The Vegan Journey of Jayalaxmi Rai | Vegan Beings India #066

                                                            

I was a hardcore non-vegetarian. My brother Annand and a friend Melina had gone vegan and they were nagging me to watch Earthlings for a while. After stalling for some time, I finally relented and watched Earthlings. I was stunned as I watched it. I could not complete the documentary in one sitting. I was sobbing away as I watched it. I am not someone who would be moved to tears easily. But watching animals being abused like this was horrific, especially when I considered myself an animal lover. 

I gave up eating meat for a while but desensitised myself after a while and got back to consuming meat occasionally. After a few months, I had moved back to Dubai and attended a yoga & meditation course called SSY, where one of the interpreters spoke about the horrors in the dairy industry. They also spoke about the meat industry and one fast-food chain in particular which I used to love. He said that they were now producing headless and featherless chickens.

That was the turning point for me. I decided to give up meat that instant. I was also introduced to the concept of consuming raw foods at this institute. I had given up all dairy too except for cheese which took me a year to give up. I later learned that there was a reason I took so long to give up cheese (dairy) primarily because it has addictive properties. So on the 14th of September 2014, I finally went vegan and never looked back. It’s been more than seven years and as any vegan will tell you: I wish I was born Vegan. It is one of the best decisions of my life.

I have learned an incredible lot in the past 5 years and keep learning so much more each day. These have been valuable and fantastic years. I loved every moment of it! I feel super energetic after going vegan and keep getting better by the day. I also think if you incorporate a lot of raw foods and whole foods into your diet you will always be in your element. Walking for miles or being on my feet all day is not a task at all. So if you want to thrive rather than just survive try this lifestyle for yourself and see.

My journey after going vegan has been nothing short of fantastic. I researched for 3 years about all things vegan and experimented a lot. During this time I also decided to open a small little restaurant in Pune. I dedicated it to my grandmother and named it Granny's Bowl in 2016.

Granny's Bowl had an ever-changing menu with different days dedicated to different cuisines. I had got a lot of support from my own family, friends, and especially my lovely aunt Nirmala Shetty. It was financially a roller coaster. I had no experience at that time running a restaurant with no idea how much of an investment it would take. I also was crazy enough to cook, clean & run operations all on my own. I shut shop in 2 years & operated from home for 2 years. I had the energy to cook & cater for 100+ people too. However, it was financially difficult to operate. I shut down the cloud kitchen too. I got into Vegan Food Consultancy and Activism (The Save Movement).

I now work for The Save Movement ~ Health Save Chapter, called Pune Health Save, and share a lot of recipes, information and so much more. If you want us to do an outreach and vegan food tasting in your area in Pune, just DM us. We will make it happen.

To non-vegans I have this to say: I used to have eggs for breakfast, fish for lunch, and chicken for dinner. If I can go vegan, anyone can. Also, it's not a deprivation diet at all. Instead of dairy-based milk, you can have coconut milk, cashew milk, almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, hazelnut milk, mung milk, millet milk, sesame milk. I can go on 😁. Also, instead of eating the flesh of sheep and goat, there are a vast array of vegan meats, mushrooms, yams, jackfruits and so much more. Vegan butter, cheese, yoghourt, ghee, and ice cream are all now available at our fingertips. So, go vegan! You will enjoy it and we are here to help you. Besides, it will give you abundant energy. You will be blessed by the animals at large and the planet.

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The Vegan Journey of Rupbrata Das | Vegan Beings India #061

 

I have always loved dogs and cats. However, I would take pride in my ability to eat chicken and pork in great amounts. I was a ferociously carnist. When I got to know that pigs are as intelligent as dogs, I was shocked. I started watching training videos and cuddling videos of pigs. My girlfriend said she can't eat pigs again after knowing and seeing these facts. At first, I did not understand why she would still eat other animals but not pigs. Then I started to notice my hypocrisy. I would love a dog but eat a pig. Soon I started searching "Why do we need meat" to look for reasons to continue eating meat. However, I bumped into videos of Ed Winter, Mic the Vegan, Plant-Based News, etc. Well, what can I say when the logic is too clear to unsee it.

Though I know many people find it difficult, I transitioned overnight. What helped me was my love for animals. I stopped eating meat and dairy. But there was milk hidden in many products from the grocery store. After I started omitting those products, I became sad as there was not much left to eat. Here came YouTube again and showed the power of vegan cooking. Being a Bengali also helped me, as my mom is a great cook. She made tasty vegetables for lunch and dinner. But sharing the dining table with my family became difficult, as they would eat non-vegan food almost every day. At first, I could not tolerate it because I would feel tempted. However, after a few months, I started to see dead animals on the table. That was very disturbing. So I started eating separately. Apart from food, my choice of media consumption also changed. I have started watching vegan documentaries, vegan cooks, etc.

After I turned vegan my rescue work became much more frequent. As I indulged more and more into rescuing, some things became very clear :

1) Laws for protecting animals are a joke in India. Anyone can kill an animal if they are not listed as protected wildlife of that state. 

2) Donations are not a great model for someone if they want to continue rescue work, as government grants are rare. Donations are too uncertain. 

3) We lack fundamental education that can make us compassionate towards others.

That is why this year, I have started a company that can donate all of its profits towards animal rescue. I believe @dandelion_connect will become successful. It will take time for sure, but it will certainly happen. Social entrepreneurship can only save animals in this country.

Non-vegans are not so different from vegans. I was also a non-vegan once. I know why they make fun of vegans. But that is just hatred for something that puts us out of our comfort zone, takes us against the stream. I don't know why they say that vegans impose their life choices. If removing euphemism from a certain thing makes you uncomfortable then it's time you should think about it more. "Meat is Murder" is not outrageous because it is wrong. It is outrageous because it does not hide the truth. Everyone knows dead animal flesh must come from a dead animal. As we are progressing into a world where the air is unbreathable, the earth is grey and water is poisoned, you must think twice about the life choices that took us here in the first place.

There are so many things that I keep discovering every day after being vegan. I have certainly become more sensitive towards my surroundings. People say vegans are easily triggered. I guess that is not the right way to frame it. I think vegans respond towards injustice more readily than others.

Hello everyone, I am Rupbrata Das. I work as a freelance content developer. My first and foremost hobby is taking care of my non-human sons and daughters. I do some rescue work whenever I can. I wish to become a social entrepreneur with a large sanctuary where rescued animals can thrive. I have been vegan for more than one and a half years.

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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 Sakshi Raheja | Vegan Beings India #055

 

This day, 3 years ago, I decided to adopt veganism immediately after realising what I was contributing to. I was 17 years old and I was told I was being naive and that it was just a phase. Three years later it has become a way of life and if a phase looks like this, we can call it that :D⁣

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In November 2018, I went to a restaurant where for the first time I read the word vegan. I used to drink more than half a litre of coffee, eat cheese, paneer, ghee almost every day back then. Three days later, it clicked to research why people went vegan. I got to know more about the dairy industry and the cruelty involved. During that time, I decided that I no longer want to contribute to this industry and should go vegan. I stopped consuming milk, paneer, and curd immediately.

It took me a few months to stop consuming cheese and ghee completely. I was struggling with ghee because in my house ghee is used quite a bit. I also started getting conscious of all my actions especially while purchasing anything. I started making an effort to be vegan in all other lifestyle products. Gradually, I also started following a minimalist lifestyle.⁣

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I believe if I can go vegan, so can you. It's all about making the connection. And life is too short to live without compassion and kindness. Life is too short to spend while contributing to the cruelty of the innocent. ⁣

My family earlier hadn't accepted veganism completely but they did passively support it. Also, there was a good coincidence. I was severely unwell when I was transitioning. I had PCOD which went for 3 years. When my symptoms got worse in 2018, it went really bad. I felt sick. It was by chance that I stopped consuming dairy during that time. After that, it helped me a lot. My intention was not to be vegan for health reasons, but my parents were quite satisfied seeing the change.⁣

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Today, my family's dairy consumption is negligible. And we have also started a vegan food delivery kitchen in Pune which completed one year recently. (Click here)

Coming to activism, my approach is NOT to go very extreme which includes blaming & shaming people who consume animal products. If you look at it from the perspective of others, they are not aware of it. There are two kinds of people: One who is not aware of the cruelty happening behind the products they are consuming and second the people who know but their mind cannot accept it. I focus on the people who don't know because it is not their fault. When you become an activist, it's our job to make sure that you are making people aware. There's a lot of blame game going on companies like Amul, McDonald's or Keventers. Many call such companies or slaughterhouse workers as devils, they are heartless, etc. To people who know and they're not going vegan, there's a perspective from their side too. Most of them have been socially conditioned for what they're doing. It would be weird if you go to someone and directly say: Go Vegan. When you're asking someone to go vegan, we're telling them to bring a huge change in their eating habit. This requires effort.

We need to be considerate and approachable when we're introducing the concept of veganism and should focus on educating them.

We need to make veganism look very convenient and easy to follow. We should not shame or blame people who're not 100% vegan. Sometimes, people want to but aren't able to be completely vegan. I think we should accept whatever level someone is vegan, but that definitely does not mean that you are okay with someone just cutting 1 cup of tea everyday. What I am intending is to respect them, taking their time to change and motivating them to not stop. Because neither of us went vegan in a snap.

I'm working on inspiring people to take any form of activism and to mobilise them. With social media, it has become so easy to share and reach out to people. Going vegan is just one step, but what is more important is to spread the word about it. So many people are going vegan but a very few people are taking up activism. Activism is not protesting or shouting slogans. Even when we're speaking to someone about why you are vegan and how animals are suffering, you are still doing activism. At the same time, providing resources to them is also activism. If 200-300 people see your story, it's possible that maybe 10 people might go through it. We never know who!

Veganism is a systematic change where we need to educate everyone including producers, consumers as well as government bodies too. The government knows what's happening, but in this change, producers have to gradually change their production methods, the consumers have to change their consumption habits and the government also has to bring change at the policy level. 

I agree that the whole world won't go vegan at one instant, however, there will be some economic impact on certain sectors. We need to consider the rehabilitation of people involved in such sectors.

I've not interacted directly with people involved in slaughterhouses. I want to do that. However, from my secondary interaction, I know that these people don't feel good about what they are doing. They don't want to separate the calves, they don't want to torture the animals but they are trapped. Most of their job roles are wage per hour, which is not stable. Being a psychology student, I know how they need to shut down their emotions to work in such situations. Eventually, one day this emotional constipation is going to burst out in some other form. It can be a mental health problem that we most of the time overlook. Imagine every morning they have to kill animals

One of my friends was researching this topic. What came out from his research was that most of the people are involved in slaughterhouses because of their social disability. It is their acquired status because their parents were also involved in the same profession. They don't have a stable job. Veganism is a sociopolitical issue and at the same time an economical issue.

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The Vegan Journey of Amit Shroff | Vegan Beings India #053

  

My journey to veganism started in October 2017 and took about 6 months to become vegan.  I was a volunteer at an animal welfare organization where I was made aware of the torture that dairy animals go through. One fine evening, when I was going to the same NGO, I noticed a cow standing close to that office. After an hour or so, when I was returning, the cow was still there. She had a bleeding hoof that had attracted maggot worms, and the wound had turned cancerous. She was also pregnant. We called for help and sent her to the government veterinary hospital the very same evening. That was my turning point.

Being a South Indian, filter coffee was the one thing that I found difficult to let go of during my journey. And ice creams, of course. I wasn't a fan of other dairy items right from the beginning, but these two items held me back, and I took almost 6 months to completely transition. But ever since I turned vegan, I found that I have more clarity in thought.

Owing to the difficulty I faced while transitioning to veganism, there was always a thought at the back of my mind: how can we make this simpler? Then, during the lockdown in 2020, a WhatsApp group was created as a support group for transitioning vegans. It started with four people and now boasts 100+ members at different stages of turning into a vegan. We will be doing more to support those who want to take the right step to save animals, the planet and their own health.

One of the happiest moments of this journey was when someone texted and wished me on Teachers' Day last year for giving them gyaan about what we put into our bodies and how that affects the animals and nature around us.

I suggest non-vegans to take some time, dive deep and introspect. If you have a soul, you might consider going vegan.

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Hello everyone, I am Amit Shroff, a 25 year old working for his dream company of making Lithium batteries locally available for various applications, not just e-scooter. I like to explore offbeat places on my motorcycle (unfortunately, not electric yet) whenever possible and find calm amidst lush green nature and areas far from human interaction.

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The Vegan Journey of Susmitha Veganosaurus | Vegan Beings India #050

Susmitha Veganosaurus is a holistic business coach, vegan chef and culinary consultant, joyful vegan transition coach, meditation guide, and multi-passionate entrepreneur. She helps people make happiness, fun and self-love their highest priority through her podcast (The Feel Good Factor), workshops, courses, talks and online coaching programs.

She's passionate about teaching people to lead frictionless, fulfilling vegan lives. And she mentors conscious women entrepreneurs, helping them grow their business with a focus on self-care and a mindset of abundance.

I grew up vegetarian, and I used to love milk and curds. Then, I found out about the cruelties in the dairy industry.

At first, I was in complete denial and refused to learn more about what happens to cows. There was no way I could "give up" my milk, curds and desserts, right? So, I figured ignorance is bliss. But gradually, I realised that I couldn't ignore the facts anymore. So, I went vegan.

I still clearly remember the exact moment I decided. I felt a shift in my energy. An expansive feeling. It's so hard to explain it in words, but I just knew in my soul that this decision would change my life in powerful ways. I was about to become who I was meant to be!

I originally made the transition for ethical reasons, but soon I began to experience benefits to my health and spiritual practices. It took a while for me to make the connection, but there was no denying it, going vegan had changed my life for the better in so many amazing ways. There was no looking back.

My journey as a vegan has been nothing short of amazing! It's given me so much purpose in multiple areas of my life, and it's helped me grow as a person. Even now, there's always something new to learn. It never gets boring. I have made so many discoveries since turning vegan! The top two are discovering the endless world of vegan cuisine and boosting my spiritual growth.

I'm not a typical animal lover, but I still went vegan. It was quite eye-opening for me to see that you don't have to love/rescue/care for other beings to respect their free will and not mess with their lives.

This way of thinking and questioning conditioned beliefs opened me up to becoming more conscious and compassionate. My passion for feminism, equality and inclusiveness stems from my veganism.

Yes, in those first few years, the onus was on me to make people understand what veganism even was. The arguments and push backs were difficult. There was zero awareness, so of course, people didn't know how to be sensitive or inclusive of vegans.

In those first few years, on the one hand, I was experiencing the pure magic of this way of living, but on the other, I wasn't able to make my friends and family see this magic. It was frustrating! Haha

But every one of those experiences has taught precious lessons. They now empower me to help people transition into veganism smoothly and easily. My lessons shorten their learning curve. Here are the top three tips that I like sharing with all new and transitioning vegans:

• Always check ingredients. It should become second nature to you. Never take a "vegan" label at face value.

• Learn to cook. When you make your vegan food, you never have to depend on the availability of products (though it's important to support vegan businesses). And more importantly, you can whip up delicious dishes and feed them to non-vegan friends and family. A super effective way to increase awareness

• Surround yourself with a solid support system. Connecting with other like-minded vegans will enrich and ease your journey.

I turned vegan for ethical reasons, but I stayed vegan because of how freaking delightful it's made my life! Being vegan has shaped my entire identity. Almost every aspect of my life is infused with the essence of veganism.

Here's some of the work I do/have done in the vegan field:

• Run one of the oldest vegan recipe blogs in the country 
• Taught hundreds of people, including professional chefs, to make vegan food
• Co-owned and operated Carrots, India's first 100% ethical vegan restaurant with an in-house bakery and culinary academy for several years
• Coach and mentor vegan entrepreneurs to run their businesses
• Help people make their vegan journey/transition more joyful in a holistic way through my Vegan Immersion Experience course

I can't even imagine who I would be today if I hadn't gone vegan!

Going vegan is a much needed conscious way of living in today's world. It's great for the animals, environment, and health. But, even if you don't care at all about any of those things, you should still go vegan because it's the best damn gift you can give yourself.

It'll change your life in incredible, unimaginable ways.

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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 Dyuthi Konakalla | Vegan Beings India #043

 I started living a more low waste lifestyle in August 2019 for several reasons. It annoyed me when my parents would bring home groceries in plastic or when my dad ordered stuff online, and they would come covered in plastic. I realised that while I could not affect that, I could control what I eat. 

So, I initially avoided dairy due to environmental reasons, especially after watching Cowspiracy, which opened my mind. In January 2020, I made a new year’s resolution to eat plant-based food four times a week. This frequency slowly increased, and by April, I quit most dairy. I learned so much more about the cruelty behind dairy throughout this journey, and that was when I started animal rights and environmental activism. 

My sister went vegan with me, so it was much easier for me to eat and make vegan alternatives at home. I was always a vegetarian, so I only had to quit dairy. It surprised me that I could even do it because I couldn't finish a meal without curd rice or eat anything without pouring ghee all over it. 

Another reason I started eating plant-based is for health reasons, since dairy is difficult to digest and was a cause for my mild sinus. As soon as I quit it, my nose started feeling better than before. By the end of April 2020, I couldn't think of any reason why I would want to keep eating dairy, so within 2-3 months, I went completely vegan.

Being vegan helped me find a community that thinks alike and fights for the same reason: animal liberation. It makes me feel happy that I don't contribute to animal cruelty just for my sensory pleasure or entertainment. I learned so much through the articles on the internet, and I frequently share resources and tips on my page.

It also helped me realise how amazing plant-based food is, and it's not that hard to quit dairy if you remind yourself why you are doing it. I also learned the difference between being plant-based and being vegan: being vegan isn't enough; it needs to be paired with animal activism to achieve animal liberation.

We started my small business in March 2021 mainly to spread awareness that healthy and vegan food is super delicious. The business has received a little over 50 orders so far. I have been following a sustainable lifestyle since August 2019, which made me more conscious about many things: buying new clothes, not wasting vegetables, switching to a menstrual cup and cloth pads, which saved me so much money and are much more comfortable than plastic pads. This inspired my mom and sister to start using plastic-free menstrual products. For the past two years, we have had no menstrual waste, which I believe is my most significant achievement.

I have found that the whole vegan movement has become more about the people than the animals, resulting in fewer people making the change to veganism based on one or two negative experiences with vegans. I find it very hard not to judge people who have all the information right in front of them but choose to continue to support the meat and dairy industry. It hurts more when the people you love also continue to do it. 

Please understand that we are not all that different from non-human animals, and they don't deserve the cruelty they are going through just for our fleeting pleasure.

Through veganism, I have learnt to be kind and compassionate. I have understood how many people are subject to change and how many stick to their ideologies without reviewing any facts. I have felt many positive changes at the same time. Veganism changed my whole life for the better: how I think, how I eat, and how I approach people.

Go vegan and speak up for the animals. Make the change, and the rest will fall into its place.
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Hello, I'm Dyuthi who recently finished my 12th Humanities and recently started a small business which has no name yet but serves yummy healthy and vegan food. I took interest in food when I stopped eating unhealthy food from outside and had to make my own vegan versions at home and quite enjoyed it. I learned the basics from school since I had Home Science as a subject.

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The Vegan Journey of Arvind Krishna | Vegan Beings India #041

 

It’s been around three years been entirely vegan, meaning no whey protein either. Lol!

It was a combination of environmental, ethical, and health reasons that I turned vegan. I had a series of bad injuries, then after doing a lot of research I decided to go vegan. It was the best decision ever. I was able to recover much better than before and now I’m at the peak of my game at the age of 36.

Being vegan, in the early days, was very difficult for me. Our diet has a lot of dairy products in it. But I decided I have to stick to it if I wanna see results. Also, I strongly feel that even dairy products and how they are sourced are just as cruel as non-veg food is. Socially it’s been difficult since many don’t get it and when you go out you have to have a detailed talk with the chef etc! 

Initially, I was maybe shy to voice the reasons why I am vegan. However, now, I’m very vocal. People now listen since they see that I’m dominating on the court or looking better than before and as an actor, many take notice of that. So people are always looking for such results. Once they see that, they are more likely to listen. Then I tell them about the other reasons why I turned vegan.

After being vegan, I’ve lost fat. My skin is much better. My recovery after workouts is far better. My digestion is far better. I’ve noticed that I’m much calmer. My spiritual inclination has become clearer. My speech and diction too improved. I am not sure of the connection but non-veg and dairy do affect the thickness of the tongue I read somewhere.

I want people to see my work, my fitness, my results, and then I want to attribute a lot of that to being vegan.

To anyone up for the challenge: let’s lift, run and jump, and see who’s better! If I beat, then you turn vegan! :D

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