A Journey For Life-From Carnivore To Vegetarian
Each life is a sequence of moments. These moments affect us in various ways but some of them overpower in a way that leads us to rediscover ourselves. This discovery itself is no less than a miracle. I experienced one such miracle which proved to be a journey for life to me from being a carnivore to a strict vegetarian.
I remember during my childhood non vegetarian food meant ‘mutton’ and my father loved to cook it for my mother and me. Ironically, despite being great cooks, he and my sister were vegetarians. During mid seventies, we became aware of the harmful effects of red meat, thus shifted to white meat. Eggs for breakfast was a staple for everyone. It was in 1976, my mother suddenly decided to go vegetarian, which meant no meat and eggs at home. Initially, I accepted unquestionably but not able to carry on any longer, I revolted. After all I was a non vegetarian addict in my own right.
Weight Loss on a non vegetarian diet…
I owe my 30 kg weight loss story to chicken, fish and eggs. I followed a low carb meat based (Keto) diet from 2011 to 2014. I left Keto diet but non vegetarian food never left me. They say, meat is addictive; sure it is and no one knows it better than me.
September 2017….
A new moment….
Morning unfolded with a violent nightmare in which I saw our pet baby Cherub without his posterior. Observing certain issues with his urine flow, we decided to visit Govt. Veterinary College and Hospital RAJUVAS. They confirmed ‘Urinary Tract Stones’, requiring emergency surgery.
The same morning another moment…
One of my former students posted a video on Facebook, exposing animal (dog) abuse. Early in the morning, that graphic video disgusted and shocked me. I cussed and hated those abusive people.
The soul saving moment…
After surgery, while tending my helpless dog, I was reminded of the video. I was agonized seeing my little baby in pain. Then it hit me hard, “why didn’t I ever think of the pain of all those animals, I had enjoyed as meals? They too must be in pain the same way like my own pet!”
That was the end to it all…
All my life, I had been making my whole family understand benefits of non vegetarian food. I had never ever felt any kind of guilt. Here was this, ‘one moment, one visual and one pet’s suffering’ that made me feel like a loser.
Will I ever preach vegetarianism?
No, I don’t intend to force or convince anyone to be a vegetarian. I believe in freedom of making a personal choice. It is every one’s personal call. For the uninitiated here are a few facts….
- A report says that the green house gases generated by the livestock are way more than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.
- Every 3.6 seconds a person, mostly children under 5, die from starvation. Reason being that almost 40-70{ded759bd01f8bbd6e80ef72a3f712ac3f66882318c37a869eaabdd16d0df1e38} of global grain production is consumed by the livestock. If all food crops grown globally were fed directly to humans, especially those kids, around 70{ded759bd01f8bbd6e80ef72a3f712ac3f66882318c37a869eaabdd16d0df1e38} more food would be added to the world’s food supply. That would surely be enough to feed 4 billion additional people.
It took one month for my Cherub to recover from his surgery but it took me just one day to recover my soul. Today after nine months, I feel like a new born. I took a baby step towards positivity, reduced carbon footprints. Not to mention the self pride for accomplishing, what I always thought to be impossible. I did it, are you going to do it?
Here is a video for all the chicken lovers…. May be some day after seeing this you too decide to walk the path of humanity and kindness.
