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.