How does one tell if Indians are Brahmins? Is there some trick to decoding firstname lastname?
Sometimes traditional attire/sari style and jewelry can indicate even the sub sect of Brahmins. Hair style(for weddings) and sari drape. We can tell from the design of the wedding chain/pendent(we don’t wear rings. Wedding chains are hidden behind clothes we wear and not publicly visible. In some families they add coral or gold beads for every child born for example.
Some Brahmin women stamp their arms with a religious symbol and only women who have that singed design can enter their kitchens. For example, I myself couldn’t enter some kitchens even though I am a Brahmin because I don’t have the symbol and hence don’t observe the same ritual purity as they do in their kitchens)
Every family has a unique design/stamp on their wedding jewelery..it’s rather broad but easy to join dots with other clues and very easy to map six degrees.
Accent even if we speak the same language, which festivals they observe and use of certain terms to describe food too.
But I can only tell for women/kitchen details. I don’t know about menfolk.
My aunt could tell where someone is from just by looking at the weave of their wedding sari …but that’s a generational thing, I guess..
I believe there are shibboleths they use to suss each other out as well such as asking about ancestral village, charity customs, etc.
(speaking about actual Indians as well as 0-gen and 1-gen. Obviously if immigrants somewhere those tendencies disappear over time.
In other parts of India, vegetarian is kind of the norm, amongst all hindus, and many non-hindus as well.
See for example: https://www.worthview.com/vegetarians-vs-non-vegetarians-per...
Nehru specially got himself a christian chef, so he can cook him beef, and pork, without having to hear too much whispers behind his back.
In the south its also possible but more tricky as the surname tends to be the fathers’s name and not an ancestral name that gets carried down.
[0] - https://www.momjunction.com/articles/brahmin-caste-surnames-...
You can look at common conventions here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_name
Indians in America have often discarded that tradition. But I think about 2/3 of Indians in America are Brahmins, so you do pretty well by just assuming everyone is a Brahmin.
Now tilaka etc. Slightly more likely but bear in mind (I presume you are North Indian based on your spelling of janoi am I right?) in many places vegetarianism isn't an absolute norm even amongst Brahmans. Also I would presume purely as a matter of sociology vegetarianism would be one of the distinctive features least likely to go because it is something increasingly fashionable in the larger community whereas janoi etc. are not.
You should just discriminate based on something straightforward like car size or hat color
Also remember that its very easy here in India to preach something in public and do the opposite in private (not being cynical here). We are a tolerant society and especially tolerant of hypocrisy.
As you probably already know, vegetarian diet is not always black and white and can become complex with rules on days of the week, specific days on lunar calendar etc.