Ram temple not an issue in south

Much has been said this election season about the alleged north-south divide.

- BARKHA DUTT

There are those who believe there is a political line drawn across the map of India and those who believe that these are divisive ways to understand elections and the country.

As a Punjabi from Delhi, I have just driven through most of peninsular India. My election road trip series, Dhabas of Democracy—designed to discover all the resplendent flavours of India—began in Kanniyakumari and wove its way through Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore, Wayanad, Mysuru, Bengaluru, Kurnool, Hyderabad and onwards to Maharashtra.

I have discovered and loved pazham kanji (watery fermented rice with chili and onions), marvelled at the popularity of kalaan (Tamil for mushroom) served by the street side in a stir fry paste, stood in line to eat a butter masala dosa at Vidyarthi Bhavan, discovered what the history is of Mysore Pak, devoured the onion samosas of Hyderabad and eaten curd rice at every meal I could.