Let them live!

“I believe that ‘you are what you eat’ which is why I don’t eat meat. Your stomach is not a grave yard. I gave up meat five years ago and I can feel the difference. My skin is glowing and I drink 10 glasses of water every day.”

- Kareena Kapoor

Frankly I am not one to go by what celebrities say. Some go on promoting products but actually use entirely different items in their daily lifestyle. However these words uttered by the Bollywood diva inspired me. It is a mutual feeling.

Though I do love animals I do not hasten to name myself as a hardcore animal lover. I do not have the habit of running after every pooch I see. Nor do I pause to pet every kitten on the road or run after every squirrel which comes by to snatch a few crumbs off the garden table.

However, I do take pride in myself because my style of living does not harm any living creature. There are times when I do take up some leftovers and throw them at stray dogs or sneak some biscuits out of the cupboard to feed a hungry looking alley cats that had come to dig in our compost heap. But most of all I am thankful for one fact. It may seem like a small gesture to some but it means a world of difference to me when I look back.

I have friends who claim to be animal lovers and who squeal at the mere sight of a puppy or kitten but they who sit up for animal rights turn a blind eye on animal torture during the course of their meal. What do they consume with their daily doses? Torment and tears of animals in pain. Have they ever heard the anguished cries of animals put to death? Do they know each passing minute of a cattle destined for slaughter?

Some friends have tried to convert with me. Months pass by and the next time I visit them they are back to their non-vegetarian diets. I do not wish to comment on their weak will. After all the urge should come from within. But I cannot stand the advances of those who try to pry into my decision.

“How do you survive? It is not good for you and besides – just you giving up eating meat does not save animals. They will kill them whether you are a vegetarian or not!” one particular friend advised over his hotdog. I brought up my case but he was hard to convince. So I turned a deaf ear.

Animals do not pry into our lives. They walk at a distance keeping well out of our reach because they are more afraid of us than we are of them. A cow never attacks unless you get too close. The same goes for dogs and cats. Like us they are hungry for love. Most times they give more than they take. We are the ungrateful demons who make use of their labour for a few morsels of food and either leave them all for dead or sell them to butchers for a few bucks.

It has been years since I become a vegetarian. It is more than 10 years since my friend had given up meat and fish. We are healthy and strong. We eat delicious and nutritious vegetables and fruits. We eat a lot of carbs, fiber and we drink milk. We see people gnawing on drumsticks, beef burgers, salmon sandwiches and battered prawns. Then we see a cow, lamb or goat lumbering along our path. Their innocent graze sinks into the depth of our soul. Then we feel a bit better about ourselves.

True, we cannot save all the animals from a torturous death. True, we cannot convince everyone to go green. But the feeling is unexplainable. It is a pure and happy sensation of knowing that you do not have the blood of other souls on your hands.

It is the sentiment of not having to repress the fact that you might sometimes wonder if you are eating the flesh of someone you have known this lifetime or maybe in the samsaric cycle ahead. It is a sensitivity that only another kindred spirit could share.

Shehara - [email protected]