Continuing my comment on the vegetarian vs non-vegetarian thing…

I don’t claim to be an expert on the environmental issues, and I know animals are not slaughtered very kindly, but I sure as hell know that to be vegetarian in India at least, does not automatically mean you’re healthier. Which is what most vegetarians will make as their first claim. We Indians hardly eat any raw vegetables, and no matter how tastily, we cook vegetables to within an inch of their lives, to put it as visually as I can. They’re covered with oil or ghee as I mentioned in my Gujarati Thali post, and often cooked for long periods under the excuse of imbibing all the flavours, so they’re unlikely to have any of the nutrients left in them that they should.

More and more news articles appear in our papers about how people are being kept out of certain housing societies thanks to the fact that they’re non-vegetarian. One has even won a CNN Young Journalist Awards 2005. They’re only funny when you’re not at the receiving end. I can imagine my reaction if a building society kept me out of a place I really wanted to live. Other articles tell of certain localities in certain cities fighting to keep non-vegetarian eateries out of the area. As a smoking friend commented as we were reading one of these, “As it is people make you feel guilty about smoking, I feel like I might soon have to hide in the bathroom to eat my chicken or fish.” Funny. And unfunny.

Nor does being non-vegetarian make me more violent or cruel than my veggie brethren. There are a lot of political and religious colors to that debate and I’m definitely not going there. I’d say the February 2002 carnage at Godhra, in a largely vegetarian state makes enough of a statement on that. Just came across an interesting article while researching exactly this thought that I have to admit I agree with totally. It’s also very well written.
And then there’s some misguided followers of PETA who do some really ghoulish things to make their point.

On the other hand, yes, I’ve heard non-vegetarians taking digs at ‘grass-eaters’, but frankly I always thought it was light-hearted. Of course, it’s possible my perspective is a little skewed and it may not always seem so light-hearted from the receiving end. Online, I’ve seen forums where vegetarians are at the receiving end of actual verbal abuse and intolerance, which is totally appalling. And strangely, most searches on the rather Western-world slanted Internet don’t even recognize the term non-vegetarian unless it’s linked to this part of the world. In other words, (to look at it with a jaundiced eye) non-vegetarianism is normal, and vegetarianism is an aberration enough to get itself a new term. More proof really, that might is right and everything we do and see is as we are, not as it is.

As for how unhealthy non-vegetarian food can be… Lesser chance of gross obesity and somewhat lower rates of cardio-vascular disease have certainly been recorded with vegetarian diets. Claims of less chances of certain kinds of cancer have been proved and disproved. I’m no expert, but I think we’re doing okay; it doesn’t look to me like we’re suffering any more than the rest of the population. On the other hand, how much meat is too much? I’m only going by what I see in movies and read in books and magazines, but no Indian I’ve ever seen, eats meat or chicken in the copious amounts that westerners do, and certainly not regularly. Meat, fish or poultry is usually just one dish in a meal, usually in a curry, and usually cut into pieces. So that an individual might have just one or two or even three chicken legs, or fish slices. How healthy or unhealthy that turns out is probably more a factor of how it’s cooked, – deep fried, or baked, and other lifestyle choices.

I’ve never been particularly concerned about the vegetarianism or otherwise of people I know, surely there are more important things to worry about? And luckily in this country, wherever you go there are lots of options for vegetarians. No one will try to pass off fish “Seafood aren’t animals” or eggs as vegetarian. Probably beacuse most of us grew up with the clear knowledge that vegetarianism here is often linked to religious belief. In the end, I suppose what it really comes down to is a respect for other people’s choices, and a clear awareness of what and how much you’re eating, and whether or not your diet is as balanced and healthy as it should be. Or as you pride yourself on thinking it is.

More about Vegetarianism
Some vegetarian recipes

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