Vegetarianism

My relationship with the concept of veggieness has been a rather interesting one all my life. As a kid, I grew up as a pure veggie. My parents had never eaten meat - and still havent, and hence it seemed pretty natural for me to be a veggie. And then... we went to Kanyakumari. That was the trip I was introduced to non-veg food, and I simply loved it! After that I ate meat once in a while, though I did restrict myself to chicken (for no rational reason). This was till when I was in the 7th std or so at school. That was when my school came up with this concept of Karuna club, and explained the reasons one should be a veggie. Students were given the option to enrol in this club with a nominal payment of a ruppee (if I remember correctly, it was voluntary - though I'm a bit hazy about it). Soon after this, I surprised people at my home by being adamant on not eating meat. This continued for 2-3 years, and after that veggie-ness stopped being an issue in my life for a while. I'm not quite sure when I took to meat again, but I've been at it now on an off-and-on basis. I've never quite been a regular meat-eater, and even when I ate meat I've stuck with chicken. The many changes in my veggie status probably illustrate the various irrational things one does in his life without a rationale. And after all this, I cant quite claim to have felt the sense of satisfaction when I eat meat as much as I do in the case of a good south indian meal!! But still the reason I'm blogging about it is not my liking of meat, but the morality of eating meat.

A couple of weeks ago, I chatted with Chilli on this topic. A week or so later, one of my previously-meat-loving friends DD became a veggie - well, at least when he isnt drinking :) And that made me want to blog about it even more.

So here's the transcript of the chat between yours truly and Chilli. Figure out for yourself if there is any logic in being veggie, and if you find any do tell me.

(Chat transcript begins)
eV: btw, funda of Hindus not eatin meat(esp beef) n Muslims -pork is strictly based on faith rite?
Chilli: maybe they did have some hygienic/logical reason then
eV: 1 reason i hv hrd b4 is tat u can eat plants n still let it reproduce (seeds).. but if u eat mutton, then thrz nothin left frm which life form can be formed
eV: but well, goin by tat logic.. hindus can eat meat if the animals r too old to mate.. or if they r sterile
Chilli: yes that ive heard. thats why u dont eat the root vegetables coz u are uprooting the plant
Chilli: i think its more to do with NOT killing a living being
eV: plants r living ebings da
eV: oh.. u mean no uprootin.. = no killin?
Chilli: yes..thats why u dont kill the plant, but take what it offers
Chilli: which means u can eat an animal's leg
Chilli: that is if it can grow that leg back like a starfish
eV: hmm.. i gez the differentiator is tat one wd like to assume tat plants dont "feel the pain" when a part of it is cut off.. but we'll never kno for sure, wd we?
Chilli: its not abt pain. does that mean we can kill someone in coma
Chilli: the fruits of a plant are meant to be consumed, else they may rot and kill the plant.
Chilli: btw, i am not too sure abt the fruit rotting and killing the plant
eV: basically.. a starfish when amputated can be assumed to experience pain/harm.. which isnt true in the case of a plant
eV: neither am i
eV: wont fruits jus drop n fall beyond a particualr stage/
eV: ?*
Chilli: thats true
Chilli: and i think plants do experience pain as well
eV: well, wot is pain?
Chilli: something abstract
Chilli: people can walk on fire without feeling pain
eV: tatz scientifically true coz the feet isnt gonna be on the fire for too long.. or at least hv hrd tat sm such scientific explanation exists
Chilli: douglas adams talks abt this restaurant where the cow coems forward to the diners and volunteers itself as meat to be killed. so that it is humanitarian
Chilli: :)
eV: how dyu kno its volunteerin itself as meat?
Chilli: it says so
eV: how duz DA kno?
Chilli: it actually is disapp when the character refuses to eat it.
eV: how wd DA kno if its disapp?
Chilli: btw i am talking abt an episode from Hitchhiker's guide...
eV: even so, it mite be coz the man dint drop dead rite then
eV: figed out the H2g2 part
Chilli: dei, brb in 30 mins.
(Chat transcript ends)

Our chat didnt quite succeed in finding a logical reason for being veggie, but again as the great Don Rumsfeld said "the absence of evidence isnt evidence of absence"! :)