[unmole]

> By admitting to eating meat, the tech worker had exposed himself as a member of an oppressed caste, or a Dalit

This is nonsense. The majority of Indians, upper caste or otherwise eat meat. Vegetarians make up less than 2% of the population of my home state.

I have no trouble believing that Indians abroad act out their casteist bigotry in vile ways. But when I read something that gets the details so wrong, I start to wonder how much of it is just made up.

[davchana]

I am from Punjab, & certainly there are more than 2% of vegetarians in Punjab (maybe more people drink alcohol & but not eat meat). A google search says 33% of Punjabis are vegetarian. Stereotype is typical Punjabi eats chicken, saag, butter, liquor.

Wikipedia links says 20 to 39 percent of Indians are vegetarian. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country#Dem...

Another complexity is, different levels of vegetarians. One who eat egg only. One who eat fish only. Or chicken only, no mutton. Or no pork. Or never beef. Or any combination. Or depends on season, day, weather, people. People might be secretly eating meat without telling parents or family.

Although your statement may be completely true, less than 2% vegi, (stereotypes) for South Indian states, Bengal, Orissa etc.

Yes, Punjabis are very caste aware in USA, Jatt & such, and that absolutely come into play here in California while making social connections, gathering, groups. At works, retail locations, hiring, Punjabi owners care less about caste & more about cost.

[trieste92]

But diet isn't the only data point here, pretty sure diet plus home state/region (maybe discernable from accent and/or surname) is likely enough to determine it

[unmole]

> pretty sure diet plus home state/region (maybe discernable from accent

You would be wrong. There is absolutely no way to tell a person's caste based on where they come from.

> surname

Surname could be an indicator but that doesn't need questions about diet.

I know people who were raised in vegetarian Hindu households in India who became beef lovers after they moved to the US. I'm skeptical that questions about diet are particularly useful for a would-be caste discriminator.