After doing outreaches on vegan awareness in 6 metro cities of India, I came to a conclusion about the problem: Lack of exclusive vegan options and awareness. Hence, I co-founded Kolkata's first vegan cafe, Ubuntu Community Cafe in 2019. The response to the cafe has been great and quite satisfying so far.
Before this, I was working as an environmentalist and that's when I got to know about the connection between animal food products (meat, dairy, etc) and climate change. That was my initial spark. Thanks to an open-curious mind, I researched and found the health and compassion angle of my diet and lifestyle. So, I became vegan for all of the reasons around 5.5 years back. After turning vegan, I understood the true meaning of the phrase that ‘We are what we eat!’
Being a minimalist, it was not a big challenge in adopting the lifestyle for me. Dairy-based desserts were my last and longest excuse but didn't last more than 2 months. A larger challenge was to be aware and be among people who don’t resist the idea. I was a vocal activist and learned a lot about how not to put the message and how to put the awareness to have a positive outcome. When I became vegan, I was in South India. The basic food options are by nature vegan there, so it was very easy for me. We found out that Kolkata didn’t have that many options then. Hence, our choice was Kolkata for the cafe.
All of us are changing the world through our constantly evolving habits. We need to understand the impacts of our habits on ourselves and the world around us, and take necessary steps. Together we need to create a better world for ourselves.