With every celebrity you adore turning vegetarian, Collins Dictionary recognizing “Vegan” as the Rising Word of the Year 2018, it’s time to ponder upon your food choices.
By Gurjeevan Kaur
Next time before you boast over the tastiest biryani and butter chicken you had at wedding last night while calling yourself a pet lover and cherishing the existence of your dog or cat whilst going to KFC every week, spare a thought about how your non-veg meal may last a few minutes but costs the entire existence of an animal. Although everybody just got one life (remember YOLO!?)
It’s a fact widely acknowledged that people who experience ecstasy while eating the tastiest chicken /pork curry in the world would miraculously become very reluctant and unenthusiastic if asked to cut and kill it themselves because nobody wants blood on their hands and the horrific afterthoughts of ripping the animals’ body apart. Most people if offered such a choice would be put off their hunger.
Next time the urge to devour on KFC’s juicy chicken takes upon your senses; take a moment to ponder about the butcher who his whole life sees nothing but tongues, intestines and heads of dead animals soaked in blood just for the sake of momentary satisfaction of your taste buds. Such people I believe wouldn’t reconsider quitting this tormenting profession, if given a chance.
In your whole life you might not find someone who may have a valid reason to justify their preference of being a non-vegetarian while in contrary you can always find plethora of legitimate reasons vegetarians give you for not consuming meat products. From various scientific studies, which prove that vegan and plant based diets are nutritionally adequate, healthy and safe for all stages of life including pregnancy, to the basic studies of human anatomies that prove our anatomy and teeth structure are suited best for vegetarian diets.
Our body structure isn’t meant to kill or consume animals which is explained by absence of paws and claws in our body structure unlike animals like tiger, jaguar etc. who are good predators. From childhood, they are taught how to hunt and kill other animals for their survival while since infancy we are preached values like honesty, kindness, respecting everyone, compassion, dignity and not killing or harming any other being. Humans are responsible for their own actions, our actions are imperative, they have far reaching consequences and far reaching impact which has the ability to destroy our existence and of this planet while animals cannot be held accountable since they do not posses ability to ponder over their own actions.
In a country like India where killing of animals is juxtaposed with various political and religious aspects, collating it with the aspect of morality is necessary and need of the hour.
Its links in morality, can be illustrated beautifully through the following chronicle:
"Once upon a time,
A Lion catches a goat; as the goat is dying, it begins to laugh. In awe the lion asks, why are you laughing? Humbly the goat says: Our sons are destroyed (castrated). We only eat wild plants and suffer being slayed & skinned alive. Those who cut our throats and eat our flesh, what will be their plight? Proud and arrogant their bodies are a waste; inedible and fruitless. All who come to the world will eventually die."
We human beings, whatever we see with our eyes shall perish. While one continues to eat dead carcasses lives by neglect and greed. Instead of eating forbidden carcasses of meat like a goblin or beast one needs to control their urges.
One keeps fasts to please their God, while you murder other beings for pleasure. One looks after their own interests and do not see the interest of others. Let’s ponder upon this and wonder will our God be ever happy with us or our deeds?
No animal deserves to die in a slaughter house having a painful and suffocating death. They too have the right to have a natural and a peaceful death because they have hearts too and even they can feel the pain.The only way to save animals is to not put them in your mouth.
This article urges all to adopt vegetarianism. While having a conversation with my acquaintance who turned a vegetarian some years back, she told me that she hasn’t missed eating non veg even once and assures that it’s not that difficult .Being a vegetarian helps to lead a guilt free, happy and positive life, where you can assure yourself that you’re not promoting any kind of animal torture or brutality. Let’s not indulge in any practice where animals are killed to be served on plates.
An article was published in 1975 in NY times titled “Vegetarianism: the growing way of life, especially among the young” shows us how profound this topic will be in coming years.
(For the above article, you can refer to the following link:
Everyone has a right to make their own food choices. With campaigns like “All Lives Matter” taking over social media, the next time you make a choice Remember All Lives Matter. Black lives, white lives and even the lives of animals.
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