Is the idli-roti divide ingrained? We are what we eat, says a new theory

The oft quoted Vindhyan divide between north and south India has found corroborative parallels in divergent cultural assumptions, but now it seems the schism is far more basic.

If studies conducted in China are to be believed, the main difference is far more ingrained – between wheat and rice. The old adage that we are what we eat has apparently been strengthened by the conclusion of the Chinese after tests that wheat eaters – thanks to the grain’s farming methods – are more individualistic and analytical while rice eaters are more interdependent and holistic for the same reason. If rice and wheat akin to chalk and cheese, the question arises whether this could be the reason why northern and southern India are anathema to each other.

That the collaborative nature of paddy farming and the more self-reliant character of wheat growing transfers via some osmosis to those who consume the grains also opens up avenues for further study in the new field called nutritional genomics.

Is a poll showing a polarisation of wine and beer preferences between coastal and inland Americans indicative of wider cultural and even genetic schisms? Could any inferences be drawn between the inevitability of coalition politics in India and this seemingly insurmountable difference between rice-eating and wheat-eating people?