The Vegan Journey of Ishaan Jain | Vegan Beings India #049

 

In January 2020, I was exploring Cannaught place in Delhi and I came across this particular van of chickens. Behind the van, I saw a person picking up a hen and thrashing her in a cage. She was flapping her wings, I could clearly see the suffering in her eyes. That one moment hit my conscience. I was a born vegetarian and I knew I was not actively contributing to the murder of hens but that day I decided to start speaking against what happens in the animal agriculture industry. So I started advocating for the animals within my closed circle. 

Through my avocation, I got introduced to the concept of animal rights and animal liberation. I came across the video of Deadly Dairy in India on YouTube and got introduced to the atrocities of the dairy industry in India. Overnight, I decided to go vegan. Later, I tried to figure out what all it was that I should eat. Slowly and gradually I understood, learned more about plant nutrition. My relationship with food ended up improving a great deal, I lost a ton of weight and became healthier as a person.

Post that I started creating content on veganism and animal rights to educate people around me on the same. I have also been doing some street outreaches in which we visit different places across Delhi and try to educate people on animal rights. Having one on one conversations with people and seeing the soft spot that most of the people have for animals, has been amazing as a collective experience. 

I would just like to let all non-vegans know, please spend time with animals and help animals in your capacity. Be it in the form of rescuing animals, speaking up against the injustice that animals go through. Because once you start advocating, to be consistent with your advocacy, you would automatically want to become a vegan.

After going vegan, I started challenging all social injustices that I came across, be it in the form of sexism, racism, casteism in my capacity. Aside from that, the health benefits that I have experienced have been mind-boggling. Getting fitter and being able to run 10s of km without stopping. All of it has only been possible because of this lifestyle that I undertook.

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Hello everyone, I’m Ishaan Jain. I am an animal liberation activist based in Delhi, India. I have been doing activism for the last 1.5 years. I am also running and supporting my family business. My hobbies would include visiting different coffee houses, restaurants across Delhi, trying a variety of vegan food, and always seeking adventure in life.

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The Vegan Journey of Sohag Poddar | Vegan Beings India #048

 

I would state my journey, in a word, as 'powerful'. In the beginning, it was slightly hard to deal with my family because they were not familiar with this lifestyle. It took some time, but we managed, and I never lost my way. I first went vegan for the animals, but as time went on, I found out about the many ways it positively impacts our environment, our health etc.  Going vegan felt like a huge weight being lifted from my chest. I physically made improvements, and everything got much better.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) inspired me to go vegan, particularly with their documentary 'The Horrors of the Dairy Industry'. I never really liked consuming animal products but was brainwashed by society into it. So, when I saw these documentaries and slaughterhouse footage, I became more and more disgusted and angered about how society is feeding us lies, and we are blindly accepting it. So, as I gradually got to know the facts, I felt stronger and could convince my parents to finally let me go vegan.

After turning vegan, I have been much healthier. I used to be very obese, but I lost some of that fat after going vegan, cutting down on bad cholesterol and unhealthy calories. Note that you can still get obese after going vegan, but not in my case because I reduced the consumption of excessive oils and other fatty foods.

I believe that the worst form of activism is not doing any activism. We should never get hyper whilst talking with a non-vegan about veganism. It's a very usual thing to happen, but unfortunately, it isn't the solution. The non-vegan will avoid the topic and continue consuming innocent animals. Instead, we should keep our calm, be patient (which I know is hard), and make them understand that their habits are badly affecting our home: Mother Nature.

Going vegan is not hard at all. It may seem like that because you are not familiar with that lifestyle, but you can save so many lives and resources once you go vegan! It's the best thing!

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Hello everyone, I am Sohag Poddar, I am 13 years old. I am an animal rights activist and I love baking. It’s been more than 1.5 years being vegan.

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The Vegan Journey of Samaran Thamarai | VBI #047

 

I was aware of the term 'vegan' but thought it was just an extremist concept. But when I went vegan, I didn't know I was one. It is kind of weird, yes, but that's the truth. Some online articles about dairy farming led me to veganism. I tried to convince myself that milk doesn't involve cruelty, but the activists on social media made their logic very clear, and it was irrefutable.

My path to veganism has been completely positive. I love how both of the following contradictory statements are true in their contexts - "Everyone is born vegan" and "No one is born vegan". I have loved animals right from childhood and didn't find any difficulties in going vegan. My mother is no different. I am really proud of her. While many parents find excuses to justify their life-long practices, she quit her dairy intake almost immediately despite using them for over half a century.

I have come to understand most people are just close-minded to this concept. That is okay; know that all we are trying to do is minimize suffering for some innocent animals, and we would have fought for you too if you happened to be in their place. Oh, and plants are not sentient :)

I understand it isn't easy for everyone to go vegan overnight. I had lethal cravings for pizza for a long time. Just remember that we are doing this for the animals, and everything will be fine ❤️

I am trying to do everything within my capabilities for animal rights - make videos, do outreaches, write a song, train more activists etc., and hope to do more. As an activist, more than the content you make, your efforts will inspire people into realizing the truth.

To all the fellow activists: I know from experience that it is highly mentally and emotionally taxing to educate people who do not want to listen. Please don't give in. Create your schedule for activism and don't overthink it and harm yourself. If you have specific skills, try to put them to practical use for activism and spreading awareness. Keep your sources ready to present whenever you need to. If you aren’t comfortable with it, try doing activism with others. It helps to have a backup. Good luck <3

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Hello! I am, Samaran Thamarai, just another book-hungry 18y/o computer science student. I am an aspiring lyricist and film-maker. Vegan for around 3 years.

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The Vegan Journey of Shruti and Jayshree | Vegan Beings India #046

 

We're a Chartered Accountant-Digital Marketer duo who turned plant-based a year ago. As time passed, we became incredibly passionate about the cause. We wanted to spread awareness about the vegan lifestyle and the journey it took to get here to make it easy for other beginners and vegan-curious people to slowly make the shift. All these ideas culminated in the birth of Vee Villy Vegan, our personal blog on Instagram. We cover everything from plant-based food recipes, vegan skincare and beauty, to various tips to help people transition and sustain this lifestyle.

We were raised as vegetarians since birth. Interestingly, though we decided to go vegan around the same time, we had different reasons for doing so. 

Shruti has wanted to try a plant-based diet since her college days but found it difficult to transition, primarily due to a lack of resources at her hostel. On the other hand, Jayashree wanted to turn vegan in 2019 after watching a couple of videos on animal cruelty online and realising how similar a cow's eyes were to that of her own adopted dog's. 

In 2020, armed with adequate information and a proper game plan, we took the plunge towards veganism and have not looked back since. Ultimately, we realised our causes aligned towards a kinder, more sustainable lifestyle. We are grateful that we could be on this journey together. We've been vegan for over a year now.

We struggled with going vegan cold turkey, so we decided to phase out our journey and make a slow shift. We started with personal care and beauty products and slowly cut down dairy from our diet. This gradual transition allowed us not to get frustrated. It gave us adequate time to make the complete shift without it being too overwhelming. We were also really patient and not too hard on ourselves.

Eating out with friends has also become more difficult as there are not many vegan-friendly restaurants in town. But we are lucky to have supportive friends who don't mind eating at the same 4 restaurants and also try our vegan food recommendations from time to time.

Finally, we would like to say that every step you take towards a kinder lifestyle is a step for the better. As we said before, we need more imperfect vegans than just a few entirely perfect ones. So if you feel intimidated in the beginning, know that you can take your time and make small changes that still count. :)

To sum up: Vegan food is yummy, plants don't feel pain, and yes, we get enough protein! :)

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