India, May 8 -- How we used to laugh! Two decades ago, if you went to a fancy restaurant anywhere in the West, you would see neatly dressed Japanese guests with expensive cameras. Each time a course was served, they would position their cameras and take pictures of what they were eating.

Are they here to eat? I would wonder. Or do they think this is a photo shoot? The chefs at these restaurants would ask the same questions and chuckle. How bizarre was this behaviour!

It wasn't until I got to the Far East (chiefly Korea and Japan) that I realised that this was a normal practice. Diners liked to keep a record of everything they ate.

In those days, there was no foodie Instagram, so I never discovered what happened to the photos. Did they ...