Dear Sir,
Hope you are doing well. I wanted to share something that happened to me yesterday with you. I had gone to the market to buy my favourite meats. The minute I entered the market, my eyes fell on a beef shop. Now, as a law abiding citizen I was well aware of the government’s ruling on the sale and consumption of beef. Like any good citizen, I understood the essence of the law and to display that understanding, I turned my back to the beef shop and marched ahead. My next stop was made on a fish stall. As I was thinking about making the purchase, it struck me suddenly, fish (matsya) is first avbeeatar of Lord Vishnu! And I started wondering if there was any law regulating fish sale. Is what I am doing legal? Because, I knew it in my heart that as a responsible and law abiding citizen I should not be hurting anybody’s religious sentiments, and be following the law duly. So I had to sadly reject my idea of eating fish. But then I thought, I could definitely eat chickens, so I went to the chicken shop. And yet again, my mind asked me to stop and think. Chicken, the cockerel to be precise, is closely associated to Lord Murugan, so, may be, I will end up offending the sentiments of those who consider the chicken sacred? Though I had my doubts about their existence, but I couldn’t stop myself from wondering about the regulations stopping me from buying chicken. The only thing that then remained was mutton, but no it was too costly for me. With all my options exhausted, I returned home empty handed, feeling disappointed. So here’s my humble question for you dear sir, if you could please clarify. What does the government want me—an innocent, law abiding citizen of this country—to eat? If you could please give us a menu card or diet chart, it would be of great help. This way I will not be hurting anybody’s sentiments and following the law too. I just want to let you know sir, that this is not sarcasm, my concerns are genuine, and my intention is to be a law abiding citizen, and duly follow the government rulings, even if it comes at the cost of me sacrificing my eating habits.
Sincerely,
A Law Abiding Citizen