“Freedom is Knowing that I am not Guilty of Causing Suffering to satisfy my Daily Needs and Desires”
My first Veganniversary. My first year being a vegan. A year where I can say I have felt free from guilt. Free from Guilt of making other beings suffer for my daily needs and desires. I am FREE. I am happy to be celebrating that freedom with you today.
Feb 8th 2015- I declared I am a Vegan. I just could not do it anymore. I had been a vegetarian all my life so all I had to give up was DAIRY products. The butter, milk, yogurt, ghee, ice-creams, cookies, cakes, cheese, paneer, whip cream and everything that is made out of dairy products. There is just so much that has milk in it. Knowing how much suffering was going on in the dairy industry I just could not participate in consuming any more of it. The guilt of eating something for my pleasure while a baby, mother or any other living being suffered just killed a part in me daily. I had just finished publishing the “Vegan Way of Living – Live and Let Live Summit 2015” and I knew it all too well. It was time I completely stopped consuming even the tiniest bits of dairy. I could not stomach it anymore! And that’s it. It wasn’t easy. But we all know that “where there is a will there is a way.”
I will say that it wasn’t easy for a lot of people around me to accept that I had turned into a vegan. People had gotten used to be me being a vegetarian and it was fine. But vegan was not very well known and my well wishers were worried and there are some who are still worried even after a year. All I had to say to them is “if you knew what goes on in the industry you would not have the heart to consume any of it either”.
So the year began. The more I declared and made it loud and clear that I am a vegan people, started to become accommodating and I was able to help everyone think beyond their recipes. It was a good creative exercise. Things slowly and steadily changed within my house. While my family is still not vegan there are a ton of recipes that are now vegan and they cannot tell the difference.
Going out was another ordeal. Places where I used to normally eat now started disclosing the butters that they used in their soups, the cheese that they marinated with, the milk that was hidden in the breads. It was disheartening for my family to watch me eat just a little bit when we went out. However, I noticed that people were listening better, they were making changes in recipes upon request, and they even stopped me if I placed an order and they found that it wasn’t vegan! There was a shift and the shift came everywhere I looked.
We traveled a lot last year. Our travels took us to San Francisco, New York and even South Africa. And one thing was common, everywhere I went I was able to find food to eat or request to make me something special. So if you are worried about how can you be vegan and travel, all I have to say for that is be proud of being different and get talking, ask others to give it a thought, give your ideas, suggest how things could be made and enroll people to get creative! It will work wonders.
Now you might think why am I so focused on food while veganism needs to be a part of daily life. Yes I agree.
Veganism is directly linked to consumerism. It could be anything. You name it and you will need to ask if any animal was killed, abused, tested, tortured in making of the product. As you get into the details of being Vegan you will learn that you not only want to get away from eating foods that cause suffering, you don’t want to consume ANYTHING at all that somehow violates a sentient being’s value.
For e.g. Shampoos that are cruelly tested on animals. Jackets that are made from down that comes from force feeding ducks/geese. Wool that abuses sheep. Leather where the animals are skinned. Purses where crocodiles are kept in dark just so they do not scratch each other. Cigarettes that are tested on dogs. Palm oil where vast number of animals lose their homes to our needs of cheap food. Circuses with animals performing tricks for our entertainment. Zoos where they are captured and kept for our viewing. Riding on horses who are also beaten.
I can go on forever and the list won’t stop. As a human race we have stooped down to such a level where we think we own every living being. We forget that every living being wish to live a happy and a life of freedom.
For once just put yourself in their place and think about how would you FEEL if you were put through any of it? Let me help you phrase some of these questions.
- Would you like being tortured?
- Would you like being skinned alive?
- Would you like to know that you were born just so every part of you could be consumed by someone else?
- Would you like to give up your baby just so someone else can have your milk?
- Would you be ok if the baby was separated from you as soon as the baby was born?
- Would you like to be displayed in museums while you were kept in a prison like space just so others could come and see you and learn how endangered you are or how unique you might be?
- Would you like to be running races where someone sits on your back, whips you so you may run faster just so you can make some money for them?
- Would you like to be hooked to a machine that force feeds you just so you can be plucked alive?
- Would you like anything where it would HURT you mentally, emotionally, physically at any time?
What do you want for yourself and your family and your children? Would you not like to be FREE? Would you not want to be LIVING a happy life with your family?Now why do you think any of these animals want it otherwise?
I know I have asked a lot of questions and there are lot more to ask. But what I want to get across is that we all need to start somewhere. Start with asking. Start with putting yourself in their situation. Wonder a little and think if you’d be ok in their position. And if I know you, I know that you do not want any of it for yourself or your loved one. And if you don’t want it for yourself DON’T DO it to ANYONE else!
“Do to others (all sentient beings) as you would want them to do to you.”
This is the beginning of me sharing my journey of becoming Vegan and staying Vegan. I wish to help you take that step to becoming vegan and I hope you join in to spread love and compassion for all. For now I hope your heart opens up to the screams and the cries of the animals who cannot speak for themselves. I pray you become able to listen with your heart and wish for freedom of all !
