VEGANISM…THE HUE AND CRY

This article is not for people who claim that all the other beings on this earth are being created for the consumption of man based on religious beliefs whatsoever. This page is irrelevant to you as you are hypocritical and cannot appreciate the facts which have gone into writing this article.

There is a lot of hue and cry on veganism and vegans now. Who are these guys by the way? According to google, “Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind.”
To be frank, it looked quite queer when I came across such a definiton. I am a vegetarian by birth but what is this “not using animal products for any purpose” stuff? I have grown up eating yummy home-made curd [South Indians supposedly cannot live without curd rice….:))], ghee and the mouth-watering ice creams and pastry. All that I know about milk produce and consumption is that the “Aavin” milk packet comes home everyday morning along with “The Hindu”. Little have I ever thought of how the milk from the cow gets transformed into Aavin. To me milk means Aavin….and that’s it.
Another interesting point is the increasing availability of dairy products in the market. When we were kids, if mom needs an extra packet of milk, she needs to tell the milk walah in advance or else we would end up being without milk when guests turn up. Also, there was no concept of “packaged curd” and “packaged butter milk”. Thanks to Mr.Verghese Kurien, “The White Revolution” happened in India and we became self-sufficient in milk production. This we have all read proudly in our civics/history lessons of modern india.

The above two facts seem unrelated but they have a lot in common to veganism which you will know if you read further down.

I was of the opinion that an animal activist is one who raises voice against the cruelty meted out to these poor creatures…. I used to wonder how quitting milk products could help prevent cruelty against animals….this sounded a bit funny too….how can milking a cow be cruelty? Hmmm….


My family has always been pro-animals. My grand dad and grand mom had a unique affection towards almost any animal on earth. My grand dad even had the ability to sing to the plants in the garden and make them bear better fruits…….and talk to injured animals and make them feel better. I have not had the privilege to live with him….only heard of all this from my dad who is very proud of his father….

When I met my cousin after a gap of 2 years, he was telling me about veganism and how the face of the dairy industry has changed in India. He was trying to convince me that drinking milk was equivalent to eating beef….i was dumbstruck….i didn’t have any valid point to fight with him and tell him that drinking milk and consuming milk products had no connection whatsoever with cruelty against animals……To me all that cruelty meant was doggies who were treated badly and animals used for scientific testing and all that stuff…. This was a new thing for me and obviously I went to Google for help. Google has never failed me and I got the answer….a straight slap on my face…. This article on the true face of the dairy industry came as a shock wave and it took me some time to take all the truth inside….Truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction. I was not able to face the harsh truth of how today’s dairy industry operates and how such horrendous acts are performed so casually in our country which was once supposed to have people who worshipped cows…..forget worshipping…..we have completely lost our senses and have no rights to treat any living being on earth like this…….

This article is an eye-opener for many of us who are still blinded by some myth carried over through many generations that cow's milk is the only source of calcium and it is essential for a child's growth; and also for those non-veggies who proudly claim tat they eat more nutritious food [proteins] by being a non-veggie which is sheer nonsense [sorry for being blunt but you will realize after you read the article]

after all v r humans supposed to be wit a 6th sense and considerable amount of concern for our fellow living beings...............and in the dairy industry there is nothing human which you will realize after reading this article. The choice is of course ours. Whether to be human or just be what we are. But remember even carnivorous animals are so because of nature. Man is the only living thing in this world that is omnivorous by choice and not by nature. Anyway, nothing is human even in cannibalism but we are clearly able to see the increase in the number of cannibals. Where are we heading guys? I am afraid the day when we hunt and eat our own kith and kin is not far away…….

For people who have read the article:

Now if you are convinced that something is seriously wrong, continue reading. We can of course help by cutting our consumption of dairy products. There are lots of natural calcium substitutes which are available [as detailed in the article above] and also alternatives like soy and coconut milk. You can find some vegan recipes on the link below.

I have started off reducing my consumption of milk and milk products and find it a bit difficult to become a vegan in one shot. But we can at least give a try to quit something which has got such horrendous acts in the back ground.

Useful Links:

True Face of the Dairy Industry:

http://action.petaindia.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=111&ea.ca...


Operation Flood: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flood

Vegan Recipes: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Vegan_Substitutions

Blog Inspiration: http://ravisghosh.blogspot.com/2009/02/cruelty.html