Just like most of Indian culture, our vegetarianism is varied and subjective but still has many shared beliefs. While many Indians won’t eat meat on certain days of the week, or certain months during the year, others like me don’t have it or cook it at home. Some vegetarians may also eat eggs. Eggs are often considered the equivalent of milk by many, in the sense that it’s an animal product that doesn’t involve actual slaughter of the animal. Veganism is rare and prevalent only in urban centres. (Because Indians will die without chai, ghee, khoya and curds. 99% of our sweets are dairy based and they are fucking GODLY).
Most Indians are vegetarians not for ethical or health reasons but for socio-religious reasons. The core beliefs of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism advocate Ahimsa and many still follow vegetarianism out of respect for their family traditions or beliefs instilled in them since childhood. Now most of you reading this, already know this...so none of this may strike you as ‘weird’ (It may to someone who isn’t Indian).
So what’s the weird part? Try this – Tell me how many people you know who eat meat but do not drink? – Quite a large number. Muslims primarily. Many from traditionally meat eating castes or people from coastal regions eat meat but don’t drink alcohol for ethical/health reasons. A large number of meat eating Indians fall into this category. Now do the reverse- tell me people who are vegans/vegetarians but are also drinkers? – you’d be hard pressed to find one or two in your circle. Weird isn’t it? The only time I have found more than 1 person like this in a social setting were the bars in Mumbai – where the mostly Gujju Jain Seth log used to down quarters of whisky with chips or pakoda.
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| Seriously though Kanda bhaji is one of the most underrated chakna out there. |
OF TWO EVILS
Unlike Veg v/s Non Veg or Red meat vs White meat, Alcohol V/s Veg shouldn’t even be a competition. Alcohol isn’t really a dietary choice or a cultural identity. But in India, it somehow is. I have worked in rural parts of Maharashtra and often in my experience, if non-veg food is on the menu for a house/farm party – you’ll often find majority of times that alcohol is available. (The exception obviously being Islamic households). If it’s a Veg party, then you can be 1000% guaranteed there is no alcohol arrangement.
I in fact know of quite a few people who don’t eat meat generally but will have it when drinking. It’s easy to understand why this must have happened. Hinduism and Ayurveda in particular tell you to abstain from meat as far as possible. Alcohol is obviously not recommended. So culturally speaking, both are sort of taboo. Meat being a lesser one. (Owing to certain health benefits like protein). But if you break one, you might as well break the other.
Now I am not at all supporting alcohol consumption here, to each his own. Whether to slaughter an animal and cause yourself health issues or to poison yourself slowly and cause yourself even worse health problems is entirely your choice. All I am saying is if you are a drinking vegetarian, you’ll be a bigger minority than the pure vegetarian at most parties in India. Plus if you are a recovering vegetarian like me, it would be mighty difficult because well...peer pressure.
PEER PRESSURE
Now I haven’t had a proper PARTY thanks to COVID since I started to be a recovering vegetarian a few months ago.
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| Yeh humara lockdown aur yeh humara Pune. Aur yaha Pawry NAHI ho rahi hai :( |
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| Once you go Tandoori, its hard to maintain Doori... |
Peer pressure isn’t like what they show in the movies. People are generally respectful of your food choices if they are fully grown adults. No one is going to taunt you with a seekh kabab by dangling it in front of your face. But for someone who has spent his life enjoying both meat and drink at parties, it feels mentally a difficult thing to adjust to. How do you adjust to changing your own image? Will you be as accepted as you were before?
For anyone who is looking to make any kind of lifestyle change- be it dietary or sexual or clothing etc- peer pressure is the biggest obstacle to overcome. It’s easy to implement your choices in private; it’s very difficult to do so in a social setting. While real friends and family will always support you in this endeavour, the real obstacle is in your mind. For someone who is mostly eager-to-please and conflict averse like me, the pressure is created more in your mind than from actual peers.
LEAP OF FAITH
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| Internet logic dictates that any lifestyle advice must have this kinda pic attached to it |
While there is no Ram-Baan upay for this always remember to just try and do your best. I personally these 3 things to be very effective for any sustained life style change.
1)Its a habit- Whether it’s about being vegetarian or saying no to friends because you have to study/ work, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. You may also fail once or twice and thats fine. Dont be too hard on yourself. As a great man Father Leon once said "You must take a leap of faith. The trust part comes later".
2) Ride the Change - Understand that just because things change, doesn’t mean that they change for the worst. Life cannot remain the same. It will change. It best however if you are the one driving that change for your own well-being.
3)The Long Game- Lastly and most importantly, one step at a time. Don’t make any sudden drastic changes. Too big a change in too short a time is hard to adjust to for your friends and family. Also, it’s unsustainable in the long term for yourself. In my experience, making a gradual change turns it into a journey and helps you realize and discover things along the way.
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