Vegetarianism , ritual killings et al ....

Vegetarianism or No vegetarianism

Our forbearers have rightly said - You are what you eat .  Alimentation

 has been the topic of heavy  altercation  and discussion since eons .  Public have split decisions on what to eat when and where . Governments have been toppled  or stabilized  over this issue .

Even today , Strict vegetarians  sit mostly  separately at tables  from those who eat non vegetarian food   - be it schools  , hotels , railway canteens ….

Food preferences comes in various forms - Vegetarian/non vegetarian/eggetarians ( word coined by me to denote vegetarians who eat eggs )  / Vegans …

 Though from a strict vegetarian community ,   my family is eggetarian.  We permit ourselves to eat eggs when no other option is available like during travel .. holidays , collective dinners etc.,  We also  obediently   intake   medicines in the form of capsules which are made of pork fat .  Cakes and breads are a must every few days in my abode  which contain a heavy dose of eggs .

While some even refuse root vegetables like potatoes and garlic , a  branch of my community   always needs to have  a healthy  measure  of fish in their diets. They  live near the coasts and water creatures are aplenty near their residences.   Fish , shrimps etc have unavoidably  made their way into their daily diets.   So its not just religion or  lineage which decides what you eat .

Vegetarians  feel  that killing and eating  animals is bad  because it means taking another life  .  Non vegetarians argue that  vegetables too have lives and plucking and cutting / chopping vegetables  amounts to cruelty.

My home town of Hyderabad has a famous family which feeds live fish stuffed with home made medicine to cure Asthma .  Caste or no   , priest or no , they all come to   intake this medication . Year after year , there is a huge serpentine line waiting to  swallow this  without any grudge or complaints . They go  home happily all  ameliorated.

Sacrificial carnage exist in many  religions  and  societies . Today we speak freely of animal sacrifices ,  once upon a time we had human sacrifices to appease the gods . Thankfully that’s illegal today .  I don’t see any need to ban animal sacrifice of any kind .

I personally don’t care  who eats what as long as they don’t force me to eat .  Stunning the animal either through a  gun or cutting the jugular vein is a humane way of   slaughtering  the animal .   So the pain factor in this execution is less. 

A substantial size of the  honest /hard working / tax paying populace  is engaged in animal related industries like poultry , leather , butchery , animal husbandry etc.,

 Even among vegetarians , some strict ones prefer separating the cooked food from the uncooked ones .

Once you start cutting and cooking , the process of degeneration starts. One of my  aunts was very strict with her regulations . She would give cooked rice with lentils to my cousin and tell her sternly not to put it in her  hand bag as it  will ‘pollute’ .   . My wise and earnest  cousin would nod her head diligently, hold that steel lunch box in her hand , gown down the land and put it quietly in her hand bag . Now who is responsible for this    ‘cheating’ or  ‘dishonesty’ ?  Credit to her , She has borne all our snickers and sneers  quietly and taken it in her stride.

One of my other cousins is a strict vegan. She does not  touch  anything related to animals and I don’t mean just  eat meat . She  has sworn off against anything remotely connected to animals  even consumption of milk .  Recently she refused to return home in  her friend’s car because it had leather upholstery.  One of us had to rush in a  car with rexine  padding to bring her home at an ungainly hour .  She might win points from animal lovers for doing ‘ the right thing ‘ but gets no marks from me . Having  beliefs and principles is fine as long as we don’t trouble anyone with  our  views .

Till a few decades back, butchers used to have a secluded part of the town because of the smells and infections they  would emit  , especially in a  predominantly vegetarian society .

Today  , thanx to disinfectants , fresheners ,  repellents ,preservatives,   proper sanitation  this is not a problem and we can spot a  butcher or a boner in every nook and corner of every small town. 

Animals are supposed to be a good source of protein. Well ..  here I beg to disagree.  Non meat eaters get  equal share of their proteins from milk  products  ,  lentils , leaves  . .. among others .  Like McDonalds we  also have chain meat suppliers .

Till A century ago,  if  a non meat eater traveled by ship and crossed the seas, then he was ostracized .  The vegetables and other consumables the ship carried  would rot or finish in a few days time and  the passengers would be forced to consume sea creatures  freshly caught during their ship ride . 

I can narrate  quite a  few incidents where the prodigal sons of my  family  have been thrown out for crossing the seas to go abroad to study  or work.

Once you are done with initial suspicion  , wariness  or wide eyed  fancy  in a new neighborhood , you will understand that human beings are all alike irrespective of their food  choices   .  if  you leave  your cozy comfort zone of your house , your village ,your community and settle in a different land  , interact with people of other backgrounds  and cultures ,  you will realize that food forms a small part of our identity  and existence .  We all  go through  the same feelings of fear ,  yearning ,  liking ,  hatred , prejudices , foibles ,  craving for affection etc., (   albeit  in various degrees ) heedless to what we intake .

Whoever said travel broadens horizons was correct to the core .

I have interacted with people who are not your  routine meat eaters  without any hassle  . I don’t  mean  just those who consume  popular  meat  like fish or chicken, not even beef or pork. I  am talking of those who eat animals like horses , snakes, rats  , cockroaches etc.,

I heard that Mongolians eat  lice from their children’s heads .Their logic being  -  you ate my son’s flesh , now I will eat yours . I am sure they don’t grow 4 arms or 10 heads suddenly . Its understandable in a region which is more or less barren where farming is  anathema .

The Chinese believe that anything which has its stomach to the ground and back to the skies is worthy of eating .

While we are free to eat what you feel like , it’s the responsibility of each citizen along with the government to discard the waste off  tidily . Huge amounts of  left over food and waste  is thrown in  already overflowing dustbins  making  it  an easy prey to the street animals / urchins etc., Diseases and infections rise at such times. It’s the duty of each family to discard the leftovers  in an amicable manner . either give it to the  needy or store them for future consumptions  themselves.