Lets see who will win! "vegetarians" or "non vegetarians'

An appeal to all my dear folks that has come thus far and decide to read what I've got to say. Don’t take yourself  seriously, more so don’t take me too seriously!!! I am neither a negotiator between the two camps nor an authority or a moral police. Just my views on the matter and how I deal with it!

I am encouraged to write this as an offshoot of this 'poll' that’s going on in Facebook that reads ' Lets see who will win! "vegetarians" or "non vegetarians' .Well I am not sure what the purpose of this poll is other than doing a headcount of people segregated by their eating habit deciding to take a poll in Facebook.

I see various types of ppl here, let me try to 'qualitatively' categorize as ..the quantitative result will be given by the poll.... for ease of use I am going to use V and NV to represent the obvious..

• NVs getting offensive, mostly with statements that has no substance. Their offence is purely their attempt to cover their defensive nature cos though they outnumber the Vs in the poll deep within they know something is not right - in them. It’s like the highschool bully who is most likely the one with highest inferiority complex.
• Vs to add fuel to the NVs complex and make things worse, making statements that exudes of moral superiority and looking down at NVs. Mostly their comments are filled with Bollywoodisque depiction of the poor animals, how they are slaughtered..yada yada- hey but the truth is -its the truth! The animals are hapless and factory farming indeed is the greatest sin by humans of all other sins

I am(gradually moving towards ‘am’ to’ was’) the hardcore non vegetarian that can kill (pun intended) for a good biriyani. Instead of classifying myself as a Vegetarian or a Non Vegetarian let me coin myself as a Minimalitarian(Patent pending) I am not moving toward ‘Veganism’ if you insist to put a tag on me for anyone’s approval or disapproval but purely for the sake of MY health and longevity. I do not want to paint a picture of my social consciousness, environment etc, but all those are true as well. I am changing because I see reason and honest enough to deal with my craving for a plate of biriyani! I eat it cos of my addiction to it and nothing else!

Protein? Endurance? Really? This is how I deal with  my addiction: 

• I strive to dissect and conquer  my craving for flesh(ah that sounds scandalous! Is TOI reading, damn I am not a celebrity), I just observe my breath and it works 9 out of 10 times.
• Living in Saudi, I just make food choices that’s healthy and that has least carbon footprint -I don’t eat those organic vegetables flown in from Holland or Australia for example.
• I sincerely am striving to phase out all animal and animal products(read milk, cheese, eggs etc) because I am totally convinced I will be much healthier, active and more at peace with myself not consuming the same.
• My minimalism is not focused on just my food habits but extended to all actions that can directly or indirectly affect sustenance of life in this earth. This includes not wasting food, energy in all form and cutting down on all 'indulgence'.

I do not even want to get into whether God made us this or that or what our religious texts says, may be God didn't know of factory farming then and how 'smart' and 'efficient' us humans are in exploiting our fellow beings -plants and animals. God would have totally revised his doctrines or sent messengers to revise it if he knew what He was getting into.

For those who talk 'Science' and the usual canine teeth defense, please go hunting and eat the flesh like the canines do!

 I know as much that if we have even an iota of concern for others, leave alone others leave alone the degenerating wildlife, if you love your children you will do your bit to let them have a better environment! If you are not old enough and worry about a child growing in the family atleast be selfish about yourself! Going the way we are going in 20- 30 years I am not sure how India is going to show up -ecologically, depleting water reserves, rising temperature, degrading soil and all we want to do is grow fodder and feed animals so we could have our roganjosh and 65. Please let's channelize our 'josh' on what is right!

One changed mind, one small step at a time. Not out of compulsion, polls, FB ridicule but out of sheer introspection and action based on the truth.

 We need not leave a 'track record' that says I was a vegetarian all my life -90 years! or I am a vegetarian 'convert'' for the past 11 years 300 days and 5 hrs. Stop getting obsessed with your numbers and deal with it with an all-encompassing approach! Have a close hard look at your lifestyle- of which eating is just(and should be) just a part of it and see how 'less damaging' your life is to other beings -directly and indirectly.

So my earnest appeal to all my NV friends reading this blog is this:

• If you are a daily meat eater try making your serving smaller! Focus on not wasting any meat, buy and eat only what is required that whets your appetite/craving.
• Once you've made your servings smaller and are comfortable, try having a healthy vegetarian (read healthy, french fries isn't healthy nor is cheese pizza) meal once a day
• Once you are there try making meat eating to just 2-3 days a week, then to 2 weeks and to month..you get my point.
• Once you are comfortable with that make it 1 day of indulgence with your favorite meal (1 Biriyani for example in my case)
• Focus on % rather than a boolean answer - are you a vegetarian or not.
• Remember the vegetarians, many of them dont know what it is to be a vegetarian. Ask Ambani for instance.
• Focus on eating healthy and eating food tht's local produce. Focus on eating less and wasting even lesser. You are doing great already!
• If you don’t want to deal with the problem as an isolated issue and want a natural change go here. The craving will evaporate in thin air. It no more remains ‘suppressing’ it becomes natural. Again it wont be an on –off switch , change is gradual and it works!

If you are 'typecast' as an  NV because you have an occasional biriyani but you have a car and still walk or cycle whenever possible and  use your resources all around in a mindful manner you are more a 'vegetarian' than Mr.Ambani. Mindfulness and moderation in  action is better than hypocrisy.

For those who give this typical answer 'Its every person's individual choice', if you dissect your statement and look within you will find its just a defence you create for your weakness for an indulgence or a deep rooted habit.

 Now my dear V friends please don’t jump on your seats! The biggest problem with you guys is you think you are superior and mostly your attempt is not to genuinely make people see reason and change but its more about flaunting your bloated ego in this air of superiority. So bring some humility into your lives! Most of you are what you are because your parents fed you ghaas bhoos since birth. You might be doing as much damage to the environment in your own chosen ways. If in doubt gain ask Ambani!

P.S: I have nothing personal against Ambani(like he cares and I am his contemporary) but he is the most apt living example on earth of what a you can call a  Vegetarian Killer -consume, take, exploit, destroy... all of this within legal boundaries because -you can! Its like killing animals and not consuming it, like the kings that kill their ‘game’.

Lets keep  our living habits ethical,  minimal and be true to ourselves. No need of fighting over this 'ism' and miss the point all together!

If you are in a stage where you know its just your addiction an you are changing and want to know of how you can eat healthy and balanced diet go here. Dr Shah is doing a great service to clear all doubts on how 'balanced' a vegan diet can be and how less damaging we can be on the environment. Unlike Rich Roll's interview I shared earlier where you read alien or abusive sounding words like 'marine phytoplanktons, adaptogens, plant-based proteins and oils such as flax, coconut, and hemp' in Sharan you'll find Indian recipes and topics you can relate to. We dont want to create factory farming of a different kind trying to deal with one.I’ve said this earlier and I ‘ll say it now, obsession with any ‘ism’ will eventually lead to fanaticism(Patent pending).

 Simple close to source wholesome food will do!

You can go here if you want to get convinced what we are doing is just 'craving'  and 'indulgence' under the blanket of 'personal choice' and not necessary for healthy happy living- for yourself and others!

If you want to still stick to your gun, please do and feel free to foul mouth me as 'anonymous' and 'whet your appetite' :-) Cheers!

Bhavatu Sarva Mangalam!