Roti vs Paratha - A new tussle

Who would have thought that one day we would be discussing the difference between Roti and Parathas?

Naive people like me had thought that they both are cooked from wheat by humans, but the Karnataka bench of Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has recently given it a new definition that ‘Parotas' are not Rotis and, therefore, can be taxed at higher 18 per cent GST compared to 5 per cent for Rotis because they need to be heated before consumption. In short, you have to pay more for Parotas than Rotis in restaurants.

The Karnataka bench’s order comes after a ready-to-cook meal maker sought the authority for more clarification on GST rates for variants of Parotas. I think Puri, kulcha, Naan and bread are already tottering in fear of being charged with higher GST as according to their definition, they are also cooked differently.

Does not it sound preposterous? It shows how rapacious they are to collect cess to overcome the losses. However, people took to Twitter to express their anguish over this and importuned that there is no difference between Rotis and Parathas.

However, it would be obtuse to think this in racist terms. Yes, we can say that the bureaucracy is incompetent, but relating it with fascism and giving it North India-South India divide would be a total lack of candour.

As a north Indian, I love parathas as much as I like Rotis, and how can we say that Roti is north Indian and Paratha is south Indian. Have you heard of Punjab? Punjabis love Parathas.

I wonder how people can find a vocation in dividing the nation. The decision should be condemned but giving it a north-south angle would be unwise.

A lot of foreign hegemonies are already gawking at our nation to break its union, at least we should not plunge into this. In short, believe Anand Mahindra's words, "In any case, given Indian Jugaad skills, I’m pretty sure there will be a new breed of ‘Parotis’ that will challenge any categorisation! "