Being Vegan or Being Kind
Veganism is another name for kindness. Yeah, being vegan is not a fad for those who care. It’s been one and a half years since this understanding seeped in, actually initially it was a gesture to stop animal cruelty but later it taught me a very important human value. We have so much compassion for the deprived humans, for pets mainly dogs and cats but we never gave an iota of thought about chickens, cattle, pigs who are merely bred to feed us. Most non-vegetarians are stuck in the clutches of their senses to enjoy meat of other animals and a lot of vegetarians are not even aware of the process of producing milk. They live in fallacy that they are not hurting anyone by being vegetarian, little do they know that milk required for the human body is only in the infancy years and like breast milk is power packed food for the nourishment of the baby, same if the case for all animals and birds- oviparous and viviparous. No other species drink milk of another species in adulthood but humans continue to do that to cherish cheese, butter, ghee. Oh yeah, isn’t it impossible to think about food without these key ingredients that can convert any boring food to a delicacy. It’s been many many years that we have lived eating ghee, in fact it is supposed to be the best in Ayurveda. All facts being right, we need to acknowledge some facts here, in ancient India, cows were treated with lot of love and care and only the extra milk was used up by humans, it has gradually become a business to showcase milk as an important food item packed with nutrients. And now the dairy industry has come to a point that calves are killed so that the entire milk could be used up to feed millions of humans, the cows are injected with antibiotics to treat piss, shit and blood in the milk. Not just that, they are also injected with God knows what to produce more. Please understand the milk will be produced only when the cows body is prepared to create a baby like any other mammal. We make them pregnant everytime we demand milk or its products to satisfy our taste. Millions of children in third world countries go hungry when tonnes of grains are fed to cattle to produce beef for the developed nations. UN urges global move to meat and dairy free diet. Meat and dairy products account for 70% of global freshwater consumption, 38% of the total land use and 19% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Has it ever struck you on the name of protein, we have been killing animals who are herbivores, that means we always have a choice – to get nutrients direct from plants (a whole lot of choices) or get third in the food chain by taking the same nutrients through animal skin.
I know it’s hard to change food choices just like that but please become aware of alternative food items and gradually turn vegan. Be the force to stop cruelty, feel compassion for every form of life, by being kind to animals the way you do to cats and dogs. Believe me, you will feel human one day because that’s your intrinsic nature. This post is for all vegetarians because this is a smaller step in the right direction, for meat eaters, they have to take a U-turn but if your intent is right and the day you understand who you are, you will be the first ones to change.
Vegan food is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure.
