There was a time when I was arguing against the hypocrisy of vegetarians who were calling out carnivores for their food habits. I had given up eating meat for about six months at that point. I realised, first I had to reconcile my love for other beings in the world myself and I knew becoming Vegan was the only option.
I was aware of veganism 15 years before and had tried it out for six months until succumbing to taste buds on a hungry night. This time the choice was made more rationally and it felt like a choice made for a lifetime. After 30+ months, I'm glad I had made that choice and while there is still so much scope to be more compassionate, becoming a vegan was an important step in the journey.
I have had a great time learning to be a vegan. One of the main positives has been a better understanding of food and which then translated into confidence to cook more. I think I'm well on my way to watching 10000 hours of recipe videos and that should automatically upgrade me to an expert chef :D
I live and work out of Bengaluru in the IT industry. I love playing racquet sports and at present Squash is one thing that drives my life. I enjoy being involved with Squash as a player, administrating tournaments, and refereeing as well. Apart from that I love stories and hoping to share a few stories from my imagination with the world through a book.
For now, I'm working on a story that can seed veganism in the minds of people. I also try to popularise the plant-based options that are available in Bengaluru by gifting those to non-vegans. I'm also planning on switching to wearing only T-shirts that have messages to seed the idea about Veganism so that it stays in the collective conscience of the people I connect with.
As a non-vegan in the past, I know how social conditioning has put a patch over our eyes for the cruelty towards animals. I'm sure all human beings have innate compassion and it's only a matter of time before the realisation hits each one of us to do our bit to reduce intentional cruelty in the world and join the fight against oppression.
After turning vegan, there have been some nice discoveries:
1. Fruits and Vegetables exist beyond Banana and Potatoes
2. Cooking is magic and fun
3. Vegan food didn't mean fewer options and in fact because of the change in perception, the variety of food I have had is mind-boggling
The one challenge I have faced is the understanding of protein consumption. I did lose a lot of muscle mass when I transitioned from non-vegetarian to vegetarian and then vegan because of my lack of knowledge. Now with the help of the community and further reading, I'm more comfortable in getting my proteins (For being an athlete). I have never had issues with playing Squash after becoming vegan. In fact, I probably had my peak as a player since turning Vegan and I can see the improvement has the scope to be exponential soon. The COVID has put a break to Squash training and I'm hoping to continue after this covid induced break.
In the end, I would like to share what Rumi, a 13th-century Muslim poet, and Sufi mystic, wrote:
"I have existence and I value it so much,
So have all the beings on the earth and they
too, try to preserve it
Then, how can I kill the tiniest creature
just to satiate my palate
To me, even milk is forbidden"
---
Jeganraj
