The Vegan Journey of Ajay Kiradiya | Vegan Beings India #060

Around three years ago I started feeding community dogs in my locality. Each time I’d feed them I empathise with them and eventually end up loving them. Thereafter, I started to love all the animals, from cows, dogs to pigs. I would feed them, care for them and empathise with them. I could see the pain in their eyes. I could feel their pain when I saw them suffering.

When I was shown the reality of dairy, at first, I couldn’t believe it. I thought it doesn’t happen in India. I did my research and got to know about various animal exploitation industries in India. I then decided to go vegan because I didn’t want to be the reason for their immense suffering, trauma, and exploitation. It took me a few months to transition and now I'm a vegan and an animal liberation activist.

My family has always been very supportive of my vegan and activism journey. After going vegan, I’ve got to know so much about the animal rights movement, and other social justice movements. I’ve made some amazing activist friends who help me sort out things. Apart from these, I feel so helpless that I can’t save all non-human animals. I can’t stop people from hurting animals, thus I can only try. 

I’ve been learning about anti-speciesism, effective activism, social change, and other important aspects of the AR movement. I’ve learned the importance of activism and why we should focus and invest our time in this. I’ve been doing offline activism since after two months I went vegan. I'm still learning effective ways of activism every day.

I document other animals’ suffering by witnessing them in butcher shops, live markets, dairy farms, pet shops, zoos, animal rides, and other unwanted uses. I’ve seen them in trauma and the torture that they have to go through. I tell people their stories by sharing them on my social media handles. I had also been a part of an online pressure campaign.

The problem is people are very disconnected from animals. All of us have been brainwashed by industries' advertisements. They don't show us the reality of what goes behind their end animal products. We are so bound by our culture to ignore the suffering of other sentient beings.

We all have been taught from childhood that animals are inferior to us. We can abuse them for our taste, pleasure, and greed. We should see beyond the culture and recognise their individuality, treat them with equal respect and dignity. Our habits, taste buds and convenience is nothing, compared to the pain and suffering other animals receive.

When it comes to the capacity to feel pain, fear, and love, we are all equal. We do not have to love animals to avoid abusing and killing them. Choose justice and equality, and be an anti-speciesist. And most importantly, be their allies.

Please get active for the animals. They are suffering and dying every day. They need us like never before. Use your privileges in ways that would help them, utilise the skills and knowledge you possess, and try to be effective in your actions. You do not have to master activism. Any action is better than no action, so keep trying it.

I've been learning about anti-speciesist language, animal-centric approach, effective activism, system change, and much more. I learned the importance of language that we use in our advocacy. It plays a huge role in the AR Movement. Because we all have been taught speciesist words and language by the society we live in and the system that normalises the exploitation of non-human animals.

I learned why we should always centre on the animals, not other factors while advocating for animal rights because they are the victims here. When we discuss health and the environment, we are not only objectifying animals but also letting people remain disconnected from animals. Eventually, they don't feel the plight of animals and keep coming up with other human-centric arguments. Yes, health and environmental factors are important but they are additional benefits. The root cause is speciesism and animal exploitation.

I learned why system change is equally important and should be emphasised as individual change and even more, because corporations, companies, industries, and governments continue to exploit animals to make money. They are the ones who operate the whole chain.

Hi, My name is Ajay Kiradiya. I'm an animal liberation activist from Indore and currently pursuing mass communication. I'm dedicated to animal rights activism.

I've been vegan for the last two years now.

 

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The Vegan Journey of Vaishnavi Dhumal | Vegan Beings India #059

 

I saw the slaughtering of chickens 4 years ago. Witnessing the way the poor animal was fighting for his life and struggling to not die for a momentary meal, made me feel sick. I instantly became vegetarian. I thought I was doing enough and now I wasn’t causing any harm to non-human animals.

I had heard of the term vegan but I was ignorant at that time. I did not understand why people go vegan in the first place. I thought it was extreme and that no cows are harmed for milk. Soon, I came across a post from an animal activist's account that was talking about the horrors that cows go through for milk. It also said to watch the documentary Dominion. I started doing my research and tried to watch the documentary. I couldn’t watch it completely, it was too rough to watch. To date, I haven’t seen it completely.

Shocked by all of this, I decided to go vegan. I started by cutting off dairy items from my daily consumption. But the wrong perception was that although I was doing it for ethical reasons, I still thought of it as a “diet”. This continued for a month, and then I started to realise it’s not a diet or my personal choice when there is a victim involved. 

So this one day when I was sitting in my canteen waiting for my oreo shake to come, it just hit me that I cannot keep expanding that I would take “small steps to cut off animal products from my diet” to adopt Veganism. Either way, the animal would still be abused while I was still making the baby steps. So, I went to the counter and cancelled my order, and turned vegan that day. 

Through these past 3 years, it has evolved me to learn more about animal rights, from thinking of veganism as a mere diet. I came to an understanding that this is a social justice movement for animal rights.

Also, the fact that animal rights activism is extremely important because I never went up and searched on the internet about veganism and Animal rights. I got educated about it through an animal activist's post. So I feel, being active for the animals is a key to keep educating people and speaking out for the animals.

Nobody is born a bad person, no sane person wants animals to be killed. I know you wouldn’t want to hurt animals. I know you also love your companion animal. You probably feed your community animals too, or do some other kind things in your life, which I acknowledge and make me feel that you are a compassionate person.

However, please understand that society has conditioned us into thinking of animals as a product and not as an individual. We grow up and unlearn so many things. It’s time we unlearn speciesism. We need you in this fight for animal rights. Please expand your compassion to all the non-human animals because I know you can.

My vegan journey has been great. On the positive side, I got to know so much about animal rights, got into activism, got out of my comfort zone, made connections with non-human animals, and looked at them as individuals, being more compassionate and understanding other beings.

On the negative experience, in the early months, I had lots of arguments with family and friends. I did not have the right approach to convey the message to them so it was stressful, but that only made me find the right approach, so I am glad.

In 2017, I came across this documentary called “The true cost” which showed me the horrors of the Fast Fashion industry and also the unethical treatment of their workers. Being a designer and a consumer of the fast fashion industry, it was a shocker. Sometimes there are so many things that we don’t question and things we don’t know, but I’m glad I saw that documentary and got to know about this.

That acted as a catalyst for me to learn more about sustainable fashion and I started working with natural dyes. I knew that I wanted to start my sustainable clothing brand sooner or later.

So when I graduated this year, I finally started up with my clothing brand by the name “Nyoro”, a sustainable, vegan, ethical, and slow fashion.

After going vegan I discovered a lot of new things. Getting educated about my choices, understanding how important the words we use are, I learned that most of the words we use are also speciesist and will objectify non-human animals, so I’m slowly unlearning it.

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The Vegan Journey of Radha G | Vegan Beings India #058

 

It has been 8 years since I've been vegan. Compassion for cows inspired me to go vegan. The movie Earthlings and Nandita Shah's Program, Peas vs pills made me more aware. All this led me to a lifestyle that avoids cruelty to other animals. Checking what my needs are and ensuring I don't meet them by "unfair means", at the cost of other sentient beings on earth became my motto.

Being a vegetarian from birth, I imagined that I was living a fairly compassionate life - causing minimal harm to other animals. As I was an avid baker, when I heard about the vegan cake the first time, I was positively scornful - about how folks could dream about replacing dairy products like butter, milk in an eggless cake!

It took a while to consider the perspective that the milk that is sold is often obtained by depriving calves of their mother's milk. Just as the (human) mother's milk is ideal for the baby, nature had intended cow's milk for the calf!  What hit hard was the realisation that my consumption of milk involved impregnating the female of another species and keeping her lactating for as long a time as possible during her life. 

Initially, family social gatherings were embarrassing as hosts would be confused about what to offer me. I would find it embarrassing to be a "fussy" guest. At times I would feel frustrated to find nothing vegan at all in the desserts section. 

However, turning vegan has made me more aware of what comes on my plate and what is the journey the food has made? Has it been made with zero pain to other earthlings? Am I consuming something that was not intended for me in the first place?

The journey has led to more awareness. It has made me pause whenever I have used something or eaten... to check in my mind how this product was made or sourced. Is there any cruelty involved?

My daughter turned vegan out of her own choice. She is 19 now and is into vegan activism. 

These 8 years have led to greater awareness and a sense of responsibility to make choices that don't harm other living beings on earth. I have had debates with colleagues who are from agrarian families saying cows are like their family members so there is no question of exploitation. They find the idea of veganism alien. However, I have felt lighter and my conscience feels clear about what I consume. Ahimsa life, at least as much as possible. 

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Hello everyone, I’m Radha G. I teach Chemistry in senior secondary school. I am also a past life regression therapist, breathwork therapist, and Life Coach. I play the sitar, enjoy reading, and being in nature.

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