The Dilemma of Indian Vegetarians

Indians comprise of a fifth of the vegetarians in the world. Indian vegetarians are proud of being vegetarian and let's agree we even scorn at the ppl who are not vegetarians. but why exactly are such a large % of our population vegetarian.
Part of the reason is our history. lets go back a few 1000 years. The original inhabitants of India were the Dravidians, short black skinned people who were all vegetarian not due to any religious beliefs (although I am a firm believer that beliefs develop out of circumstances) but because they lived on land that hd the most fertile soil that can be found on the planet. The rivers of Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Ghaghara, Kosi, Gomti, Mahanadi, Krishna , kaveri, Godavari, narmada as well as the five Punjab rivers: Beas, Satluj, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and of course Indus irrigated the whole country. Interesting thing is no other country has three different river systems in the same country, we hav the indus system, Ganga - Brahmaputra and the southern rivers. so never did the need arise to kill an animal for food. Eating vegetarian food was not a compulsion but a natural choice.
{I did not talk about the harappan civilization bcoz no one knows about wat the ppl of that civilization ate}
Then the Aryans, invaders from Central Asia, invaded the country. The Dravidians were pushed down to Southern States and even though some took to eating fish from the oceans which were readily available, Vegetarianism had entered their blood. Even today wen we think of eating at a vegetarian restaurant, a south indian restaurant pops into the mind.
Now, one may argue that why the Aryans who were naturally from meat eating lands of Central Asia developed the Hindu faith and its resolve against non vegetarian food. They probably gave up non veg after discovering the alluvial rich plains of northern india. Moreover, the meat source became the source of another resource. yes, i am talking about cows and buffalos and they became the source of milk, cheese and saturated oil or ghee. one can reflect upon the importance of these products in the aryan society from the Vedic texts. i myself have read numerous vedic mantras and have come across many which depict the importance of a certain "soma rasa" a favorite drink of the aryans ade fro milk, ghee and an unknown now extinct plant. i feel importance of anything in a society can be seen from what they offer to god. The Christians offer bread and wine which is of importance to them, we hindus in yajyas offer dhrit (ghee) and milk. the yajyas were first performed by the aryans so naturally it was very important to them. Moreover, indian cows have and probably had in those times also, the least production of milk per annum. i still remember the class 8 biology chapter, Swiss Cow: 16000 L/anum, Indian Cow: 1500L/anum. so when i think of it if i like milk and the cow produce very low amount i would want it to live longer and not kill her for meat (Indian cows have a very low meat content also). So that is how cows became holy in fact meat eating became impure or unholy. Only the lower castes and the poor who could not afford breeding cattle or farming ate meat, that is how the divide untouchables got created, meat eaters were considered unclean, and untouchable. As i said earlier, beliefs develop from the society's choices and circumstances, meat eating was unclean therefore being a vegetarian started being considered pure, holy, divine, the vedas advocated vegetarian way of life.
if today you come across a vegetarian in say USA, there is a higher chance that he will say i am a vegetarian because i am an animal lover or that i am vegetarian on ethical grounds. it is the best argument for vegetarianism. when the US constitution was created, it stated that all men were born equal, good statement right, NO it actually meant only men. Women were not included and nor were the blacks, slaves and native american Indians. But then, they did not consider women, blacks and natives equal to men. Civil wars followed, organisations like Ku Klux Klan were set up. but 150 years later women and blacks etc were considered equal and got equal rights. What i am saying is that our society now grants (not fully implements but grants) equal rights to all everyone irrespective of gender, caste, religion, IQ, leadership skills everything then why not irrespective of species, why not extend the same rights to the animals. You will say that animals and human beings are different:

1. Humans are more intelligent beings: Rubbish, we just stated that the society now grants equal rights to everyone irrespective of intelligence, then how can one say that an intelligent being is worthy of life and an unintelligent one is not. Moreover, without uninitelligent people in this world what a boring world this will be.
2. Animals are incapable of reason: okay, but so is an infant. is it justified to kill an infant
3. Animals kill each other all the time: so now we r gonna compare ourselves to the animal kingdom, yeah right. But then that makes murder, assault, rape, incest, polygamy etc all legal all correct.

Moreover, Human Beings can survive on vegetarian food. A vegetarian Tiger becomes a dead body but a vegetarian human being becomes an Albert Einstein, Anil Ambani, Prophet Muhammad. And how is it justified to kill an animal because it is less capable than us in certain areas. Then how are handicapped, mentally challenged, blind, deaf, dumb worthy of living. They too are less capable or incapable than us in certain areas. It is not justified to be a non vegetarian just because you like the taste of butter chicken. What i am trying to say is, if we talk of equality how are animals any different. It is about our moral and ethical thinking. And Ethical reasons is the only justified argument against non vegetarianism.

But that is where the dilemma lies. If ethical reasons is the basis for being a vegetarian, the belief that killing of animals is wrong even vegetarians are in trouble. !!We eat Wheat!! (Rhyme not intended) and you know what increases the crop efficiency from as low as 45% to 90%, PESTICIDES. the meaning of the word Pest (insects, rodents) Cidal (to KILL) . So even vegetarians cannot say that i am a vegetarian due to ethical reasons. Unless you become an extremist, a VEgan who grows his own food and tries at every level not to kill or harm any animal intentionally.

The problems indian vegetarians face when asked the "Why Veggie??" question is that they themselves are confused why they are vegetarians. if they give the religious reason, it is valid. But, it is not very appreciated by others especially if you want someone to give up non veg. Also, i have explained that the Vegetarian concept in the Hindu faith was included because they found eating vegetarian more logical and considered non veg food impure and unclean. It was just a stupid belief that manifested itself over the years. Vedas also suggest that Veg food is healthier, it indeed is, and it is a better argument than the "religious belief" one. But, there are many non veg options like fish and eggs which too are very nutrtious and high in protiens, so a person looking for health needs to give up unhealthy food!! and not non vegetarian food!!

the ethical reason argument is the best but it leads to extremism which indian vegetarians are certainly not. 20% indians are vegetarians but if asked why? they are confused

The DILEMMA of indian VEGETARIANS

As for why i am vegetarian?,

Healthier fooD: naa, i do eat unhealthy veg food

Relgious Reasons: not really

but Religion is definitely the reason for my elders. So i grew up regarding non veg as bad and veg as good. children blindly believe wat the elders tell them, ELDERS BRAINWASH US but i'll leave that topic for another blog. yeah, so I have always eaten vegetarian food. if smeone brings nonveg in front of me i scorn at him, feel nauseatic. i strongly advocate every 1 to eat only veg food and am a strict vegetarian, i think the following qoute works for me,

"MY STOMACH IS NOT A GRAVEYARD OF A DEAD ANIMAL"

sections of post taken from Vir Sanghvi's article in BRUNCH