Of Food, Idealogy & Beliefs

Well! It has been a long time since I last wrote. Not that I did not have anything to write. There were several things that I wanted to, but I was lazy as usual. Well this one thing interests me so much that I thought that I would sit down and pen down my thoughts.

I sometimes wonder as to what it is with us Indians and the concept of vegetarian food being holy? I was never able to comprehend and probably never will. At least we Indians were supposed to be far advanced in Science(not technology) than these westerners were. For example we were aware about the Heliocentric theory a couple of millenniums before even Galileo Galilei was born or the continent of America was discovered. Similarly our mathematicians had the knowledge about the significance of 'PI' or the Pythagoras theorem even before the dumb white western world(Barbarians) knew about fire. We built cities when people in Europe wandered in the forests. So my logical conclusion is that our people must have known that plants had life too, more than a few thousand years ago.

It is difficult to say when this lunacy started among us. At least the Mahabharatha says that the Brahmins of that age had food that was of animal origin(meat not milk!). So the question is, when did the so called 'Hindus' make this startling discovery that meat was impure. It is believed that, it might have started sometime during the time of the Guptas when there were many reforms in the Indian culture. It is also believed that these reforms came into existence (read as forced onto people) in order to either counter or compete the growing Jain and Buddhist popularity.

What ever it was and how ever it started, I do not understand the logic behind these mysterious ideas. There are certain other interesting things as well. I'd like to list few of them here:

1. The so called strict vegetarians refuse to eat food that is cooked in the same vessel that has been used to cook meat. A funny corollary to this fact is that even people who usually eat meat, keep separate vessels for cooking vegetarian food and non-vegetarian food.
   
2. Even people who eat meat, strictly cook only vegetarian food during special poojas and festivals.
3. Some of the so called strict vegetarians consider Onions & Garlic as impure too. Some are believed to even change the sacred thread* after consuming onions.
4. Some even consider touching an egg as unholy.
   

I actually do not have anything against the vegetarians. I in fact do think that vegetarian food is essential for the body and that our diet should have a lot o green leafy vegetables. I also understand that excessive amount of meat can ruin someone's health. But what irritates me is the attitude of a few people, the reason they give to justify their beliefs and the attitude they have towards people who eat meat.

I once attended a course on meditation and the instructor told all of us something really ridiculous. He said that eating meat was a greater sin than eating vegetables. He went on to say that the lesser sin committed by eating vegetables could be overcome by performing meditation thrice a day. Now what would I say? If he had said something like, meat causes some physiological changes in the body which are not suitable for someone who is beginning to learn the art of meditation, that would have made sense. But his answer was ridiculous.

According to me, a few perfectly valid reasons for being a vegetarian are:

1. I don't like meat.
2. I don't exercise much. So I can't digest meat. Therefore I think being a vegetarian is a good idea.
3. My medical condition does not allow me to eat meat.
4. I am bored of eating meat.
5. There is no meat available in my town.

Perfect invalid reasons for being vegetarians:

1. My religion does not allow me to eat meat.
2. I was born a strict brahmin. So I have to be a strict vegetarian (Your thoughts and deeds determine whether you are a brahmin or a shudra and not what you have on your plate).
   
3. My parents asked me not to eat meat.
4. I pity the animals that are killed for meat(plants and vegetables are also killed. I however agree with the idea of Fruitarianism).
   

It is surprising that our country, once a center of Mathematics, Astronomy and Science is now tied down by beliefs like these which benefit our society in no way. I have really come to believe that everything follows a sinusoidal pattern; after every big bang, there is a big crunch

*The thread worn by Hindu males after their Upanayanam.