The Vegan Journey of Ritika Thomas | VBI #002

Ritika Thomas is the co-founder of the grassroots animal rights group, Bengaluru Brigade for Animal Liberation, which works towards educating people about animal rights and the need to be vegan. She also runs a food account, @_snacc_attack_ with her partner, to show people all the delicious vegan options out there. She enjoys writing, reading, dancing, and singing, even though others around won't say the same about her singing. 😛

1. How and why did you turn vegan?

My sister, Richa, is the one who told all of us about veganism for the first time, after she'd made the change following a talk on animal rights with activists who had put up a stall at MCC during College.

Having been brought up in a half Mallu - half Bengali family, meat was something that was a part of our everyday lives. I convinced my vegetarian friend to become a non-vegetarian when I was in the third grade or so. I wondered how people could say no to kebabs and I just thought, “Alright, that’s fine – more kebabs for me.”

I knew meat came from animals but I didn’t want to know any further. I’d walk past shops with chickens in cages and not pay any attention. I just thought, “It’s how it is. I can’t do anything about it. Yes, it’s sad but that’s life.” I think deep down, we know where our heart is at on the issue, but acknowledging the wrong is a difficult task.

Then one day, I saw videos about what happens to animals on fur farms and told myself I wouldn’t be a part of it. I even watched a slaughterhouse video and as horrified as I was, my only response was, “I’ll try, but whether or not people choose to stop eating meat after this, it’s important that they know this information.” I had to think about it at least thrice each day as I sat down to eat and I really didn’t want to think about it. So the videos were consciously pushed out of my head in an attempt to normalise what everybody thought was normal. 
     

I even remember telling my sister I’d be vegetarian till I find someone who ‘does it quickly so that the animal doesn’t suffer because the meat is okay if it’s humane’. She asked me if I also thought it was okay to kill our cats for meat, the way it is done in China, since they were treated well and lived a good life in our house. That shut me up!!

So I became a vegetarian but I postponed watching anything about dairy because I thought, “Do I really have to? Isn’t being a vegetarian enough?” I didn’t want to ‘give up’ dairy and I certainly didn’t want my sister to make me feel guilty every time I consumed a dairy product.

It was in one Literature class in August 2016 that I realised that I just had to be vegan. As I sat listening to a teacher's talk about rights, justice, equality and the barbaric nature of making a business out of death, all I could think about was the fact that I was still a part of it. I knew that all someone had to say in response to me telling them about the horrors of meat, fur, leather was, “Why do you still have dairy when you know how cruel it is?” I knew I wouldn’t have a valid reason. So that night, I watched Gary Yourofsky’s ‘Best Speech Ever’ and I’ve been vegan ever since!

2. How was transitioning into life as a vegan?

Switching to products not tested on animals, not supporting the use of animals for entertainment and clothing were easy. With regard to food, I wouldn't really call it difficult as such, but I had been eating animals for 22 years of my life, so like all habits, it needed some adjusting to. By this I mean, reading up more on what's vegan and what's not, and finding out more about it. It's actually way easier than people think and a lot of what we eat on a regular basis is vegan by default, we just don't label it as such. This is also where making the ethical connection becomes so important - because if we are able to connect with the need to be vegan due to the fact that it's fundamentally unjust to use animals, we will be more motivated to ensure we make the change. Things can seem difficult if we look at it from our point of view, but when we look at it from the victim's point of view, no aspect of the change is difficult.

3. How supportive was your family towards it?

My parents have always been super supportive of us in all areas of life and this was no different. As soon as my sister turned vegan, they ensured we stopped cooking meat in the house. Then I turned vegan and soon after, my brother turned vegan as well. My mum turned vegetarian and I'm hoping both, my mum and dad will become vegan soon.

4.  Tell us about your initiative that you’ve taken to spread the importance of animal rights and being a vegan? 

After I turned vegan, I knew I couldn't stay silent about the injustice that was being carried out. I knew I had to speak up and my sister was already organising campaigns at that time to spread awareness on the issue. So I joined her and as more people started making the change, our group started becoming bigger and we decided to carry out campaigns with a group identity. In April 2018, we formed the Bengaluru Brigade for Animal Liberation and have conducted different types of campaigns to spread awareness about veganism. The idea behind coming up with the name, for me, was two-fold. Our campaigns were consistently being conducted on Brigade Road and that's where the community really grew, plus brigade also has the reference to a rescue brigade, and since we're all in it with the aim to achieve Animal Liberation, it's something that clicked. Our activities include street outreach, lectures in schools/colleges/other organisations, wall paintings, screening of vegan documentaries, investigations of exploitative businesses, rescues, and content for social media activism. As a grassroots animal rights organisation with numerous volunteers, we also focus on providing India specific content in regional languages for people to connect with.

5. How has been your activism experience?

I personally prefer to do lectures in schools/colleges because it's what I've found to be the most effective, but I think different approaches are needed to be able to reach out to as many people as we can. Social media has also been instrumental in accelerating the rate of change and mobilising groups. I wouldn't necessarily label one as better than the other because I think it depends on your audience as well as what approach you're using as an activist and we need a combination of different types to effectively reach out to people. We try to do as many types of campaigns from the  Bengaluru Brigade for Animal Liberation to maximise reach. I think it's also important for each person to contribute to the movement by capitalising on their strengths. Doing a lecture may not be someone's strength, but maybe they can convey a powerful message through an art form in a way that others can't, so it's important to speak up in whatever way we can and reach out to as many people as we can.

6. Have you seen any health benefits after becoming a vegan?
In terms of health, I've been used to eating vegetables even before turning vegan, so cutting out the animal products still left the vegetables on my plate. I wouldn't say I experienced massive health benefits because the food in my house always included plenty of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains, so removing the animal products still left healthy options at home. But I do get blood tests done to ensure other people can be shut up if they ask me about my nutritional levels as a vegan and my results have always been great, with my nutritional levels in check, so that helps. I think it's also important here to emphasise the fact that veganism is about animals. Any environmental and health benefits from it are just benefits, but even if it didn't impact the planet or affect our health, it would still not justify the exploitation of animals. People can eat vegan junk food also - chips, other fried foods, and vegan desserts aren't necessarily healthy, but they don't come at the cost of an innocent being and that's what ultimately matters, regardless of whether people want to be junk food vegans or super healthy vegans. We can be healthy without animal products and vegans all over the world are living proof of it.

7. What are your views on showing children graphic footage related to veganism in schools?

Personally, I don't think it's wrong to show kids graphic footage of what happens to animals because of humans. I have actually shown my younger cousins footage of what happens to animals in these businesses, but I can do that there because I will be held accountable for it. I am also in a position to be able to gauge their level of maturity and follow up with them after it because they are my cousins. Many schools don't allow it because parental consent is something that is required and while it's easy to say, "People should see what they're eating," I think it's more effective to focus on what you can do as an activist to make the best use of your time in the classroom. I've done sessions with younger kids where I've shown "Draw my Life" videos and had discussions with them after it. Showing animal intelligence videos also helps to establish the connection to animals they don't normally have the opportunity to interact with. Bite Size Vegan also has some videos for kids that explain what veganism is and what happens to the animals without graphic content, so using these resources is important. I think tailoring the message depending on the age group you're speaking to is essential to achieve the best results.

8. Many people say veganism is more expensive, what do you think?

I think most of what we're used to eating on a daily basis is vegan by default, without the vegan label. We can walk into restaurants and order items from the vegetarian section of the menu and ask them to veganise it by making sure they don't include dairy products/honey. The vegetarian items are almost always cheaper than their non-vegetarian counterparts.

In terms of alternatives, I will admit that a lot of the alternatives available are slightly more expensive, but I think it's important to emphasise here that alternatives aren't a necessity to being vegan. It is possible to be vegan without using alternatives, but of course, if someone wants alternatives, they do exist. It's also important to bear in mind that the dairy industry is heavily subsidised, something that plant-based alternative businesses don't benefit from. Also, as the demand for vegan products rises, more and more producers are going to get into it and alternatives will become available at cheaper prices. Just a few years ago, we didn't have the number of alternatives that we have now, so it's important to show businesses that there is a customer base for this.

9. At the end - what is the message you want to deliver to everybody about animal rights and being a vegan? 

I would say do the research yourself. It's easy to get swayed by what is the social norm and sharing the collective burden of guilt with a largely non-vegan society makes it seem like it's not such a big the deal, but if we actually look into what's happening to the animals, I'm sure the majority of people would agree that being vegan is the right thing to do. Despite the negative connotations that the word has come to be associated with, all you have to do is ask yourself if you're against harming animals unnecessarily. If the answer to that is yes (which is the case for most people), then you already believe in veganism, it's just a matter of aligning your actions with your principles. As a former hardcore non-vegetarian who was offended if a meal didn't have meat, I can assure you that the change is easier than you think once you start looking into the information.