From Non-Vegetarian to Vegetarian to Vegan

Since I was born and lived closer to the coastal area in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu India, eating fish was a natural part of daily diet and eating meat was well accepted and in fact people not eating meat or fish are considered odd man out. Being a voracious eater, I relished eating egg, fish & meat without any sense of guilt.

Thanks to the Sahaj Marg Meditation (sahajmarg.org) that I started practising in 1997, I became a vegetarian much to the surprise of my family and friends. It was very shocking to them because they knew with how much relish I used to eat fish, chicken etc., I had absolutely no sense of guilt when I was eating Non-Veg food.

During my stint in Singapore during 1998-2001, I got the opportunity to practice Sahaj Marg Meditation I was mostly in the company of abhyasis (people who practice Meditation are called abhyasis) who are mostly vegetarians, I had absolutely no temptation or opportunity to eat Non-veg food. During this time when I visited some of my relatives, they affectionately prepared some fried fish which used to be my one time favourite, I had to say "Sorry, I don't eat this, Thanks for your hospitality".

My much guarded vegetarian principle and practice came under attack when I first visited USA along with  my wife during 2003. When we went to some fast food restaurants like KFC, Wendys, I got  tempted to eat Chicken strips along with Ranch. It was very much pleasing to my tastebuds that was deprived of Non-veg for a long time. My wife who is a born vegetarian too liked eating chicken strips once in a while as it was tender and not very smelly and happily it went on for some time.

As I was continuously practising meditation, there was a strong sense of guiltiness whenever I was eating Non-Veg food. To my parents, friends and relatives who thought that I had quit eating Non-Veg earlier, I was hiding the fact that I restarted taking Non-veg food. Whenever anyone asked me about my food habits, I had to say veg/non-veg and I used to feel embarrassed and full of guiltiness and life went on like this until 2006.

After I moved to India and changed my work during 2006, I had to go by train to work and used to read newspaper during the 1.5 hrs journey to office. One day I happened to read about the impact of eating farm bred animals on Health and it was very alarming to me. The phrases I read in that article, 

"The animals die a slow death during their journey to the slaughterhouse and by consuming their meat, we will be the next in the death row; 

The farm animals are fed with lot of antibiotics and consumption of this meat leads to diseases

Also when young girls consume this meat they attain puberty earlier than the normal age"

All these messages immediately sent a strong signal to my system to resolve to quit eating meat again and also forced me to tell my dear ones about the ill-effects of consuming non-veg food. Another major reason for quitting meat was due to watching PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) clippings showing the cruel treatment extended to the animals while raising them in the farms.

I developed a sense of inclusivity that animals are part of my own family, hence killing and eating them are as harsh as eating my own affectionate children.

Though I became a Pro-Vegetarian & Anti Non-Veg Activist since 2006, I still couldn't quit my temptation towards eating fish. Like people who secretly smoke & drink I was eating fish and I was made fun of by my friends  in parties when I said that I dont eat meat, but I eat fish.

At last beginning 2011, I quit eating fish and became a real vegetarian. I felt really happy.

Thanks to my FB friend, Ramesh Amala Srinivasan who was a Vegan Activist and from whom and other activists I realised that even after becoming a Vegetarian just by consuming milk, milk products, egg, egg products, and any form of animal products, animals get cruelly hurt.

I became a Vegan since July 2011. What a great sense of relief! Let animals live happily! Let all my fellow human beings realize that they all can live happily and healthily just by consuming vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains and other plant sources. Being Vegan will also ensure they will pollute less the environment and lead a disease free happy long life forever!