Vegan Diet or Vegan Lifestyle
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."
The above definition is sources from https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism and the words as far as possible and practicable give a context to the individuals journey towards adopting this life style.
My personal journey came from my reading of the Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. While the Mahatma died much before I was born, in my childhood Mahatma Gandhi was a revered and respected figure, larger than life and maybe daunting to young impressionable minds. The scale of his greatness and "Mahatmahood".became something unattainable. However, the simple language and the genuine nature of the words in the book made Gandhi human. The child Mohan, adult Mr. Gandhi and the final Mahatma were all ordinary human beings with faults and frailties like all of us. So the question I asked myself was that if Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi can rise to the stature of Father of Nation, there must be something special about the man. He was spiritual and his spirituality was not of an ascetic who had renounced the world but of a householder and a mass leader who lived in the world amongst his fellow countrymen and yet was treading a lonely path.
He derived for himself and his fellow Ashramites Eleven vows which he derived from his wide spiritual reading and from his experiences in life. The recitation of a resolve to follow these come from a daily chanting of the words incorporated in these vows. The first 5 came from the scriptures in the form of Satya (Truth), Ahimsa (Non-Violence), Asteya (Non-Stealing), Brahmacharya (Self-Discipline), Aparigraha (Non-possession).
The following 6 were derived from the first 5 based on the contemporary times and they are Sharirashram (Bread Labor), Aswada (Control of Palate), Sarvatra Bhayavarjana (Fearlessness), Sarva Dharma Samantva,(Equality of Religion), Swadeshi (Use of locally produced goods) Sparshabhavana (removal of Untouchability).
So my thought was that of the 6 derived values which came from following the Yamas one led to something which appealed to me more than anything, control of palate. This was indeed something I thought was achievable. To my mind the gate to spirituality was the control of desires for taste which seemed to have many advantages. A typical Parsi had been encouraged to freely indulge in enjoying tasty food and drink without bothering about tomorrow. Plus the Parsis live long lives so the family and friends circle were totally not conducive to turn to vegetarianism let alone to become vegan.
Somehow a few events occurred which drove me towards making this choice. Were these happenstance or by design, I will never be sure but I leave it for you to judge. In the mid nineties my father came across in his wide reading material an article in a Gujrati magazine a story of an unusual friendship between an industrialist from Mumbai Ashok Sanghvi and Late Bhasker Save a farmer from Bordi a part of Dahanu-Golvad area of Maharashtra. The story is given on the http://www.savesanghavi.com/index.html
A disillusioned Jain businessman from Mumbai hooked to a fast competitive life style of Mumbai was constantly troubled by ill health and was dependent on the consumption of allopathic medicine. The initial results were good but gradually the law of diminishing returns caught up and increasingly the medicine started becoming ineffective and the side effects increased. He was guided by his old parents who told him that food from natural sources cultivated by using native farming techniques used to result in much better health in their life and that of their forefathers. Ashok Sanghvi therefore bought a barren piece of wasteland in Umergaon. He was actually cheated as he was told that wasteland simply meant unused land and not barren land. However, Mr. Sanghvi invited Agricultural experts to try and salvage the land. The estimates given in 1989 to salvage the farm was Rs. 60,00,000/-. After this investment there was no surety of profit and this made no sense to the businessman. Mr. Sanghvi was informed about a farmer Mr. Bhasker Save. The local villagers described him as a strange farmer who started out as a strong practitioner of water intensive chemical farming. He had 6 borewells on his farm and used agrochemicals and became a trainer and stockist of these products. It took him a few years to realize that the advantage of early abundant produce came at a price of reduced soil fertility resulting in greater use of fertilizers. The cost of production rose but gradually the increase in production could not give the same returns on investment as in the initial years. So he decided to change course and gave up his agrochemical business and started collecting biowaste from neighboring farms which farmers either burnt or struggled to dispose them off. Slowly the soil started regaining its health and fertility and the consumption of water also decreased as the soil retain moisture. Initially his production was low but after a few years he was prospering to the extent that when water scarcity struck he was only farmer in the village who remined secure and unperturbed. His fame started spreading but he still remained an enigma among his colleagues and peers.
He was approached by Ashok Sanghvi to take up the challenge of converting his wasteland into a productive farm. Bhasker Save was hesitant to take up the challenge but when Mr. Ashok Sanghvi after trying his best to persuade him literally mocked him and told him that it was his duty to propagate his method and success on a wasteland and success in the face of adversity would prove that he was justified in criticizing chemical farming. Mr.Save finally agreed and demanded Rs 60,000/- as investment. In a matter of few years Mr. Save created Kalpavruksha (Save-Sanghvi Farm) and made it a profitable venture. I learnt about this in my first visit to Save Sanghvi Farms in Umbergaon but cynic in me thought of this person as an eccentric. Even though my curiosity was aroused I was not ready to believe everything as we were all believers of modern agriculture which was touted to have been the solution to India's food scarcity problem.
A year later destiny took me back to Bordi for a holiday and I was driving past his farm and went back to him and knocked at his door requesting if he could spare time and meet me with my wife. I had a disclaimer and told his family that I was not a farmer but just a curious doctor from Mumbai and would not take much time. He sent me a message to come in the afternoon at 330pm after his period of rest. I told him yes but had almost mentally decided to feast on Parsi Dhansak and enjoy my holiday. I was dozing post lunch and would have missed my appointment, but I got up and convinced my wife that we should go out of courtesy meet him for a short while and return.
The event of our meeting him was in the mid nineties but my memory of a lot of things about this meeting are as fresh as ever. I remember meeting a lean sprightly man walking across clad in white cotton kurta pyjama, fair complexioned and in the pink of health. He smiled and shook hands with a very firm handshake. He offered us bananas and coconut water fresh from the farm. I remember that the banana looked smaller than usual and not very appetizing. We declined his offer but he requested us to peel them and taste them. Two things I remember to this day, the peel of the banana was as thin as a boiled potato peel and the taste of the banana was sweeter and different from any banana I had consumed before. For the next 3 hours we were shown and explained the intricacies of natural farming and its immense benefits. He was harshly critical of modern farming methods and lamented the devastation and poisoning of the land of India by the spraying of pesticides. He explained the rationale of natural in his words "Do Nothing" farming which can practically yield 900% profit. He showed us the difference between the fruits from Organic farming as against commercial fruit which pleased the external eye but were lacking the taste of the organic product. He showed the contribution of insects and birds on his farm and explained why he never sought to restrict their presence on the farm. He likened this kind of farming to forest farming or mixed farming where multiple trees were planted in sequences based on light and shade. Water was provided at the root ends rather than base of tree. He called this trench farming. He also talked of the role of earthworms, birds, animals and biowaste to soften and moisten the soil. Treading on the same with soft footwear like animals was suggested by Mr. Bhasker Save. At the end he gave me a lesson to live healthy life. He said that if humans wish to live a healthy long life without depending on medicines then they needed to avoid 5 white things. They are white sugar, white milk, white salt, refined oil and lastly white rice.
Just as I returned to my city life I resolved to become vegetarian for 6 days a week as an initial transformation. At this time I read in the papers an article about a lady Dr. Vijaya Venkat and her Centre named The Health Awareness Center (THAC). She along with her daughter and other trainers were able to in a structured course over weekends demonstrate a practical way to change one nutritional habits to adopt a vegan lifestyle. That vegan food could be tasty, nutritious and provide all the energy to work was something I discovered at THAC. During the course I played devil's advocate and tried my best to challenge her and her trainers. They answered all my queries as scientifically as possible and where science failed faith and experience were bought to the fore. The ability of the cell to self heal, if given the right environment was emphasized. She used to say that from cold to cancer everything is reversible if we give the cells a chance to recover with the right amount of rest and nutrition. Another mantra I learnt from her was "Health Care is Self Care and is Earth Care". All our actions should be Ethical, Ecological and Empowering. So now my vegan life had a new dimension which went beyond a selfish motive to a selfless act of Earth care.
There are many arguments for and against veganism and the argument of how man for his convenience and based on war rations for sustenance in the trenches created a science of nutrition which was completely flawed. It over estimated protein requirements and created a market of supplements and nutraceutical which were nothing but commercial products promoted to overcome fear and give an impatient young generation instant pill popping remedies. The myth of B12 deficiency, and less protein were used to counter veganism. On the other hand the vegan fanatics became crusaders who believed that they were the only custodians of knowledge and had no need for doctors. While a healthy life style based on a diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, nuts and sprouts was ideal, there was a need to be flexible and accommodative of all persons in the world. The lower carbon foot print of a plant based diet which needed far lesser quantities of water and natural resources became one more reason to become vegan. While I cannot find the source of the article on the amount of land and food grain diverted to feed livestock to sustain animal based food, I was told that every vegan convert will potentially lead to alleviating the huger of at least 12 persons daily. I for one cannot see any single daily act lead to such a massive impact. . Even if we cannot verify this statement as accurate I believe that at least half of it is true, the impact is unimaginable.
The argument in favor of veganism relating to the nature vs nurture theory where all animals know instinctively know what to eat in terms their body structure, their place in the evolution in the food chain leading to herbivorous, carnivorous or omnivorous eating habits. The human species tends to defy these natural inclinations and eat whatever suits their fancy. This has led to a rise of obesity and non communicable diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension, Ischemic heart diseases and strokes. If we extrapolate the primates are predominantly fruitarians and live on a plant based diet. They are strong and healthy and are not racked in nature by obesity or NCD's. However, man can create superfoods and hiss gut can adopt to many things. The nature of this debate is complex but I have more reasons than one to make my choice.
So life evolves and change is the only thing that is constant in life. The experiments with truth continue, but today I can say with conviction that my experience with a predominant vegan diet has paid dividends. I urge you to experience the same for at least three weeks to try and form a habit. If you succeed for three weeks then the rest as they say will become history.
Dr Vispi Jokhi
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