Request To Indian People From Vegetarians Of World

Author(s): Young Indian Vegetarians
Publisher: Young Indian Vegetarians

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01-581 0294/5
Your Ref.: Our Ref.:
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MAURITIUS HIGH COMMISSION
32/33 ELVASTON PLACE LONDON S.W.7.
12 September, 1984
Attention of Mr Nitan Mehta, President of Y.I.V.
Message, as requested, from His Excellency Mr. D. Gian Nath High Commissioner for Mauritius in London
In the hey-day of the Arya Samaj movement in the thirties and forties, the Jingoism of the Shakaharis and Mansaharis was probably best reflected during public Shastrarths- religious debates in Mauritius. The two sides would address their case in an atmosphere of bitterness which left little room for live and let live. In my family of Shakaharis, this anathema had gripping dimensions. It was therefore with heavy trepidation that I tasted my first egg at age 22, while overseas at University. It was a traumatic experience. It was a sin, a fall from grace. I recall hiding my predicament from friends with common background only to find out later that they were also doing the same. I was 36 when I was finally prevailed upon to swallow my first piece of chicken tikka. Well, I thought, it was an enforded situation and it had nothing to do with my own weakness in that I had succombed. Instead, I told myself, the situation was merely This desired by the requirements of my diplomatic duties. The search for refuge is of course inexcusably self-evident. fact remains that I still feel a tinge of sadness and guilt at having to touch meat now and then. I believe very strongly that vegetarian food is wholesome. Indeed I like to think that a vegetarian is a better human. We. murder to dissect - Wordsworth. Do we need to murder to eat?
The growth of health food fads and shops transmit a kind of global awareness in favour of vegetarianism. phenomenon stops short of asking us to forego meat. nevertheless a compromise which is fair and worth encouraging.
This It is
Indians have been blessed with a natural preference for a non-meat diet. There would be little wisdom in rejecting the wholesome. Meat is not a sine qua non of social experience, however royal the
circle.
Turning pukka vegetarian again remains my aim and aspiration. Vegetarianism is more than a simple matter of food choice. It is a way of life. humanism. I believe in it.
Its essence is
G. Noth
Đ. Gian Nath High Commissioner