Why is there a ban on meat/butchery
and liquor today? Gandhi jayanthi is being celebrated is a nice thing; afterall
he was one of the tallest leaders who strived to bring in morality into
politics. But what has vegetarianism to do with celebration, as also being blatantly
enforced with the use of State machinery? This framework and the intent/attitude
behind these are the beginning of the problems; the fundamentalists are only extending/consolidating
these, soon State is replaced by vigilante lumpens. This is a grievous matter
and an assault on individual liberty and culinary choices, not to mention it being amazingly undemocratic. Further, the purifying intent that is associated with
these celebrations is severely questioned. That this is the elevated way of
life hence must be imposed, even if it is for a day, is what makes its reprehensible.
Importantly, the insistence on vegetarianism, within a framework that is deeply
inegalitarian and crude, makes it a sham. It is power play and debauchery at
work. That this society has horrendous history of barbarity when it comes to primitive
squatter’s ways of life, imposing and dealings herein needs to be emphasised
and put into context. Also the fact that these matters have not been questioned
or challenged shows the firm grip on narration by those entrenched in squatter’s
and their dubious ways. Nobody can or should be allowed to impose on anyone’s
eating habits. Most importantly to classify Hindus as vegetarians is
questioned, and will be resisted. Indeed, Gandhians, if they truly believe in
human rights, must protest and see that vegetarianism is not imposed. That, they
haven’t for last many decades only goes on to prove what was always suspected.
Then there are hedonist marketers
who seem to have taken non vegetarianism to a level of most enlightened
expression of liberty, the one symbolising firm hinge on modernity. So according
to this worldview non vegetarianism is liberalism personified, many feudal
lords take these shortcuts to measure up to the West. Liberal sickulars too usurp
these to distinguish themselves from traditional squatters, though sticking to vegetarianism
does have an advantage in conservative section as also those tethered to squatter
as mobility aspiration. The amount of non-vegetarian/red meat driven culinary programs
that seeks to copy West (specifically USA, India being a vassal state in this
conception) is amazing, and many times repulsive, as they try to extend the
craving into impossibly cruder levels. It only shows how much they are unhinged
from the society as also demented ways of dealing, a characteristic immunity to
degrading environment and dwindling surrounding. These competing forces can
only create depravity as they up the ante on morality and individualism. Control
of narration is where the power is, squatters work it with purifying reasons for
morality while marketer push in the hedonism as individual expression.
Post script: sometimes the vegetarian puritanism can take
unfortunate turns that may even make some incapable to take on new ways of understanding
or pursue truth, it becomes handicap to growth. Few years back I was on a nature
walk with a group, I was speaking on the strength of elephant trunk so on and
was explaining an amazing program in one of the TV channel where they do detailed
post mortem on dead animals to understand them better, cutting into half and
going into minute details, explanation so on, it’s a compelling watch. I mentioned
this to the group, one lady started showing signs of disgust and fainting. I had
to drop the topic, what was an interesting area of discussion was cut short, probably
banned! The impact of this mindset is severe and telling as lack of serious documentation
and study of other species, these were negated in this puritan enthusiasm and horrendous upper mobility crave. A land with amazingly variant biodiversity
is dependent on outsiders for knowledge and initiatives.
