The Vegan Journey of Sharmistha Maji | Vegan Beings India #075

 

I was assigned an article on veganism in 2018, back when I was a lifestyle journalist. It was the first time I found out what that word means. Till then, I had assumed that vegan means vegetarian 😂

So I started doing research, which usually takes an hour or two. But for this particular article, I spent days. I just couldn’t stop, because the facts I came across about the dairy industry were so astonishing and painful. I kept digging deeper and learned how female cows are artificially inseminated or raped, separated from their newborn calves, and tortured to produce milk for us (the human race whose population & demands are ever-growing). The truth hit me so hard that I couldn’t get myself to consume dairy anymore.

It took almost a week to make the final decision. Because I loved cheese and butter so much, it was hard to give them up just like that. For one moment, it felt impossible but the next moment, I reminded myself of the innocent beings who did not deserve the unethical treatment just for my taste.

By the way, I had already turned vegetarian from a hardcore non-vegetarian 6 months before that. It was after watching a few violent movies and overnight, that I felt I didn’t want to eat an animal anymore. This was easy because I was disgusted at the thought of meat after that.

The first year of veganism was very very hard. Firstly, when everyone around you is eating your favourite pizza or dessert, you are tempted and can get very frustrated. And secondly, because in the first year, I had no idea about all the amazing vegan alternatives available in the market today.

So I was feeling horrible, controlling my cravings, giving up twice or thrice only to start feeling guilty again. But once I started getting to know about vegan cafes & products in my city, the journey became so much easier.

Eventually, I felt empowered, satisfied, and proud to be a vegan. It gives you a different kind of high when you achieve this level of determination and strength to say no to your favourite foods and stick to your ethics and principles for the innocent animals.

Around the beginning of my 2nd year of being vegan, I discovered vegan curd, cheese, butter, kinds of milk, meats, and ghee. Since then there was no turning back. I started enjoying vegan alternatives very much and did not miss dairy so much anymore. And after two years, I completely forgot the taste of dairy, and my tastebuds got used to vegan food. So I am not tempted anymore even when my friends are eating dairy-based cheese or desserts in front of me.

Being a huge foodie, I was constantly researching where I can find vegan food. That is how I ended up with a lot of info and eventually decided to start my page, mainly with the intention that vegans should not miss out on great food.

Also, in the initial days, I tried to influence friends/family to go vegan and was just angry when they would not understand. But slowly I realised that this change can never come when someone tells you to go vegan. It takes something really big and moving to understand the harsh truth and requires a lot of strength to adopt veganism.

Eventually, I also felt more empathy and less anger towards them. The human race has been conditioned this way for so many generations. It is not so easy to change their mindset. So I gave up trying to tell people about it and instead decided to focus on the positive aspect of veganism - which is delicious vegan food.

Veganism is not a sacrifice. It is extremely basic, empowering, and satisfying. You just got to taste the vegan chicken, cashew cheese, or curd available today, or the amazing chocolate shakes you can make with almond milk and you will be surprised. Just being open to new tastes can help you reduce animal suffering. 

I feel great being a vegan, having meaningful conversations with vegans, and exchanging notes on new vegan products with them. I also really enjoy hunting for vegan food during my travels. It makes me very excited. I have loved vegan food in Pondicherry the most till now.

I have felt much calmer, more at peace, and healthier after adopting veganism fully. It has improved my skin and gut health as well. Plus, life as a vegan is a party after you get to know vegan ice creams, burgers, sweets, etc.

Hello everyone! I’m Sam, a vegan food influencer who runs the page vegan_foodie_india. I cover delicious plant-based finds across India as well as vegan news, recipes, and reviews. I have been a vegan for more than 3 years now and am a travel addict who enjoys exploring new cuisines. I also recently started a YouTube channel to document my travels. By profession, I’m a digital content editor.

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The Vegan Journey of Saloni Henecha | Vegan Beings India #074

 

Since childhood, my family taught me how morally bad it is to eat non-vegetarian food. That built empathy for animals in me. In 2018, I came across a documentary about dairy that left me in extreme shock. However, I wasn't aware of veganism so I continued consuming dairy with a lot of guilt.

There was a classroom discussion once, over the beef ban. In that, I had said, "Cow is considered godmother, how can we eat them!" to which the teacher replied, "Then why do you consume dairy, it also leads to a lot of beef exports." I got to know the term veganism then and explored it thoroughly.

Then in 2020, I came across a peepal farm Instagram account. The first time, I found something other than PETA. It was more relatable, being Indian with Indian food habits. Robin Sharma brought out my real compassion for animals. 💚

First I started by stopping the consumption of unhealthy and rare foods like cheese, butter, cake etc. Then stopped most frequently consumed foods like Dahi and ghee. I was left with only masala chai. At first, it brought happiness about how I am sacrificing for animals. But later on, I realised that it's not a sacrifice but till now I was stealing other innocents' right to nutrition.

Going vegan somewhat solved my skin problems and my mild thyroid. Made me more compassionate and aware of my food habits and their impact on other beings and the environment. Overall, my whole perspective on life has changed and I am so happy and fulfilled about it!. I have started practising yoga regularly for a year now, to be more fit and healthy to prove the point of nutritional fulfilment with a vegan diet even if you indulge in any kind of physical activities.

Being vegan itself brings a lot of attention from non-vegan friends and relatives, which in turn brings their questions. It brings a lot of awareness among really clueless people. I strive to donate around 2 percent of my overall income to animal welfare, shelters, etc. 💚🌸

To anyone who wants to be vegan, the very first step is to have empathy. Once you can imagine yourself in the place of an animal standing in a queue getting his/her head chopped off for fulfilling someone's taste buds or nutrition, you will come halfway on the path of harmless life. 

Then, whatever hurdles you have right from nutritional requirements to family pressure to peer pressure to cravings (which usually go away with empathy) you can take one step at a time. Start exploring, reading about other vegans and food habits, facts about plant-based nutrition, etc. This will help you a lot.☺

Hello everyone, I’m Saloni Henecha. I am a Software Engineer at Pune. I work in the Data Science field. My hobbies are playing guitar, reading, feeding surrounding animals, dancing, cooking, nurturing house plants, going for animal rights activism, and basically everything that keeps my mind engaged in a good way.

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The Vegan Journey of Sai Krishna Anand | Vegan Beings India #072

 

Cows have been a big part of my life growing up. Ever since I was 3, I used to save food secretly and feed it to a cow that regularly showed up outside our house. You always hear that "cows need to be milked", but are never given the reason. Of course, society does not want you to know that the calves are taken away from their mothers, not given their birthright and that we use their milk instead for a 5-minute meal. Even the government subsidies dairy products in India to make them more available and profitable. All these facts drove me into a corner, with going vegan the only logical way out.

I read the word 'vegan' for the first time on a Vicco toothpaste, when I was around 16. However, being a cow lover since my childhood, I assumed that veganism is unnecessary since cows are meant to be holy in India and there would be no suffering in the dairy industry. Right? But no! 

At the beginning of 2019, I got introduced to Joey Carbstrong's (a famous activist) videos and the sheer graphic and disturbing content going around in the dairy industry shook me to my core. The fact that humans need to breastfeed off another species as a whole just sounded so wrong. I went vegan then, but regretfully, couldn't hold up in my college mess, with almost every other meal involving paneer. I decided to have vegan stints every time I came back home, but eventually, I had enough of my hypocritical lifestyle and ditched dairy for good in March 2020.

A month into my vegan journey, I saw Covid-19 put the world on brakes. This allowed me to conduct proper research into vegan diets and lifestyles in general. Having been actively going to the gym, I went deep into how to fulfill my protein requirements. As it turns out, it's almost too easy. Even before I went vegan, I used to consume plain, boiled soya chunks, and I just stuck to that alongside tofu and tempeh (And yes, soya is perfectly healthy to consume daily xD). Plant protein powders can directly substitute whey, which makes everything easier.

Another misconception I had before turning vegan was that the whole lifestyle would be more expensive. I could not have been more wrong! The fact is that you start getting creative with what you eat, and most of the creativity lies in the process, not the ingredients.

The South Indian diet is almost entirely vegan, as ghee, butter, and curd are mostly used as sides and not the main dish itself. Once I realised this, transitioning became much more comfortable. Moreover, I got to know that plenty of junk foods are unintentionally vegan. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out Oreos are vegan xD. Even though I don't have a lot of junk, it's always nice to have a secret last resort :).

Of course, there are expensive vegan mock-meats and processed foods, but that remains the case for non-vegan food too. There are always different tiers of prices based on whether the food is an easily accessible grain when compared to factory-processed goods. At the root, whole foods like grains, fruits, and veggies are still the cheapest and healthiest options, so there's not much truth in the "veganism is expensive" debate.

Thinking about going vegan for the rest of your life can be daunting at the start. Of course, once you make the connection between the food on your plate and the life of an animal, everything simplifies very easily. But it's easier to think about just trying to make your next meal vegan, one meal at a time. 

I've gotten used to eating much healthier once I turned vegan, and my endurance and recovery have improved a ton. Having plenty of water is very important to not just keep your body heat in check, but to shut down junk cravings. Personally, having alternative sources of hydration like watermelon, cucumber, tender coconut water, etc is a must-do for me, because it makes me think that I've eaten something rather than just hydrated myself. Either way, the end goal is to keep your body cool, and based on preference and availability, anything works well.

If you're passionate about vegan activism, the best tool in your hand is social media. Even if one in 100 react to some content and change, that's one less person harming animals. Try to constantly build up your knowledge in both industrial and health topics regarding veganism. It helps in convincing a person to take that leap. Every small bit is useful to plant a seed in someone's mind even without your knowledge!

Hey folks! I'm Sai Krishna, a native of Tamil Nadu. I just finished my CS degree at NITK and aspire to own an animal sanctuary sometime in the future :) I'm attracted to most outdoor sports, and I'm mainly a football fanatic :P Other than football, I actively enjoy going to the gym, running and cycling. I also play computer games in my spare time.

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