Day 38: Why vegetarian?

Thursday. September 13, 2012.

A lot of people have asked me why did I turn vegetarian? I used to answer this question by saying that everyone around me, especially my family, is vegetarian. Trust me when I say, I used to love non-vegetarian delicacies. And then I quit, I quit for others. If given a chance, an excuse, I wouldn't have minded consuming some meat again. Now, my mind is changed. Why do I choose to remain vegetarian?


I remember having conversation with my brother sometime ago. I was telling him how I felt guilty that I had accidentally killed a bird back when we were in India. His instant response was: 'you are a hypocrite.' No matter how much I denied it or argued against it, in my heart I knew that it was absolutely true. I was a hypocrite. I was feeling guilty about accidentally killing a bird but I go out and enjoy eating chicken. This conversation had enforced my decision to be vegetarian.


Then again, I was watching the movie 'The Leap Year'. There is a scene in the movie where the characters Anna and Declan are gathering the ingredients for cooking. After watching that scene, I realized I would react the same way she did. If you hand a chick to me, I will probably make it my pet and feed it. I would not be able to kill it, and probably feel sad if anyone else does it front of me. Having skipped the process of harvesting, skinning, cooking and having the dish ready in front of me made me feel less guilty. Therefore, I made a decision, if I can't kill and skin it myself, then I wont eat it.

Like I mentioned above, I used to love non-vegetarian delicacies and sometimes I am really tempted to indulge. This bring me to the thought of self control. I feel like I have made a decision of being a vegetarian, and I should stand by it. If I fail to do so, what the point of me making that decision in the first place? I am happy that at least I am able to keep one decision that I have made in life. There are a lot more promises to myself that I fail to keep since they are more difficult to keep up with. The fact that there is no non-vegetarian food allowed in my house makes it easier to stand by the decision and also the the fact that I am Indian makes it easier too. Indian cuisine has variety of good vegetarian dishes I can indulge in. When I go out with friends, they support my choice and there is always something I can eat.  I am happy that I made a decision and stuck to it. I hope to exercise self control more often, especially when it comes to my emotions.

Unfortunately, I am unable to search for this video on the Youtube video insert for blogspot, hence this link:  Leap year scene.