On 26th June, more than 120 people including vegans and vegan-curious from all over the city of Mumbai came together at Shivaji Hall in Ghatkopar to celebrate 30 years of World Vegan Vision and honour the founder Mr. H. K Shah on his 90th Birthday.
The World Vegan Vision, a US based non-profit organisation whose main aim is to promote veganism was the main sponsor of the event.
A GLIMPSE INTO THE PARTY
The party saw people from all walks of life join in to celebrate a milestone event for World Vegan Vision.
“At these parties, we have to ensure that we give the best possible time to anyone attending. For this we ensure that the food must be top notch,” said Dr Rupa Shah, organiser of the party.
The menu had close to 20 different vegan delicacies. People were greeted with warm chai and coffee made with cashew milk as soon as they entered. “This monsoon weather calls for a warm welcome drink,” quipped Dr Shah.
“This was followed by several starters with various kinds of vegan dips like peri peri, tandoori, southwest mayo, hummus, baba ghanoush that was served with pita bread, crackers, chips and bread sticks. After this we had the full vegan meal which consisted of a vegan egg salad, Dahi vada ( from cashew yogurt ), tofu bhurji, paneer sabji, okra sabji, rice, Rajasthani kadhi ( made from cashew yogurt), plain kulcha and stuffed potato kulcha with vegan ghee and butter smeared on the top, a traditional sweet made from ghee and wheat flour called as Gol Papdi and of course the most busy counter was of vegan Pizza with cheese which was vegan. There was buttermilk made from soy curd, mango lassi made from soy curd too. There was also a counter serving Kombucha in several flavours. We also had vegan chocolate cake which disappeared very soon! Apart from this, there was vegan ice cream which was delicious,” added Dr. Rupa Shah.
The party saw a few famous vegans in attendance including Bollywood actress Kitu Gidwani, and Gujrati theatre actress, Sujata Mehta. Both of them spoke about their vegan journeys and were very inspiring to everyone listening.
The idea behind the event, apart from the celebration of World Vegan Vision, was also to show people that living as a vegan doesn’t have to mean living a life full of restrictions. The organisers also wanted to showcase some amazing transformation stories to encourage people.
Annil Nagpal, a resident of Mumbai shared his inspirational journey of how he healed his chronic conditions and got off his medications just by changing his diet.
Compassion Magazine’s documentary about Prakriti Varshney’s journey to the top of Mt. Everest was also introduced at the party. The attendees got a special viewing of her interview with Compassion Magazine about her awe-inspiring story of a girl from humble beginnings to someone who is now the first Indian vegan woman to summit Mt. Everest. This came as a surprise to many attending the event, Dr Rupa added, “this girl will inspire all the women across the globe with her simplicity and commitment to live compassionately!”
Harshad Mehta, Trustee of Shivaji Hall and vegan for 32 years said, “Many people get inspired by listening to other vegans speak. But the biggest problem in this transition is food. The idea of the event was to show the vegan-curious that they are not going to miss any food when they turn vegan. We want to convince people that they are not going to sacrifice anything in life when they decide to go vegan, instead they are going to be healthier themselves, help the environment and the animals.”
The party ended with lots of music and dance and the attendees got ample opportunities to network with the rest of the crowd.
The World Vegan Vision, a US based Non-profit organisation whose main aim is to promote veganism was the main sponsor of the event. World Vegan Vision is celebrating 30 years of inception this year and the founder, Mr. H.K. Shah turns 90 this year.
The event- Mumbai Vegan Monsoon Dinner Party was organised by World Vegan Vision ( Mumbai Chapter). It was supported by Compassion Magazine in association with the Shivaji Hall Trust.
The organisers plan to conduct monthly events to increase awareness around veganism at Shivaji Hall and all over Mumbai.
