Persimmons or Amarphal or Ramphal: Hachiya and Fuyu Variety

Five days ago, my husband had some business to attend to in Dehradun. Going to bigger cities is something that we don't do often. In fact, we would be glad if transactions can be done online or through someone. We just loathe the pollution -the traffic, the crowd, the garbage, the horrible plight of non-human animals and the apathetic and cruel treatment of human beings to these poor earthlings!

So, to make the trip worthwhile, my husband and I would buy the fruits, groceries, vegetables, nuts and seeds that aren't available in the place we live.

This time, he took two varieties of persimmons -Hachiya and Fuyu, and other fruits like Thailand guava (huge and bland but tasty and crunchy), chicos, custard apple, canary melons, red grapes, Midknight oranges, etc.

The above picture is a variety of Hachiya. From medium size to large size, the fruit is a delight. Hachiya variety looks round but pointed and they are astringent or sappy, which means, they cannot be eaten when hard and firm. They have to ripen from top to bottom. They must be very soft, only then, sappiness goes, and they're enjoyable to eat.

A few of the vendors selling this variety shared their stories involving Hachiya. This variety is NOT popular among customers! At first, we were puzzled. Such beautiful and tasty fruit and people don't like it? There must be a reason.

There is only one explanation. And I'll go through that below. In the meantime, here's Fuyu variety.

Fuyu variety is the non-astringent variety. They are quite small, round but flat. These are the characteristics of the non-astringent persimmons -round and flat.

Until three days ago, we've been eating this variety the wrong way, or shall I say, eating it one way -the soft and ripe way!

My husband's experience in buying this variety this time gave some light as to  
when to eat Fuyu best, and that is, when they are hard and firm.
This goes back to the vendors' stories. People like this variety because they can be eaten immediately making it popular.
Customers only buy Fuyu!
And that is because, these fruits are displayed and sold hard and firm, never soft and ripe, and that is the first experience most customers have.
So, the moment they buy Hachiya and eat the same way they eat Fuyu,
the experience would be horrible
because Hachiya variety is astringent.
Nobody really likes a sappy tongue, right?

Also, not many have the curiosity to ask why and find out how to properly eat Hachiya persimmons! So, the next time they see the fruit, they'll pass by it remembering their
disgusting first experience.

The thing is, not many know how to eat it.
Even the sellers themselves!

So, now you know!
The next time you come across these fruits, buy them in loads, for they really taste good!

Just a few tips. We keep them in the fridge, wash them thoroughly, 

and eat them with their skin on. 

The skin of Fuyu is a little bit coarse and tends to separate from the pulp onceit is soft and ripe. When hard and firm, it is crunchy and sweet (an iinformation we

just paid attention to even though we've read the same info two years ago).

~two platters of fruit goodies: Midknight oranges, chico, local orange, guava, Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons~

• Hindi people call persimmons Amarphal or immortal fruit OR Ramphal or fruit for the Gods.
• In the Philippines, Filipinos call the fruit Mabolo. For 27 years in the Philippines, I'd never seen the fruit. I just heard it. Though I wondered how does Mabolo fruit look like. My imagination pictures a round and black fruit. 

I Am a Vegan Anarchist

I am a vegan anarchist because meat consumption is just one of the symptoms 

of a larger evil that pervades our society, which is capitalism.

The disease of capitalism erodes compassion and makes humans see, not only other creatures, 

but also other humans, as commodities which only have value for the profit that they may fetch 

in the market, regardless of all other considerations. 

A capitalist mind-set, not only prioritizes profit, but also terminates 

everything else that it sees as not marketable. 

Since values are arbitrarily set by the market, 

in a capitalist system, a large proportion of the planet’s beings, both living and non-living, 

are arbitrarily discarded, as the market sees no value in their existence. 

And the ones that are seen as valuable are most often seen as valuable only for their final value of profit, thereby leading to horrific holocaust-like conditions for all their existence 

until their ruthless extermination in the name of generating profit.

I am a vegan anarchist because when an animal or human being or a tree is tagged 

to have this value or that much value, it becomes a one-sided world - a world that is run 

by people whose personal interest is always put at the top, 

regardless of who suffers or dies. 

A road worker works hard so the rest of the world could have a pleasant journey 

or so goods could reach their final destination without getting rotten but is paid meagerly. 

Why? 

Does his life and work least important among other kinds of work? 

Definitely not! 

The same goes to the life of a pig or any other animal. 

Does a pig’s 6-month life worth 10000 rupees? 

No! 

But the capitalist mind would say so! 

Only a vegan anarchist recognizes that all earthlings have inherent value of their own, 

that the pig’s life is invaluable - a value that can be determined by nobody. 

It can neither be sold nor bought. It cannot be traded for anything else. 

And as long as people put a monetary tag to anything, 

whether it’s  natural resource or human and non-human living being, 

exploitation, in any form, 

will never cease to exist.

Capitalist systems breed exploitation over cooperation, 

perpetuate control over empathy, 

and drive cruelty, death and destruction over love, life, and protection. 

Hence, I am a vegan anarchist because anarchism is the necessary solution 

for transforming the world into veganism. 

Potato-Tomato Dish: Simple & Quick No Oil Recipe

If I were to get rid of one thing that I do every day that is cooking. Fortunately, I only cook once almost all the time except in some rare cases when we have great stuff like mushrooms (it's a rarity around here) or when my husband and I feel like eating extra. When it happens it's always light. 

Like this recipe.

And this recipe is for two people. 

~my share~

What are needed?

• 2-3 medium size potatoes (washed thoroughly, never peeled and thinly sliced)
• 5-6 ripe tomatoes, preferably round variety because they're juicy (chopped)
• salt to taste (I used a pinch since we're used to it already)
• red chili powder, according to your preference (I used half a tsp.)
• lemon juice, optional (I use it when it's too spicy for us)
• 1-2 tbsp. poppy seeds, optional (I generally add them because we have them and they induce sleep
• half to 1 a glass of water

What to do?

• In a deep pan, add chopped tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes
• Add salt and potatoes. Mix and cover on a low flame.
• After a few minutes, add red chili powder and poppy seeds. Mix again.
• Add little water at a time.
• Cook until the tomatoes get smashed and the potatoes get cooked.
• Check the taste.
• Let it cool a little bit and serve.
• Add lemon juice just before it is served. (Heat destroys vitamin C in lemon juice, but for the purpose of enhancing taste, lemon juice ca be added when the dish is still hot.)

~this time, this dish was eaten alone~

Serve alone or with roti!

~This one is with black and white sesame seeds. What a great way to eat sesame seeds!~

• When I make it for lunch, we usually have this with roti and our roti is not the usual roti. It's made of whole wheat flour which is grounded in a bigger grain, meaning, it's not refined at all and it's full of bran (fiber) then with it are mixed grounded flax, melon seeds, and watermelon seeds (readily prepared with vitamin B12 so we won't be ingesting B12 in one go), sesame seeds and zero salt.   
• Most of the times we eat this dish with one small roti each. Sometimes, half each of one big roti.
• Our cooked food, especially with rice or roti or chapati, vegetables always weigh more than the roti. For example, for 1 roti we will have it with a big bowl of vegetable dish.

This recipe can certainly be modified. 

Do let me know in the comment section below. 

Use the section of what do you think of this recipe, too!

Enjoy!

Persimmon: The Fruit That Nobody Wants?

 These were the persimmons my husband went and purchased from a village near Pauri town.

In 2015, when we were still in Khirsu (about 20 km. from Pauri town), we were able to purchase persimmons from a local fruit shop, Himalaya Fruits at Agency Chowk. Of all the fruit shops in town, only this guy had persimmons. So upon buying, talks came up as to how we knew the fruit to asking where did he (the shopkeeper) get the fruit. Locally, he replied. From nearby Pauri. He did mention the name of the place but we forgot it.

Anyways, at that first time we were only able to take 7 kilos because the rest of them were not good...rotting (sadly, not many knew the fruit and somehow people don't have the 'let me try this' kind of mentality and apparently, they seem to have an aversion towards eating fruits). For Rs.50 per kilo, we took home 7 kilos, most of them were already ripe and ready to eat. 

Before we left, we took the shopkeeper's phone number and my husband did some arrangements with him. It was agreed that when the next batch comes, he would send us 20 kilos of properly selected persimmons. And so, after 25 days, I think, Suresh, our regular taxi guy, got us two boxes of persimmons from Pauri. Payment was made a week later when we went for marketing using Suresh taxi service.

One year later, in a new place called Koteshwar which is around 100 kilometers to Pauri via Chakka - Devprayag - Pauri road, the same problem occurred. Nobody around here even knew the fruit. So as usual, I carried its photograph to show to shopkeepers hoping one or two of them will be able to arrange for us.

In the meantime, knowing it's already persimmons' time, my husband rang the Pauri fruit shop to check if persimmons were available. Confirming, he said. And they've been in his shop for a week already. 

We were very excited!

And so, an order for 30 kilos was talked and he has to call us a day before it arrives in his shop so we can arrange for its transport. Transport means, we will be hiring a taxi to go and get persimmons. 

This time though, we asked for the name of the place where persimmons were available.

Two Saturdays ago, a call came from Himalaya Fruits. Persimmons were there!

Right then, B arranged for a transport to go to Pauri.

And so, at 8:30 the following day, he went to get 30, or maybe 40 kilos of persimmons. I didn't go because nobody was there to take care of Perci and Meegnu. Six hours drive plus a few more for packing and others, so more or less we would be gone for 8-10 hours minimum. So B went alone.

But there was a detour. Around 5-7 kilometer before hitting the proper town of Pauri, the board 'Satekhal', the place that the Himalaya Fruits guy mentioned appeared on the road. So, they stopped and asked around. Luckily, one man was familiar with the fruit and knew someone who had the tree, but he wasn't sure if fruits were still there. He called the guy, nonetheless. It turned out, his was empty. But, this guy knew someone else who also had the trees. He rang him and, fortunately, his trees were still full of persimmon fruits.

He then sent his son to accompany B and the driver. He even warned B to wait and let them do the harvesting because the village had no motorable road. But, no! B and the driver trekked for a kilometer uphill, saw the trees, climbed to pluck them, and took some pictures. 

They helped in packing, too!

One of the guys who owned a tree of persimmons shared his story about how no one wants persimmons. He said that a month back, he and another guy took about 100 kilos to a Mela in Dehradun. In the morning, they were selling persimmons, freshly harvested but unripe, for Rs. 20 per kilo. Many people inquired about it. When it was told that the fruit isn't ready to eat yet, that it has to be kept for a week or more to ripen since it has to be fully soft, people rejected the idea out rightly. 

They waited. And so, towards the end of the Mela, about afternoon, they dropped the price to Rs.10/kilo. And guess what. NOBODY bought it still. I mean, it is a fact that somehow many people have an aversion towards fruits up to an extent of avoiding them because they cause diabetes when, if they really take a thought of it, fruits are hardly (to nil) part of their diet. But for a fruit that was sold for as cheap as Rs.10 per kilo, isn't it worth a try to buy one kilo to see how it is? 

Have people lost curiosity? 

I didn't think so because when it comes to processed foods -junks like pizza, 

burger, chips, etc. these same people would not even have a second thought of stuffing those into their mouths.

So, I guess, this unpopular culture of fruit-eating has to change. And I can see that it has already begun. Most people are not just aware.

Anyway, they ended up taking 50 kilos of persimmons back home.

Persimmon trees yield less at first and then as it grows older the yield increases. The tree above is around 50 years and this variety of persimmons, small, tomato-like, not every fruit has seeds. In fact, seeds in fruits are rare. According to the man who tends this tree, from whom B took persimmons, the roots creep underground and a few meters away from the main tree a sapling grows to become another tree. And so on. 

So the picture below must be like that.

Back to my story.

B ended up taking 44 kilos from this farm and Kishan, the taxi driver, took 6 kilos for his family. Kishann, however, regretted he only took 6 kilos later on and suggested to come back a week or two to get more.

Because B told the Himalaya Fruits guy that he would come, before heading home they went to his shop at Pauri town. The guy was selling it for Rs.80 (the same fruit but not from the same guy whom B bought for Rs.15/kilo). B got it reduced to Rs.40/kilo and as a formality, he took 6 kilos more to make our persimmons from Pauri 50 kilos in total. He also took some other stuffs from the fruit guy like Californian grapes which was sold for Rs.600. B took a kilo and paid Rs.400/kilo for it. Some pears were also bought.

~our typical breakfast along with homemade fruit juice (canary melon or watermelon or banana) and oat-nut mix (oats, dates, pistachios, almonds, cashews, munnakka, green raisins, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds~

This is how the small variety of persimmons look like in half -seedless, juicy, and sweet. It has sweetness different from the Himachal variety (capsicum-like, with seeds).

Persimmons are absolutely divine fruits. It's no wonder it's called Ramphal. It is, indeed, fruit for the gods!

Never miss persimmons every year. I know we won't as much as possible.

Buy it hard, keep it at home. Wait. Check. Eat. 

You'll never regret you bought it.

 

The Day of Compassion: An Essay For Social Psychology

The Day of Compassion is an invitation to use social psychology for the greater good by living 24 hours as compassionately as possible and by reflecting on the experience. This was introduced by Professor Scott Plous of Wesleyan University as part of the Social Psychology class assignment at Coursera. Professor Plous also includes this activity in his regular Social Psychology class at the Wesleyan University.

Here's my essay on it, written in August 2013.

~lend a hand when needed~

I see myself as a compassionate person and I saw it not only to my fellow human beings but more to the non-human animal population and to the environment as well.

Compassion to me means two things. First, it is choosing to help in any way I can even though helping may cause interference in my life. If I see a man somewhere on the street who looks to be in pain I will cautiously approach him and ask if there is anything I can help him with and try to do something about this need even though I have to be someplace else. It sometimes even costs me money or time but it is nothing if it’s worth it. And second, it is choosing not to harm even though I may stand to gain from harming. I adopted a vegetarian diet to allow a sentient being lives its own life even though I could gain nutrients from eating its meat. Our fruit & vegetable peelings go back to land as fertilizer; bottles & cans are saved for recycling; plastics that are non-recyclable are burned because they get the same fate in dumping areas and, most of the times, are thrown into the river. I might as well ensure that they are disposed of well enough not to cause any injuries to others, especially to other animals that forage in such areas.

Compassion, therefore, is about choosing to live a life that helps more and harms the least possible. Sometimes it works well with participation, other times with non-participation.

Behaving compassionately is letting go of my inconsistencies, biases, and prejudices and try to make my attitudes relate to my behaviors, to embrace a newer better self. When I saw a glitter of tears in an old woman’s eye while listening to her story, even though I didn't understand the whole of it, I knew it was happiness. When that reaction made me smile, too, I knew I did something right. The sight of animals grazing freely in the hills is an image that reminds me of peace. And I don’t want to take that away from them. I know because I wanted the same for myself –freedom and peace. The feeling that my actions are in harmony with nature feels so wonderful that I would want to experience it again. Consequently, to me, behaving compassionately is the reward itself and its benefits are priceless and certainly outweigh all costs. It must be true because I love the self that has come out of that realization.

~loving one but eating another isn't compassion~

Encouraging others to be compassionate is not easy but not impossible. Thus, if I were to encourage others I would use the same or similar techniques like the central and peripheral routes of persuasion. For example, showing a 5 or 10-minute video featuring flood or cloudburst victims getting helped by numerous people to school children, most of whom don’t have TV at home, can lead to a discussion on disaster preparedness, ways to extend help or even ways to avoid such occurrences. This in itself is compassion to avert suffering. Another is using salience. A colored print out of The Healthy Eating Plate¹ was posted in a conspicuous area of the hospital where my husband works to facilitate awareness about people’s diet and lifestyle choices. The idea was effective! Some people requested for copies, others talked about it, and a school teacher, who came for a consultation, asked for the source so she can print it herself and post it on their school bulletin board. It is an indirect way of showing compassion but it could lead to behavioral change. If they act accordingly, it may benefit them, their family members, the non-human animal population and the environment as a whole. A foot-in-the-door technique is another. A request was made to a neighbor to keep their empty bottles and cans separately to be collected later was also successful. This was one step up to making them agree for a bigger request –making them segregate their biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes instead of throwing them all together near the river –a terrible sight around here.

Empathy & Role playing is another technique that was successfully used by my husband in one incident when we caught kids throwing stones to a family of monkeys (I understand Hindi a bit but can’t converse). He asked them,

“Should I throw stones at you, too?”

“No”, they answered.

“Why not?”

“It hurts”, they replied.

“Then why are you throwing stones at them?”

They couldn’t answer.

And so, he went on to say, “Mat karo! (Don’t do that!) If they try to attack you without reason, grab a rock or stone and show it to them like you are going to hit them but don’t hit them. They’ll get the message and leave you alone. Theeki (Okay)?”

They nodded.

I really hoped they learned something that day.

One of the best ways to foster a more compassionate society is through education and social psychology is providing that. By conducting studies and researches in order to understand how people behave and how this behavior influence self and others, social psychology provides opportunities to evaluate our attitudes and behaviors, criticize our self-schemas, test our locus of control and know our selves better. This course itself is a means for sharing and exchanging knowledge, information and experiences among each other, to learn from each other. But these opportunities will continue just as opportunities unless we choose to be educated. We, too, have personal responsibilities to take.

Like taking the third side and acting like the hummingbird, behaving compassionately is an everyday gift that can be given in many ways to everything that surrounds us if we so choose it. Through education, anything is possible and is more likely once we accept that we are ALL connected. What we do, no matter how little, affects others directly or indirectly in a positive or negative way. We might as well affect others in a more positive way.

As for me, I am going to be as compassionate as I can be to my fellowmen; to the animals that I call friends; and to my only home –Earth, not only today but every day of my life. 

Update: When I wrote this essay, I wasn't vegan yet. But in another assignment, I promised to go vegan soon. And yes, a year later I become one. Everything is in its proper place now, and I am not only happier than ever before but I am also leaner and healthier physically and mentally.

Source:
(1) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/

Top 15 Vegan Dont's: Explained The Way I Understand Veganism

There is only one reason for going vegan -the animals. They, in any way, should not be deliberately harmed. Their freedom to live a fulfilling life should not be taken from them. The rest of the reasons people speak about: for health, for world hunger, for the planet, are just the expected results of veganism.

This post talks about vegans and veganism the way I understand them.

1. Vegans don't consume meat, honey, eggs, milk, and dairy. They see to it that they ask for the ingredients of a dish when they eat out in a non-vegan or vegetarian restaurants. As much as possible, though, they find and dine in vegan restaurants only. Also, they don't allow any non-vegan cooking in their kitchen nor any non-vegan foods to be served in their own house. 

2. Vegans don't buy packed or wrapped or canned foods without reading food labels. Many food items in grocery stores contain animal products such as milk solids. They educate themselves about unfamiliar terms in product labels. Although many vegans are fond of "veganized" foods, many are also avoiding such stuff and trying to follow a lifestyle that is nearest to nature.

~even chipmunk reads label~
(image via iquitsugar.com)

3. Vegans don't ride horses, elephants, buffaloes, mules, or horse-drawn carriages, etc. for whatever purpose. Using their own two feet is better for health and best for the animals. Animals are not beings to carry human goods or belongings. Cement and bricks on a mule's back are just an example of human exploitation. Poor animals, they have no use of those things and yet they are burdened with such heavy loads. 

Vegans treat animals as friends. And friends are not used.

~just because we can, we should?~

4. Vegans don't support circuses, zoos, and other forms of entertainment that enslave or cage animals. They are rather involved in campaigning against these types of abuses and trying to liberate captive animals. In other words, they entertain themselves in other ways like playing/listening to music, chatting with fellow vegans, writing, etc. Instead of "enjoying" at the expense of animals, they rather view it as sad and pathetic for obviously there are other means of enjoyment without the need for animal abuse.

5. Vegans don't wear leather, fur, silk, or wool. They make sure that the goods they're buying have no history of torture and death. If they own one or two of these products before they went vegan, some give them away to homeless people, some continue to use them until they wear out and choose to never buy them again.

6. Vegans don't eat honey. Honey is food for bees who work very hard for it and not for some humans who purposely destroy bee hives for food and money.

7. Vegans don't drink animal milk. Cow's milk is for its calf, cat's milk is for its kittens, goat's milk is for its kid. What this means is that vegans don't take milk whether it's in their tea or coffee, bread or pastry. No butter, no ghee, no cheese, no paneer, no curd or yogurt. Well, you got it, right? Zero animal content in any food.

No animal milk means vegans use coconut milk, soy milk, almond or cashew milk, instead. Ice creams, cakes, and other products are made nowadays with plant-based milk, and they are delicious.

8. Vegans don't litter around. Veganism and protecting/conserving the environment is highly synonymous with each other that if one is an environmentalist and not vegan, he or she is a subject for a huge joke...a joke with empty humor. So vegans segregate wastes, recycle, reuse, and reduce consumption of unnecessary things that are a bane to the planet. They reduce their carbon emission, too. Instead of driving their own car, they choose public transport or instead of motorcycling often, they do it when in needed basis.

9. Vegans don't breed. Unless they already have a child before going vegan. If they have, they make sure that they don't contribute anymore to the human population. They rather adopt another human being or a non-human person like a dog or a cat or a pig or a calf. Vegans have a wider concept of family. Their concept of a family no longer stays in the four corners of their home where their biological connection starts. It is extended towards non-human beings as well -the animals.

Veganism and not breeding are interconnected. Vegans realize that the root cause of all our problems, especially hunger, poverty, and climate change goes all back to people -too many people emptying every inch of our natural resources. 

10. Vegans don't have a religion. Religion, throughout history, has abused, exploited and treated animals so viciously that anyone who opposes violence and exploitation, in any form, towards the innocent has to ponder deeply and try to understand once more the brutal role of religion, not only to human beings but more to animals. When a religion adheres cruelty, it is time to reject that religion. Goodness, kindness, or compassion knows no religion. It is intrinsic in each of us. 

If the one thing that prevents you from doing a heinous crime is because it is not allowed in your religion, then we have to analyze your character immediately, for whether you agree or not, you don't wrong others purposely because you know well yourself that rape, robbery, or murder is wrong! And to realize that doesn't need any religion.

11.Vegans don't support capitalism. Meat consumption is just one of the symptoms of a larger evil that pervades our society, which is capitalism. 

The disease of capitalism erodes compassion and makes humans see, not only other creatures, but also other humans, as commodities which only have value for the profit that they may fetch in the market, regardless of all other considerations. A capitalist mind-set, not only prioritizes profit, but also terminates everything else that it sees as not marketable. Since values are arbitrarily set by the market, in a capitalist system, a large proportion of the planet’s beings, both living and non-living, are arbitrarily discarded, as the market sees no value in their existence. And the ones that are seen as valuable are most often seen as valuable only for their final value of profit, thereby leading to horrific holocaust-like conditions for all their existence until their ruthless extermination in the name of generating profit.

This is why, as what I have understood about veganism, vegans don't support capitalism.

By the way, the first two paragraphs are excerpts from my entry to "I Am a Vegan" contest, which will be included in a book by Ms. Butterfly Katz.

12. Vegans don't exploit other human beings. Vegans don't exploit animals, hence the word vegan. But just because they don't exploit animals, they can be allowed to exploit other human beings. No! They can't and they shouldn't! Some vegan businesses are owned and managed by vegans. Their products are highly priced, as high as the Himalayas. 

To price a small layer of strawberry cake for Rs. 800 is ridiculous. A liter of soy milk costs Rs. 95 is, obviously, overpriced. That's exploitation and it is contemptible! And it must not be empowered!

13. Vegans don't have non-vegan partners. Vegan for animals is a core value. It is something that cannot be sold nor bought. It is one of the many moral values that people in a relationship should hold on to for a great relationship to blossom. Otherwise, that reason for being vegan is very weak, it can break anytime or the vegan partner has not really understood what veganism is and is not.

14. Vegans don't use the term "vegan diet" when referring to a "plant-based diet". Veganism isn't a diet. It's a philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. 

When a man follows a diet without animal products for health reason, he is into a plant-based diet and not a vegan diet. 

When you say, vegan diet almost killed you because you found out that you were not getting enough nutrition, do not blame it on "vegan" diet. Blame it on your lack of interest to know proper nutrition. A diet with meat and animal products can also kill you, without even a warning!

A plant-based diet can kill you, too. You can consume all the pasta in the world, add plant-based noodles or bread or ice cream or burgers or pizzas with it. It's a plant-based diet but a very unhealthy plant-based diet. It is the kind of diet that you should take if you are in a hurry to join with your worm friends 6-feet underground. 

15. Vegans don't feel alone. Veganism is still unknown to, and if known, is ignored and resisted by the majority of the world's population. If you are a vegan and you feel alone because none of your family members or friends understands your awakening or enlightenment, don't be. You have to change that mentality. Don't focus on yourself. Think about a homeless cat or a dog who may not have had food today. Think about the animals in zoos. Even though they are in numbers, they are caged, no escape! Remember that your family just got extended. You have fellow vegans all over the world. Proximity doesn't matter anymore these days. And of course, you have the animals with you, literally or figuratively speaking.

It's okay to feel sad, but not alone. The cause of your sadness is based on reality, the state of affair when you want to do something for the animals but you couldn't. When the reason for going vegan is so clear for you but seems so dark for others to see. It's okay. It is a reality that you have to overcome. Our present world is like that. Instead,  be strong. The animals need your strength and valor. 

"The world is vegan if we choose it".

Vegetarians vs. Vegans: Who They Are

Believe it or not, there are still many people who think vegetarian and vegan are the same people. Well, they are not!

The topic seems so old to discuss that we assume everybody gets it already. But no! Many are not even familiar with the word "vegan", and since the word resembles (a little) with the word "vegetarian", they conclude that the two are one and the same. Some have not even heard that word (vegan) at all.

They have one thing in common, though. Both don't consume meat!

Time to know the difference.

Vegetarians. Though they don't consume meat they are okay taking eggs, milk, honey, and their by-products such as curd, cheese, ghee, paneer and other food items that contain eggs, milk, and honey such as ice cream, cakes & pastries, etc. They may also have no issues with wearing wool, silk, leather, or fur. They may also not think or believe that using an animal for recreation or for carrying goods is wrong. They just don't want to eat meat -all kinds of meat, including fishes. Yes, fish is meat and if you call yourself vegetarian but eat meat and other water/ocean creatures, you are a non-vegan person, not vegetarian. It's really a fact, confessed by a few I know, that some people think vegetarians eat fish.

Note: Some vegetarians don't eat eggs but drink milk and by-products of milk.

Vegans, on the other hand, don't use or consume animal or animal products. Compassion is their key reason for going vegan. They acknowledge the fact that all non-human animals are sentient, they have emotions. They are sentient beings. And since they are sentient beings, they feel pain and suffering. And since eating meat and eggs, or drinking milk, or taking honey is not possible without harming or causing the animal pain and death, vegans refuse to participate in that. They reject all kinds of animal exploitation. For them, it is wrong to take a life of another sentient being.

Animals, therefore, are not food, not clothing, not for human entertainment, not a commodity to be used for human benefits. Vegans, in other words, view non-human animals as friends and company.

Vegetarians are vegetarian for various reasons. One is health, another is religion. Could be both or something else.

Vegans are vegans for ethical reason.

The picture below discusses the misconception between the two.

~uploaded by Maribel Salmon @ Pinterest~

How Did I Become Vegan?

I was born in the Philippines. 

I grew up there.

And knowing the Philippines when it comes to food....

most dishes always have flesh on them!

In fact, on most occasions, flesh is the dish!

So I was literally a "necrovore"!

From eggs to fish to meat to milk products.
(I wasn't into drinking plain milk then which was a good thing. It wasn't the age to be drinking milk anyway!)

That changed, a step higher, when I came to India.

I met this awesome guy online who spoke the word that I never ever heard before.

Vegan!

He WAS vegan (eating raw, uncooked foods) for 8 years when he was about 16. 

Then he slipped, he says, and he now kept wondering how did he lose his tracks for he was the guy in his family who freed their cows and unchained their dogs.
He wasn't just able to connect the dots at that time.

So he started drinking milk, eating eggs and products with milk such as bread.

He became vegetarian!

Then I came into the picture. It was 2007.

This awesome guy is now my husband.

When I arrived at their home, I eventually became vegetarian. 

I didn't struggle though. I didn't miss meat and all the "delicious" Pinoy meat delicacies. 

I knew what it is. We talked a lot about it.

I understood it, fully!

So it went on, vegetarianism, for another 7 years.

Along those years, countless documentaries were watched.

Earthlings was even watched a long time ago, and it didn't make a difference in our food choice

We were still consuming honey, curd, eggs, milk and milk products.

Then, in August 2014, with just a flip of a finger, my husband, in a firm statement, uttered, "We have to drop all animal products!"

My reaction was, "Okay!" without any question mark drawn on my face. "Let's do it!" 
I continued.

What prompted this abrupt decision? 

According to him, he had been thinking at night about the plight of those baby male chicks grounded alive because the egg industries don't want them!
He couldn't get better sleep after we watched that documentary.
And I clearly well remember how it was!
Gruesome!

Hearing this, my mind suddenly went someplace...remembering all the horrendous things that are happening in factory farms. It's as if everything came pouring in fast, lining up, forming a vivid image.

Those mama cows whose undersides look almost always filled with milk where nipples are fit with pipes sucking milk.

That mastitis that ailing those mums! Ugh! They don't deserve such thing.

Those calves who were separated from their mothers because some idiots decided to "unwean" themselves and choose to drink cow's milk again.

Those tiny chicks who were just hatched getting segregated for sex identification and when found out they're males, they are grounded alive, suffocated to death
because they won't lay eggs in the future.

In other words, they are of NO USE to the egg industry. 

They won't fetch money!

Those hens kept in small cages, living in dark and literally sleeping on their own fecal matters.
Some are limping, many are so sick that if you have a sane thinking, one look and you'll realize the horror of their situation you will decide not to be part of such devilry.

The sight was unbearable!

Those raccoon, foxes, bobcats who were trapped, de-skinned alive and eventually were murdered for their skins so some "fashionistas" can wear something so-called fashionable.

Only a person without a sense of compassion can tolerate continuing supporting such evil treatment towards these innocent creatures.

All these sank in. And I clearly remembered how I was taught compassion and kindness.
Although I wandered away, I felt I still have them.

It felt like, finally, a bullet has hit my head.
The only difference with this bullet is that it didn't kill me!

It awakened me instead.

It unmasked the thick folds that were long covering my eyes.

Everything became clearer.

Right then, I knew, my eyes will never be blindfolded again.

All animals, like me, desire freedom to live free from any harmful threats that my kind poses to their own existence.

I have come to a deep realization that

~violence will never be part of me ever again.

~taking an innocent life is wrong.
~animal lives and my life are no different and both matter.

~animals feel they suffer, they rejoice, they love, they play, they mourn
(all these pretty sums up me -no difference between them and humans, is there?)

~my values are intact and I want it to stay that way, intact, unshakable.

~animals are my friends, earthlings who have equal rights to inhabit this home like me.

But what if I didn't meet my husband?
What if I married someone else?
Would I have become vegan on my own?
What do you think?

I'll address these questions soon....

My Life With Animals

I tell you my story. It's nothing admirable but I need you to listen to it.

I ate meat! Variety of meats, actually. Pig, cow, carabao/buffalo, goat, chicken, turkey, ducks and other birds, frogs, fishes, crabs, shrimps, squid, and dog meat.

Yes, you read it right. Eating dog meat is not only in China and its neighboring countries. It's there too in some parts of the Philippines. So even dogs were not spared!

It's gross, I know, but to someone who just wants to have meat without a second thought, it's not!

And that's not it! I fed chickens, I helped to weave chicken nests out of coconut leaves, I watched mother hens laid eggs, I watched these eggs hatched, and, yes, I cooked a few of them, for sure, boiled, scrambled, sunny-side-up! I even helped to trap chickens so we can sell them for food or money to pay for school fees, or just simply for dinner.  

On top of this, I was so proud purchasing a kilo or two from the market or being in a queue for a lechon manok (grilled/roasted chicken). Chicken taste was unbeatable, for me!

I cleaned, cooked, and have eaten chicken meat for as long as I can remember.

~freedom~

And here's another. I fed and bathe a pig or two or more. I even went to the woods to find wild taro leaves -as food for pigs. Yes, I fed pigs. Plenty of times! I watched them grow, weighed and sold. I watched their throats slit open, blood spurting many times for weddings, fiestas, anniversaries or birthdays.  

I heard their cries. Shrill cries! I just didn't think it was a cry...a cry for help, a cry of no escape!

Oh, we had cats! We didn't murder and eat them though. I just carried two or three kittens and left them in the forest. Did I do the right thing? I was not even thinking about doing the right thing then. I didn't even take notice whether they were old enough to survive on their own. We just wanted them out of our house! Why? They were a nuisance. Their mother kept stealing food from our pantry.

~Limpei died of wound infection~

Another atrocious act I did a few times. How I learned it must be from observation. How the elders treat animals. Well, snakes were always thought to be vicious, always aim to attack and bite you. Oh, the ignorance of it all! I mashed snake heads to their death, carried to the middle of the road for a truck or two to do the final blow. That was always the case. No visible snakes were spared.

The list could go on and on.

Horrible, shameful, disgusting, and utterly atrocious! Looking back of who I just made me shook my head in amazement at how disconnected I was to the real world.

I have exploited animals for 34 years! Seven of those years were of exploiting hens and depriving calves of their rights for milk.

Why? Why did I grow up to be such a heartless, selectively compassionate person?

Well, I can blame culture. I can blame my mother for teaching us selective compassion. I can blame my older siblings for not growing to be critical thinkers. I could blame my neighbors for none of them refused to eat meat. I can blame my teachers and peers. Geez, I could blame everyone!

I could blame myself for being stupid and heartless. I didn't develop critical thinking myself although we were encouraged in school.

Does it matter who's to blame? The people in my life made wrong choices. They made mistakes. I, too. Many times.

What's important now? Learning from mistakes and devoting time to righting the wrongs.

I am aware now. I want you to be aware, too.

These animals feel pain and sorrow. They show affection, happiness, embarrassment, and guilt among other emotions we humans know of. They have families and friends. They are social. They play a lot.

Just like us!

Yet we murder them for food. Just to get a 10-minute pleasure of taste that is mainly due to the spices and condiments that we add to a meat dish.

We murder them for a thing called celebration when people enjoy and commemorate happiness. But when we really think about celebration, it is not the food that makes us happy. It is the presence of people- family, friends, neighbors, relatives, etc. talking and chatting, sharing life itself with each other, listening to the chatters and laughter of everyone!

Celebrating happiness need not be at the expense of somebody else's life. How can we be happy if by acquiring it an innocent life was taken? A life that would have attended the celebration, not as a meal, but as an individual who would express joy and belongingness had it given the opportunity to be part of it.

My life with animals then was an unquestioned one, a life of conformity of which my values were of limited scope.

Not anymore!

It is different now! What changed?

~a friend calf~

I changed!

I realized that my life cannot be called life if I continue taking another's life. It just doesn't make sense! Somehow that line between the life of animals and my own life had a gap, which wasn't visible before. But because I chose to look, really look, the gap became clear, much clearer, and I knew then that only I can fill that gap. I reconnected the line. It is holding strong. And it is not going to get torn again.

How about you? What kind of connection do you have with non-human animals?

If Going Vegan Means...

I will lose my friends, I don't mind! 

I'd rather be surrounded by like-minded people than people who never wished to understand what values I really stand for. I firmly believe that a great friendship is built when two or more people share similar values and outlook in life, when they try to understand and discuss ideas, thoughts, and issues in life together with open-mindedness, even though it would mean letting go of an old belief and accepting an entirely new one that is universally true and right,
because great friends stand for what is right, not who is right! 

If I lose them now, it means I never had them at all.

I will be ostracized/ex-communicated by my meat-eating family members 

and relatives, I am not worried! 

To ostracize without even trying to discuss with me the kind of change I am going through means they don't want to be part of what I have become. Not wanting to hear and listen to the arguments behind veganism or taking meat and dairy off their plates means they are not interested to question the lifestyle that they have been following. A close-knitted family talks and discusses important issues that really matter in life. To practice traditions and the usual ways of life we call "normal living" but are wrong is never acceptable thus needs questioning, needs changing even if it would mean starting a new and different tradition altogether.
A real family looks upon every member's well-being,
after all, that's what family is for!
Well, at least this is what I realized now and I am going to stick with it.

But why am I not worried?

Because it is time to really ponder what does family and friends really mean. Losing them means it is time to make new ones. I am not afraid to make new friends. I am not scared not to find any either. 

To continue eating meat and consuming milk and milk products is wrong. Morally wrong! With what we now know about animals and their lives, there is no debate about it.

And I know, they-my family and friends, too, see it as wrong that needs to be righted. But the big question is will they want to right it?

Doing the wrong thing is not the one that is reprehensible. What's deplorable is when you know, when you are told or shown, that you are doing something wrong, and yet you are not doing anything about it or not even ready to change it.

I am going to be alone, it's fine with me!

But I am quite sure I will never be alone. What I am doing is just righting the wrong! And the good thing about the change I embraced is that my family got extended. It is no longer an exclusive human family but a family with non-human animals who have been exploited for centuries just because they can't do anything about it, and all by one species -humans!

But there is one thing that is sure though.
There is always time to contemplate and room for change.
And a change for the right thing is always welcome and must be supported!

Why Am I Vegan?

Before I start ranting about my personal thoughts on the above title, I would like to clarify two things about veganism.

First, veganism is not about health. A man can eat veggie burgers, pizzas, cakes, pastries, noodles & portions of pasta, or drink sodas & concentrated juices every day of his life and still be a vegan but definitely not a healthy vegan. This is also the main reason why there are vegans who are fat, obese, or overweight because Veganism is not about health.

Second, veganism is not about NOT eating meat. A vegan can eat meat but a meat of an animal that has lived a life of health & freedom and died a natural death. 

Someone said to me that the dead should be buried. No! Because there are other animals that would gladly have the dead as food. There are scavengers around, and even humans were once in such a situation. To bury, burn the dead or not has nothing to do with veganism but of a personal decision depending on one's cultural upbringing. I myself would allow my body, when dead, to be fed to the vultures. 

So is there such thing as ethical carnivore? Yes! They are vegans who fully understood the ethics and philosophy of veganism and accepted that contrary to what most people believe, veganism is a complex philosophy.

It is so complex that many don't even get it!

So, why am I vegan?

Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote says "The life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being". And I believe it applies to all beings, to all creatures that roam this planet.

I desire to live the life I was given and I am convinced that these animals we murder for food, clothing, or experiments desire the same. They surely wish to live a life that is free from any kinds of threats whether it is injury, torture, abuse, or death.

I have learned to value the lives of these animals NOT as food but as individuals who can feel pain, sorrow, happiness, or embarrassment. They sulk when their freedom is deprived yet they show affection when shown one. They recognize you as another animal that is kind and compassionate but would avoid you when you become a threat to them.

I realized that they too have families and friends whom they protect, play with, and care for. It has not passed my observation that they cry and mourn a loss of a loved one. They call and look for a missing child.

And if given the opportunity, they can become the kind of friends you never had.

Yes, I learned to see and accept that they are no different than me. These animals we consider food are amazing creatures who deserve nothing else but love and affection. They, too, want to live in health and freedom!

These realizations brought me to investigate further to fully understand why you should become vegan, too! Killing or murdering innocent individuals is simply wrong. And I know that you know it, after all, a murder of the innocent can never be justified.  You just need to acknowledge it and extend its meaning towards these remarkable non-human animals.

So let's talk about....

Meat! Whether it's white or red, it's all the same. Meat means murder! There is no other way! 

Why murder? Because when you decide to have meat on your plate 

you become a willing participant in murdering the innocents. You have become the means of taking innocent lives -the lives of sentient animals, that, just like you and I, desire to live and express their natural behavior. You also acknowledge that the lives of others, especially the life of pigs, chickens, cows, sheep, goats, turkeys, or fishes have no value to you other than food or clothing. You become responsible for a crime that these innocent beings pay a priceless price -their life!

Milk! Cow's milk is for calves, human mother's milk is for babies. Cow's milk, or any other animal milk, is never for human babies and definitely not for adults. It's outrageous and shameful! 

When you drink dairy milk and/or eat any products of or with milk,

you become the means for murdering the newborn calves and sending the mother cows to a lifetime of misery, early and untimely death. 
Why? Because calves, right after they were born, are separated from their mothers for milk production, for human milk consumption. These calves, who have not tasted their mothers' milk, which is rightfully for them, are murdered for veal or just left to die.

Each mother cow, on the other hand, suffers from a loss of a child (If you haven't seen a video of how a mother cow would run after her baby, please do!). 
All mother cows suffer from over-milking, from repeated artificial insemination so she keeps getting pregnant for more milk. And when the times comes that these mother cows' milk production decreases, they too, are butchered for your meat.
These practices are horrendous. The more you see and read about them the more it becomes clearer which species is savage, cruel, and evil.

Eggs! When you consume eggs you must be so impatient you cannot wait for these eggs to hatch, the chicks to grow, the adults to live a full life and die a natural death before you can have their meat. When you do this, you just willingly send hens into 2 weeks of starvation so that they would lay more eggs than usual. You allow them to be confined in a cage you yourself would never want to be in. You just let the male chicks macerated or ground alive or suffocated to death for they have no future use to the egg industries.

These exploitation and murder are happening every second of the day...all for human consumption. A kind of food that humans don't need to survive nor become healthy. In fact, the products of these exploitations are the unhealthiest diet you could ever provide for yourself or for your family.

So why am I vegan?

~Because these animals are now my friends and families that I would care for and protect to the best of my capabilities.
~Because they have the rights to inhabit and share this only home we have free from harm. Earth is their home, too, you know, and I acknowledge that with high respect!
~Because I finally disposed of, forever, the "selective compassion" that I learned at a young age. 

~Because I chose to live a life of peace, compassion, kindness, love, and affection that includes every living creature on this planet.
~Because I realized that the kindness, compassion, peace, or love that people talk about is meaningless until they realize that these words are meant for non-human animals, too.

~Because I don't want to be part of such atrocities anymore. I don't need to murder or be the means of their murder for my food, my clothing, my entertainment, my well-being.

And I don't really need their meat or their milk or their eggs to survive and be healthy. You don't need them, too! 

The picture below displays just a portion of what humans need to survive!

I am vegan because it's the least thing I can do for the animals.

How about you? Given the ethical and health aspects of eating meat and dairy products, what would make you become vegan?