The "vegetarian" thing...

Once I had an argument with my schoolmate(a close friend of mine). He asked me why was I a vegetarian. I told that non-vegetarian food involves killing of the poor animals. "What about plants? Are they not having life, why do people cut them during harvesting" he asked. I did not know what to say. So let us try to figure it out.

To start with, a person who eats only 'plant-derived' foods are generally referred to as a vegetarian. Then what about milk?(this is important point which people use during such arguments). To every rule there is an exception. Just as Hydrogen is grouped with metals in periodic table(even though it is a non metal) due to its electron accepting nature(formation of H+ ion similar to Na+ ,K+...) milk is more a vegetarian item. It has a cooling effect to body unlike any non-veg item. It also does not involve any killing of animals. Above all milk is the first food every mammal tastes in its life!!

The next most ambiguous item is egg. I have met many people who say 'I`m a veggi + egg guy'. Many of them even argue that egg is a vegetarian item, though it is generally not accepted as veggie! So who decides what is what?

It is all relative, relative to ones mind. There is a permissible limit which is set in every human being. People decide with respect to this limit which is purely personal and decide what to eat. Now let us try to understand who or what sets these limits?
The primary factor is the geographic location. For example people in the cold countries generally prefer more of meat and stuff to keep them warm. The next major factor is the culture one follows. . As my father says" If I were born in the cannibal family, I would be eating humans!! ", Every family has its own distinct culture.

Scientifically human`s digestive system resembles more that of herbivores. Human intestines are long similar to that of herbivores. This is because meat go bad very quickly compared to plants. That is the reason why carnivores have small intestinal track and the food that they eat are digested before they go bad. One motivation for a vegetarian diet is better health, and it seems to work, according to Paul Williams, Ph.D., at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Comparing 351 vegetarian runners to 8,891 omnivorous runners revealed the following: 1) Vegetarians run an average of 13% to 14% more miles per week than non-vegetarians. 2) Vegetarian runners have slimmer waists than omnivorous runners; men by almost two centimeters and women by nearly one centimeter. The waistlines of the omnivorous runners increase with increases in the amounts of red meat they eat. But this association was weaker among higher mileage runners. 3) Vegetarians have lower total and LDL cholesterol, by about 3% to 5%, which lowers their risk of cardiovascular disease.

But the problem occurs when a person tends to go beyond the "lakshman reka" of their family tradition( he might be thinking his ancestors are idiots, missing out one most delicious thing) . With that move he might end up changing the food habits( in most cases the change will be permanent) of his future generation. Let us take the case of the brahmins, who are assumed to be strict veggies. Many of my friends eat non veg either because their parents eat them or they do not want to miss the delicious range of foods( its pathetic to note that most of the people fall in the later category). The veg rule was part of brahmin culture because non veg food is THAMASIC in nature i.e. takes more time to digest causing more body heat, more laziness and sleep. And such stuffs would reduce the concentrating power(which are very much important in reciting vedic hymns especially in GHANAM format, doing meditation and ultimately reach the final destination). And today most of them don`t even believe in these stuffs. If a boy drops out of school, his school uniforms are of no use to him. In the same way people who do not want to be "the brahmins" are not expected to follow these rules. Its all up to an individual to choose his path i.e. remain brahmin or otherwise....

The traditions which we follow, are just the guidelines, which can be altered according to our convenience, if we know what we are doing.If a person goes to foreign country and dies of starvation because he did not get vegetarian food( for the same reason it is recommended that brahmins do not go to foreign countries but still in case...) he is allowed go beyond the rules in such circumstances(where life is more important).

Rules are always there. In the end it drops down to an individual and its up to him to decide what he wants to do. But it would be better if one understands why these rules are made before making the final decision