By
Shevlin Sebastian
Sometime
ago, the Kochi-based yoga coach Sudakshna Thampi joined a group which
rescued street dogs which had been hit by cars or were deliberately
beaten or tortured. There were cases where people were planning to
poison dogs or dump their puppies to get rid of them.
Soon, Sudakshna began to do research on the cruelty meted out to animals. “I saw with my own eyes how cows, packed very tightly together, were transported in open trucks,” she says. “They would travel for days without food or water before they were slaughtered.”
She also realised that many hens are egg-making machines. “They are genetically bred to lay between 250 to 300 eggs a year,” she says. “But in the wild, hens only lay eggs during the breeding season – primarily in the spring – and only enough eggs to assure the survival of the species.”
But laying an egg takes a lot of effort. “All the nutrients go into the egg and the hen becomes very weak and diseased,” says Sudakshna. “And finally they are slaughtered.”
All this cruelty made Sudakshna forgo non-vegetarianism and become a vegan. “I have food which has no animal products,” she says. So her diet includes dosa, sambar, wholegrain rice, chappatis, dal, fruits and salads. “By cutting milk out of my diet, my skin tone has improved,” she says. “There is no acne. I have not had skin problems for a long while.”
However, for those who love milk, Sudakshna suggests plant-based milk like soya. “It tastes similar and has no side-effects,” she says.
Soon, Sudakshna began to do research on the cruelty meted out to animals. “I saw with my own eyes how cows, packed very tightly together, were transported in open trucks,” she says. “They would travel for days without food or water before they were slaughtered.”
She also realised that many hens are egg-making machines. “They are genetically bred to lay between 250 to 300 eggs a year,” she says. “But in the wild, hens only lay eggs during the breeding season – primarily in the spring – and only enough eggs to assure the survival of the species.”
But laying an egg takes a lot of effort. “All the nutrients go into the egg and the hen becomes very weak and diseased,” says Sudakshna. “And finally they are slaughtered.”
All this cruelty made Sudakshna forgo non-vegetarianism and become a vegan. “I have food which has no animal products,” she says. So her diet includes dosa, sambar, wholegrain rice, chappatis, dal, fruits and salads. “By cutting milk out of my diet, my skin tone has improved,” she says. “There is no acne. I have not had skin problems for a long while.”
However, for those who love milk, Sudakshna suggests plant-based milk like soya. “It tastes similar and has no side-effects,” she says.
(An
input for a cover story on veganism, Sunday Magazine, South India
editions and New Delhi)
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