I find it hard to relate the word omnivores with human beings (No offence meant to other living beings). Come to think of people eating roaches and crickets!!! Holy Cow! Well, wait, even the cows aren't spared, are they?
This post is about my personal interest towards vegetarianism and veganism.
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Picture Courtesy - Google
*************************************************************************I am a vegetarian by birth, by that I mean my parents; my grandparents and my ancestors were vegetarians too. It is one of those advantages of being born as an Iyengar. Though I didn't quite follow the rules, I have now come to think of veganism as a way of life. It isn't very easy, folks! Let me start with an incident that happened to me when I was down under.
There was this Christmas lunch arranged in one of the big restaurants in Sydney and my clients generously agreed to treat us there. I was longing for a good vegetarian meal as I had been living on Nutella and Bread for weeks. I was not let down even when I realized I am the only vegetarian in the group of 40. Darn! Well, what happened at the restaurant was legend. I went there gaily, effortlessly having skipped breakfast and tummy growling for some green curry magic. We got seated; I chose to sit near some of my Asian friends as we shared similar interests except in food. We ordered our drinks and began browsing our buffet displayed graciously across the hall. Every silver container I opened seemed to have some part of animal kingdom associated to it, except one. And that was garden salad with no dressing whatsoever. Holy cow again! Hmmph! I gave up, but my tummy didn't, so I picked up some lettuce and carrots on my plate and started hunting for some ketchup or sauce. After a couple of straining, nose-covering, stomach growling rounds, I found a small tray with something like the chutneys they serve in India. That was a moment of pure joy and desire. I hopped like a happy rabbit that saw an orange carrot and filled my plate with three full scoops of the divine green chutney from the tray. It smelt like heaven. I couldn't wait to taste it. As I reached the table, my friends were already going to get their desserts. Never mind, I thought, this green chutney is my savior. I started digging in. Worst things first, so some lettuce in, some carrots and then I took a spoonful of the green divinity and swallowed it.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaashhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Ayyooooooooooooo!!!!!!! Ammaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I growled loud enough to get the attention of my friends who were looking for caviar in dessert too. My stomach and throat were burning as if on fire and I couldn't feel my tongue. A Japanese friend came to my rescue and exclaimed "Did you just gulp a spoonful?? Holy Wasabi!!!"
There ends the tragic-comical story of a vegetarian who lives in this omnivorous kingdom.
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Now I am a changed person, or should I say 'a person – changed', that wouldn't make much of a difference I see. I moved on to be a flexitarian who ate egg whites and 7 seas capsules. I felt guilty about the fact that I was no longer a vegetarian. But now, I want to be the change I want to see. I am a very prospective vegan and I aim to be a vegan evangelist one day.
10 points to make myself remember my goal of becoming a vegan evangelist:
- Throw away your favorite leather handbags
- And trash your shoes collection (3 of them – partly leather/ traces of leather)
- Yoghurt makes you fat. People might try convincing you of its calcium benefits. But ignore them, you have greens and beans
- Green tea is awesome and you needn't worry about replacing tea/coffee with it
- You never liked ice creams and cakes anyway (repeat this sentence 19 times everyday)
- Be prepared to face critics who say once you have eaten eggs you are no longer a vegetarian
- Stop saying "Holy Cow" (Holy Wasabi sounds better now?)
- Don't give in to peer pressure. When they ask you to try something which is against veganism, just refuse
- Advocate veganism to friends and relatives
- Don't kill mosquitoes
- Ignore #10 because I was just kidding. Be the change you want to see. If you give up in the middle, don't worry, lift your spirits up and try again
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I hope to see a lot many people resort to veganism because it could be our only chance to save us and the world without making any drastic effort.
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That's all folks!
Cheers
Roh
There is an interesting movie on this special Japanese chutney. 'Wasabi'.. watch it... its fun!!!
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