> But I don't think people can directly question you on those two for renting out houses. It's not like they > are giving stuff for free.
If I own a house, I can set my own criteria for choosing a tenant. For better or for worse, these criteria are always discriminatory on some count or the other. But when it comes to picking someone over an equally appropriate alternate, the choice comes down to the intangibles of how one feels/relates to the potential tenants. If religion, eating habits, marital status or length of hair is the consideration, so be it. A marketplace with alternatives should sort it out easily enough. On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 12:15 PM, Zainab Bawa <[email protected]>wrote: > Property owners have every right to ask such questions. But then, are > these questions being asked from a very purist perspective of disrupting > the sanctity of property by cooking 'non-veg'? Does property ownership make > us conservative or is it the trends in society that add to the > conservativeness? I am asking myself all these questions. There are also > fundamental issues of freedom of choice that I feel are involved here. In > some cases, I feel scared to even say my name because the moment people hear > my name, they say no non-veg when in reality I am vegetarian for health > purposes and because of my political problem with the poultry industry which > is very unhealthy. Processed/factory meat is as terrible as pesticide laden > vegetables! > My experience is that the social aspects of apartment living contribute significantly to the no non-veg, no Muslims, no bachelors rules. The first is simply because vegetarians are far more intolerant of the smells associated with cooking meat, and homeowners are loath to deal with the complaints that come from it, and the complaints are many. My mother's tenant is non-vegetarian, and the people who live upstairs call her twice a week to whine about the smell of fish. My mother is hardcore veggie, but it's a credit to her fortitude that she ignores them and doesn't bother our very nice tenants (who make a most excellent Chettinad meen curry). I find the no Muslims rule disgusting, and as you say, it's a result of preconceived notions about what Muslims do at home, many of which are absurd and ignorant. In some parts of Bombay, they won't let the Muslims in simply because of communal sensitivities. Some apartment complexes in Mahim are quite aggressive about this, and are supported by the Shiv Sena and their associate hoodlums. OTOH, many societies will actively prefer Catholic (or the more secular ones, just Christian) tenants. We're an equal-opportunity discriminatory society. -- Sumant Srivathsan http://sumants.blogspot.com
