Born in a Jain family, I always believed in the principles of ahimsa. Also, as an animal lover, I used to consider myself as compassionate. However, when I learnt about the dairy industry, I couldn’t believe that dairy industry / farms could be so cruel. Since childhood, we have been conditioned to believe that milk is pure, necessary, good for health and that cows are considered as sacred, which is why we never think of questioning these industries.
Knowing the facts about the dairy was an eye opener for me, and since I was already an animal lover and a rescuer, I decided not only to quit dairy, but also to do something about it. I went vegan four years ago and started doing activism on a personal level until I met like-minded vegan activists. I have always considered myself as an animal rights activist, but going vegan gave me the power to rise on a totally different level. I never thought that I could come so far. It feels great about self that you are totally aligned with your moral values and ethics and living with integrity.
Today, United for compassion has more than 70 activists, Initially UFC was started only with the thought of making dairy videos and we were only two activists to start and get going. Slowly, we expanded to a team of five, and did a lot of activism online. So much has changed since then–our group’s offline activism is even stronger now, and with such a big team where members are bonded like a strong and powerful family of like-minded and compassionate people. In a selfish and cruel world, having a team like this is a blessing. All members are persistently fighting for the justice for animals on an individual level as well, and we all share the same goal and same mission to achieve animal liberation.
For me, veganism is the least someone could do for animals and the planet.
It’s not about giving up on something, but not taking something which was never yours.
It’s not a virtue but a moral obligation. However, I used to think that veganism is the moral baseline, but I now realize that being a vegan activist is a moral baseline–all of us should all be out on the streets, at demos, outreaches, vigils and protests.
People don’t understand that animal liberation will help us achieve human liberation as well. We live in a culture where violence is so normalized that people don’t even realize or think before contributing to extreme cruelty. And this is because it’s against their own ‘value systems’ that they follow blindly, as their forefathers followed it before them. For example, slavery and rape is ethically wrong and also a crime, but it’s acceptable when it done to cows who are considered as sacred. There is lot of cognitive dissonance in the society which needs to be taken into consideration and act upon it.
Dairy industry is not the only cruel industry. The cruelty extends to many other industries like egg, meat, leather, wool, fur, silk and the list goes on. Animals are the victims everywhere and this is why I will never ever stop raising my voice against animal cruelty, until every cage is empty, and until every animal is free.
My Message To All
We each have a voice and purpose and if you’re not vegan, ask yourself why you’re standing on the wrong side of history and why you support oppression, violence & exploitation. Change starts in our minds and hearts and most Importantly, on our dinner plates. To the industries that propagate this mindless cruelty, your days are numbered. We are coming for you, you can either walk proudly beside us or be dragged into the future, and make no mistake–the future is VEGAN.
