Vege..what ?

When Payal sent me this cartoon to think of a caption for yesterday, I was remembering another cartoon I had seen recently about cruelty to animals.


This was sent to me by a co-worker, who was just adopting a vegetarian diet. His journey was very interesting. A few months ago when I met him, he used to eat meat and he felt that his life was incomplete without it. Over lunch one day, he noticed that all I was eating was salad and he asked. So when I told him I was a vegetarian. He said, "vege...what?"

Giving a smirk, he continued, "I don't get it, why are people vegetarian? I am sure you are one because your parents are Vegetarian too".

His taunt reminded me of all the times I had to tell people that I was a Vegetarian even without understanding what that word meant! Yes, maybe I was born a Vegetarian, but today, I believe in it strongly!

Back to my co-worker, after we spoke about the pros of a vegetarian diet and all the positive effect it has on you emotionally, physically, mentally and most important, spiritually. He listened, but I don't think I made an impact.

People say Love is a strong thing and he fell in love with a Thai girl who was a vegetarian, Vegan infact! She tried to talk to him, but of no avail, so she made him see a video which I am guessing is similar to the famous "Meet your Meat" production. After seeing it for 10 minutes, he stopped the TV and has become a devout Vegetarian since then.

A 180 degree change? You bet!! [Maybe I should try to get him to chant Hare Krishna next =) ]

After his transformation, we were talking about how much better it makes him feel and he brought up a beautiful point, which leads to my first cartoon posting, he said "I was such a hypocrite when I was a meat eater. I would sit and relish the carcus of a poor animal but if a kid were so close to even patting my dog too hard I would get angry. I would join organizations like K9 and other animal welfare organizations, but didn't realize that the biggest welfare we can do them is by treating them good and keeping them alive!"

How true!

So many people are hypocritical about Animal Welfare.

Want to see real Animal Welfare ?

- Become a Vegetarian
- Love ALL Animals
- Engage them in the service of the Lord, they enjoy it =)

Mostly, treat them with respect as you would another living being.

I am glad my co-worker had that transformation. If only more people owned videos like Meet your Meat....