ABSTRACT
Wheat is a staple food grain in northern India, where it is consumed in various forms of unleavened bread (roti, parantha, puri) as well as in gruel and porridge (daliya). Some of the biggest states in this part of the country are referred to as “breadbaskets” or “granaries” of the nation. Dramatic representations open a discussion on the social implications of food production and distribution in India by presenting dichotomies of the colonial and the postcolonial, the rural and the urban, the moral and the political, and deprivation and hoarding. The availability or scarcity of wheat in these representations points to ubiquitous divisions within Indian society continuing from the early to the late twentieth century. These divisions stem from class and caste inequalities; they also point to enormous social and cultural costs involved in obtaining food.
