Social Vegetarianism
An amazing breakfast at the foot of Brahmagiri Hill
I’ve been mostly vegetarian in India. I’ve always been pretty into meat, but not here. In fact, its starting to gross me out. The vegetarian food here is so good and so default that I feel no need for the flesh and blood. When it is available I feel strangely guilty and ill at ease. I generally eat whatever’s given or recommended, but both a Parsi mutton and a Hyderbadi chicken biriyani did not go down well. Yet I’m quite happy to eat whatever starch and vegetable off the street.
Not that I’m becoming vegetarian. If it was my choice and I could eat this kinda food all the time I guess I would, but I can’t. Whereas in India the choice is between veg and non-veg, In Sri Lanka it’s basically ‘fish? no fish?’ I went to a western restaurant in Bangalore and it’s ‘where’s the beef?’ The social structures are entirely different.
Sri Lanka, despite being a Buddhist country, is an island first. Hence a preponderance of seafood, some skinny chicken and furtive beef. Even if I was vegetarian I don’t see how one resists the ubiquitous hot buttered cuttlefish. And sushi. Despite being uncooked it’s still dead.
Yet after eating minimal meat for so long, the thought now grosses me out. Though I’m sure that will pass. I’ve also seen chickens and pigs in the gutter and piles of goat carcasses in the tanneries of Mumbai slums. One does not have the amicable western divorce of the supermarket aisle. I see the stuff we eat.
However, it makes me think of how little of my diet is individual and how much social. Left to my own devices I will eat nothing till I get ravenous at like 2 o’clock and inhale absolutely anything available. That’s often enough for me, though I may get ravenous around seven. This is socially noxious and bad for one, so I moderate into mealtimes, but this is socially. When I lived alone I would order pizza at night, eat pizza for breakfast, repeat.
Now it seems that even my meat intake is largely social. I’m pretty vegetarian but it’s not like I had an epiphany, it’s just what’s available. In the cities or Muslim areas there is meat, but in anything near a Hindu holy area or small town it’s almost non-existent. Furthermore, when dealing with unknown establishments or trains, veg seems safer. So I eat veg, and enjoy it. When I get home to SL, however, I wonder if I’ll just switch back. I mean, I didn’t decide the veg thing but I like it better. Am I capable of making that decision, or will I just switch back as socially as I came?
depends I guess. I was veg for an year and meat grossed me out too. Switched back cause mum didn’t want to make two three varieties for me and another for the rest of the family. :( Also SL doesn’t have that many options for veggies :(
Well the veges are dead too, lol. But yeah the veg food’s pretty good in India. I couldn’t believe it but the best biryani I’ve ever had was a vege one in Bombay last December. But having said that, I must also say that the meat stuff in India’s still damn good if you don’t mind it being mostly chicken or fish. Try a Goan place — they’ve got great meats, including beef and pork. ‘Goa Portugese’ in Bombay is highly recommended. But going to any sorta mid-level western restaurant’s pretty pointless since they put garam masala into everything, including pizza and cordon bleu.
In SL I think the best meat you can go for is pork — it’s pretty high in standard and healthier than beef.
I have been a vegetarian since 1997 (not a vegan), and it was not that difficult even in SL.
Gone to atleast 10 countries since then and have found UK was the easiest to be a veg and the most difficult was in China. I am yet to go to India though..
I’ve been a vegan (total vegetarian–no milk products also) since 2005. I live in Sri lanka, eat rice and curry twice a day (with a lot of parippu), and roti/pittu/appa/idiappa in the mornings. I feel pretty good. I pump iron 5 times a week, bench press over 100Kg, Squat 110Kg, Deadlift 150Kg, so clearly one doesn’t turn into a pencil-neck weakling from eating veggies only. Try it. It ain’t too hard. You do no harm to animals (at least the big ones), plus your food is much more energy efficient (and thereby less harmful to the environment) than meat products. Going out for a meal in SL as a vegan is ok for Chinese, Indian, Thai, but anything western is harder (unless you find a chef who is willing to modify a few of their dishes to suit your diet–Gallery cafe is good); Coffee Bean serves all their coffees with Soy milk if you ask for it.
Actually I’ve also realized that Indian veggie food is quite good – if not better – than meat stuff… I’ve been going on a fish & veggie diet (no meat) for around 3 years – but then I sort of had to eat chicken when I went to Sydney – their sea food sucks :( After 1 month got fairly sick of chicken…dont think I’ll eat chicken – or any kind of meat for a long time now.
Hey Indi, I turned vege a couple of months ago. Meat grosses me out now. I must confess I did eat meat about twice during this time, but only because there was nothing else to eat. Unlike before, now I don’t salivate when I see a dish of meat or sea food. And I’m hoping that this phase wouldn’t pass because well, now I really don’t want to eat meat. To me now it doesn’t feel right. :)
“Am I capable of making that decision, or will I just switch back as socially as I came?”
If you decide and commit, you can be vegetarian, on the other hand if you go back home and just expect it to happen, you’ll be a carnivore in … I give you 24 hours. Eating dead animals is ingrained into us. Temptations surround us. Such a habit cannot be easily broken. One needs a REASON. Such as compassion for animals, one’s health, concern for the environment and sustainability of the earth, etc. My reason was/is compassion for animals.
I was like you. If I didn’t have meat or fish, it was a bad meal. Even dried fish was not enough. I was a carnivore extraordinaire. I tried to ignore the reality of where my food came from (kinda easy with supermarkets and restaurants), but it was always there, nagging me in the dark recess of my mind. I dabbled with vegetarianism every now and then since I was 17, always giving up. Finally I figured it out. I needed to give them up one by one. This is what worked for me, I know many people who became vegan overnight. Every year or so, a new category went from my diet. Beef, pork, fish, seafood, chicken, dairy, honey, and finally eggs. All gone over the course of several years, and now completely vegan for for 4 years. Then I started cutting out leather goods and clothes, satin, fur etc. Once you see our holocaust against animals, it is hard stop. You want to do everything you can to not contribute to it. Animal food doesn’t tempt me now. When I see meat in a supermarket or restaurant, I see dead animals. I no longer see food. If I see a cooked chicken leg or breast, I immediately have visions of the bird and it’s body parts. I am finally cured, and so happy about it.
I can finally look at animals in peace. I see animals or fish, and I can look them in the eye. It is the most marvelous feeling, this being able to look at animals in peace. I had heard this described many times before, but like nibbana, this is a happiness you have to experience. No amount of explaining from others will do.
I had to make a sacrifice: learn to cook. I was no longer able to exclusively eat out. But it was worth it. I still go out with friends etc, but don’t expect much when I do. If I go to a dinner or a party, I eat before I go. When hosts/friends express concern over my not eating, I say, or, don’t worry, I ate before I came. I always eat before I go places. This also keeps me in a good mood, and from being tempted. If I am out at a restaurant socializing, and the only thing vegan is the french fries, that is what I eat. If I am not sure what’s in the vegetable soup (butter, meat broth etc) I skip it. I learned that if you make exceptions here and there, they are like cracks in your armor.
I read labels of everything I buy to make sure no sneaky animals products are listed in them. I am now comfortable with veganism that I don’t need any help. Needed lots of help in the beginning though. My fix was videos (and info) on peta.com. When I started to forget why I gave up meat and started to think of animal food in a dangerous (tempted) way, I would quickly jump on peta.com (or is it org?) and watch a few videos. I’ll be good for at least 4-6 months. It’s like getting a shot. Effects last a long time. Videos are hard to watch, sometimes I sat there screaming and crying, tears rolling down on to the keyboard, but I knew I couldn’t stop. The videos are short, a few minutes each, but agony to watch. But I knew I NEEDED them to keep me from faltering. Peta videos were my hidden weapon. I am so grateful to peta for my new life. I am now safely on the other side that I don’t need any crutches like that anymore, but I used this method to help me in my conversion for a long time.
In reality, I haven’t given up anything. I still eat every curry I can think of. I just follow the exact recipe for chicken curry or whatever, just substitute the chicken with potatoes, eggplant or mushrooms. Here in the US, there are also great faux meats like Gardein and MatchMeats, and the truly amazing Silk soy milk. I had a surprise realization through all of this. It’s not really the chicken or the fish, so much as the spicy curry sauce that I was in love with! So I am not missing out on anything! Desserts? I make vegan versions of pretty much everything.
Life as a vegan is good. I highly recommend it!
@ Jeev – Lucky you , getting those faux meats. Those are yum. Not much choice here in SL on that front. And I do the same pre-eating before going to parties. If there’s stuff I can eat at the party it’s a bonus, if not no biggie. I also became vegan one species at a time: first beef, then chicken, seafood, eggs, and a year later dairy.