India, April 14 -- Pandara Park in New Delhi is famous for its eateries. In particular, non-vegetarian ones like Havemore and Gulati have acquired legendary status. These are not upmarket joints but serve delectable food. Every evening, large crowds are waiting to get a table to savour the tandoori chicken, kebabs and wide array of naans, rotis and parathas served there.

A day before Navratri started on April 9, I went there, after ages, to have dinner with some friends. The crowd was even bigger than normal, since from the next day, in deference to Navratri, Pandara Market would only serve vegetarian food. It seems as if a lot of people wanted to have their fill of non-vegetarian delicacies before they would be deprived of them for the ...