Vegetarianism- Is It worth it?
- In Society
- 08:40 AM, Oct 02, 2015
- Nilesh Singh
I have been witnessing a lot of debates and arguments in the media related to the recent (or perhaps age old) bans in India, be it cow slaughter, ban on sale of beef or recent ban of meat during few days of Jain's festival, Paryushan. This just gave me the last impulse to pen down my thoughts on something which even doctors or scientists would think twice before making a general opinion on – ‘Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian?’. This also briefly covers the other issue associated with the bans and, that is, the right of the Government to ban the eating habits of its citizens.
Since I am not a scientist nor a doctor or a spiritual guru for that matter, I too would refrain from directly answering that question and instead leave it to you to make a conclusion. There are tons of articles already out there which speak about the pros and cons of both types of diet and I am not going to speak on the similar lines as Google is free and readily available. I have very different way of seeing this age old contentious matter. I will talk more on the 'feelings', the 'civilization' and the 'survival'. Surprised?! Let us get straight to the point.
To begin with, let me tell you that I love eating veggies but I do occasionally eat meat as well, especially the Indian style, filled with spices. Now having said that, let us understand the need for human beings to eat meat. We all know that the pre-historic humans or the primates used to fill their stomach through their prized catches from hunting and also through fishing. Fast forward it to today, people living in extreme climates like those living along the polar region or those who live on the islands which are not ideal for vegetation ; those in the deserts or dense forests, have to rely on hunting/fishing for survival. Remember the movie 'Life of Pi' where 'Pi' a pure vegetarian guy but had to eat fish in order to survive. Also in “The Ramayana”, Ram and Lakshman used to hunt for deer during their exile which is evidence enough that they ate meat, as cultivation was not an option for them. Even the in “The Bhagwad Gita”, it doesn't explicitly say anything about eating or not eating meat for a meal (Please correct me if you guys think I am wrong). But we do have specific mention of the sacredness of cows and the inclination towards vegetarian food in our Vedas.
Since the Vedas are considered to be written thousands of years back and even predate Ramayana and Mahabharata, presumably during the Satya Yuga (I am a big believer of yuga cycle!). We can presume that it was written during the cycle of initial period in human awakening and civilization. The folks of that era definitely didn't have the access to technologies that we have today but were aware of the Nature and promoted co-existence of all beings, else how can you chose to go vegetarian when non-vegetarian makes more sense to a tribe. These tribes were not prospering enough nor did they have enough knowledge of Agriculture. The next section might have an answer to this!
Among all the civilizations and the religions, why is that only Jains (mandated), Hindus and Buddhist (advocated) are alluding to religious reasons for not eating meat? It is more to do with the geographic location of where these religions were originated. If we didn't have the great Himalayas and the monsoons, the climate in and around India would have been inimical to the vegetation. Take a look at the vegetation map on internet and you will realize that very few regions actually support the growth of vegetation. Many of the temperate regions that do support vegetation, like the eastern part of USA, most of Europe, North East Asia, face severe cold during most of the winter. Other regions that support vegetation are either dense forests or the islands, which leaves us with very limited landmass that could support the growth of flora throughout the year. That limited landmass is none other than the Indian subcontinent. The great Himalayas not just protect the Indian subcontinent from the severe blast of cold winters but also aids in providing perennial supply of water to the rivers like the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus, making life flourish and the land fertile around these rivers. My point in bringing the geography into the discussion is to present you with the reason which I think could be the genesis behind the age old literature that advocates the vegetarian lifestyle. Had it not been for the Himalayas, there would not have been the great rivers and probably no monsoons as well. Ours would have been an arid climate and therefore the task of farming would have been a very difficult one if not impossible, which would have made meat eating an essential part of our culture and civilization. This is not saying that our ancestors were all vegetarians; it is just a point that the concept of vegetarian-only diet could have come easy to them when compared to others.
This snapshot is from the Google maps. It is for you to see how the earth looks so drastically different between the north and the south regions of the Himalayas. There is mountain range even towards the East Pakistan which depicts the similar difference between the east and west part of the country. I have drawn a red line to depict the difference in the contrast due to the presence of the mountains. The black encircled region is an outlier to this theory and probably the answer to the mystery behind the river Sarasvati. I am not going into the details now, that is for a separate article - Decoding Hinduism!
Now that I have covered the 'civilization' part, let us move to the other important matter and that is 'feelings'.
During my school days, one thing I used to look forward to each year was visiting my village, situated in a remote place of Bihar. The only reason I used to get excited about visiting my native place was the presence of cow that we then used to have. I cannot forget the days when I used to run every morning to feed the cow (pehli roti gae ki), take her out of the cow shed into the open, make sure that she always has her food and water refilled and all such activities. This is the one main reason that I can never eat beef! It is like asking a dog lover if he is ok with eating dog meat which many on this planet do enjoy. Similarly, there were poor people from my village who could not afford a cow and therefore would pet goats instead and I know for a fact that they never ate goat meat, probably for the same reason but for their livelihood they used to sell them. Other than having a personal bond with the animals you pet, there are other things like the milk that these cattle produce. The milk and thereafter curd, as everyone knows is a great source of your daily dietary need. I don't want to go into the detail of how the cow dung or even the urine is being used in these villages even today for various purposes. The crux of the matter is that you would not harm a living being if you have feelings, a bonding or compassion for it. Sometimes irony kills itself repeatedly when a group of people come in support for a lot of things pertaining to saving of poor animals and their ethical treatments but would enjoy a meal when the same animal is slaughtered and served in front of them. Recently there was a big outrage over the culling of dogs in Kerala, but why don't we see the similar outrage for the culling of cattle? My two cents on cows doesn't end until you guys answer me a simple question, "What is the gestation period of a cow?"
We would never know what our ancestors might have observed before calling the cow the mother! But let me be crystal clear that I am against the beef ban. I don't like people following any religious text just for the heck of it, cow for me is sacred, cow for the people who had for years nourished them is sacred but for many who might not actually be able to distinguish between cows and buffalo, it cannot be sacred, and that is irrespective of any religion. For them, it should be no different from any other cattle. In short, until you feel it, don't believe it. I know that for many of you, it does not have to be the company of animals to understand or feel for them, it might come natural and for many, animals might be seen as things made for humans to enjoy. It is all contextual and that is what I want to talk about in the section below.
With every breath, we inhale in a lot of microorganisms, with every morsel of food we eat we consume microorganisms, every step we take we might be killing some microorganisms. But is this akin to saying that killing a goat for its meat? You desperately need a cup of tea if you think so. Everything boils down to feelings and the bonds we have with other living beings. Since we do not see the microorganisms we can never have a connection with them, we cannot imagine them as one of us (which science can explain in detail). But for cattle, there is everything to relate to, the sound they make, the way they look, the fear in their eyes, their happiness, their anatomy and other things. For the plants or trees, they just need some water, sunlight and earth to survive. They don't bleed, cry or plead when they are reaped. They don't breed the way we do, they don't walk or hear or see. Best part is that we can give birth to number of trees/plants and can save number of hungry people from starvation. This can never be a part of extinct species. The more we think others (be it animals or humans) as one of us the less we would like to harm them. But if someone genuinely thinks that the animals are part of the Creation to serve humans then I whole heartedly support their inclination towards eating meat. Since we sit at the top of the chain in the animal kingdom, we are bound to be selfish. Shaving a sheep for wool, making bovines work hard for us, milking cattle, racing horses, contribute to some degree of selfishness that we as a Human indulge in, but this should not be compared to slaughtering animals for our tastes.
Another thing that I would like to bring to the fore is the argument that many make in favor of eating meat by calling it as poor man's food. I may be wrong but go to any restaurant; a vegetarian biriyani is always cheaper than a non-vegetarian biriyani. Since I myself have eaten non-vegetarian food, I can tell you that eating vegetarian food is much cheaper option as compared to a non-vegetarian diet. Unless you hunt or fish by your own, I don't see any reason why non-vegetarian meal should be called a poor man's food. Also the argument that the vegetarian people usually lack proper nutrients (especially vitamin B12, Iron, protein and calcium) has to a large extent lost its steam given the century we live in. We have at our disposal 'n' number of foods devoid of meat which supplements these nutrients. This is why I think that more we develop and prosper the chances of us inclining towards vegetarianism should actually increase. But for a poor fellow who just needs food to survive, the question about the dietary preference should be the last thing in his mind.
Let us dedicate this last section to discuss bans. Religious angle toward vegetarianism would do more harm than good, it should come from within. Also the bans imposed by respective Governments are again a worthless practice which would lead to more corruption in the meat business and might divide communities based on their eating habits. For example, the recent decision of meat ban in a suburb of Mumbai during few days of Jain's festival should not have been decided by the Government but amongst the people who may be having their slaughter houses around the Jain temples and the Jain community. We live in a democratic country with unbelievable diversity, and so the solution should come from within. Easier said than done, but mutual understanding and respect for others is what would drive our country ahead. One thing we can learn from our culture is tolerance and adjustment. Rather than banning food that few might prefer eating, the Government should start with regulating the slaughter houses, having laws for humane slaughter of animals (US has a similar law since 1958), and regulating slaughters (banning, yes banning them from public places). This way, no one is stopping anyone from eating or slaughtering animals, but the sentiments of the general public is being respected.
When compared to animals, I naturally feel more for the Humans and therefore, would support their craving for meat over the pain of an animal getting butchered. Again, someone eating meat for survival is a totally different ball game. If I had to live in Siberia, you bet I would be running around hunting for fox and deer.
If we have to slaughter an animal for our food, let us at least make sure it is done in a least painful way. Torturing others be it human or animals is a trait of under civilized people, let us move forward with the world and make every possible effort to co-exist with other beings on this planet. We do not rule the world, for God’s sake! Human beings by nature are omnivorous. But if I end it by saying this, I end it by comparing humans with other animals. We have something that no other species have, and that is the power of thinking, making a choice between good and bad, reasoning ability, and most importantly - conscience. Eating or not eating meat is not about religion at all! Probably the religious texts just meant to present you with an alternative that our ancestors might have experienced and embraced thousands of years ago. Just the way I say that the human beings by nature are omnivorous, I would also say that being a vegetarian is much easier today than it was before. It was about the 'civilization & survival’ then; it is about the 'feelings' now.
“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” - Paul McCartney
(Note: As mentioned in the post, I do eat meat but for last 3-4 years I have been contemplating the pros and cons of it. This article is my personal take on the vegetarian vs non-vegetarian issue. I myself have reduced the frequency of eating meat from biweekly to once in 2-3 months. Now I do not even get any craving for meat anymore and might do away with it forever (unless my life becomes of a pi ;)). Any YouTube video that I watch where the animals are tortured to be killed takes me a step away from eating meat for my taste alone).
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