It was a life changing moment for me when I witnessed a duck being slaughtered in front of my eyes near my neighbourhood when I was a kid. I saw the duck was running for its’ life and this man caught it and cut the throat. I watched in horror the last few minutes of the duck’s life and could not forget it till today. Until then, never did I think from where all the chicken curry or fish curry came from. It was an awakening moment for me and scary at the same time that these chickens were being killed the same way everyday just because I’m eating them.

It haunted me for few days and guess what happened after that? My mum cooked chicken curry and I still ended up eating them. My mum cooks delicious curry though, can’t resist them. But deep down in me, I wanted to be a vegetarian one day. But how? I can’t even be vegetarian even for Friday. You know Indians have this practice at least every Friday, one should abstain from eating meat. My mum used to remind me not to eat anything non-vegetarian as it was supposedly a kind of “holy day” and we were supposed to be vegetarian. But when I went to school, I always ended up buying nasi lemak when I’m hungry or some “kuih” which is not vegetarian.

My first attempt

But I kept reminding myself that the day I’m staying far away from my parents, I would be a vegetarian. So the test came…It was the day I joined for National Service and very proudly I indicated in the form that I was vegetarian. Hoping that I would successfully become a vegetarian. We had rough training and marching every morning which were very exhausting. Then came the time for lunch, I eagerly went to take my vegetarian food only to find that there were some vegetables which looked like was soaked in just salt and I did not have the appetite at all to eat that. “How to eat just that and survive here?” I thought. So I failed miserably in my first attempt and decided to eat chicken again. But one good thing that happened was I stopped eating fish altogether at the camp, thanks to the cook! I almost vomited due to the smell of the fish, I guess it was not cleaned properly and not cooked properly. I was not a fan of fish curry back then.

I was still a non-vegetarian after I came back from the camp. And I still thought to myself, the day I’m no longer staying with my parents, I would be a vegetarian. And it happened! It was just before I was going to university. I was at my uncle’s place whose family was a vegetarian. They used to talk a lot about spiritualism which I loved to hear. And then there was this question which striked me! “If you believe in God, what He tells you is the ultimate truth, and He tells you that you have to be vegetarian which is true non-violence, why can’t you listen to that? Why can’t you follow?”

I just felt like I was given a tight slap on my face. I truly believe in God. I understand that the ancestors were a vegetarian and true Hinduism teach us non-violence. And that very moment, I decided that I will be a vegetarian and no turning back. Again I was tested! There were a feast which my uncle’s neighbour invited us to come and they had these fresh vegetables that we can eat. I just decided to eat those vegetables and surprisingly I didn’t have the urge to eat non-veg anymore.

My second attempt

It was like some hidden powers were given to me to say NO to meat. I did not secretly wish that I want to eat chicken at all. I went to study to Sabah for 3 years. I still remember one of my uncle was teasing and saying that there won’t be any vegetarian food available in Sabah and that I could not survive being a vegetarian there. I told myself in my heart “I will be a vegetarian no matter what”. At that point of time, none of us knew that there were a greater plan made especially for me so that I can survive there.

God had special plan and special people that could help me to become a vegetarian something which will not have been possible if I were to stay in Peninsular. Well planned! It’s like a chess game. Everything was planned and I believe without the help of God, the Almighty, I would not have been a vegetarian. That was a few years ago. I’m still a vegetarian, in fact learning to slowly become a vegan. 🙂 Wish me good luck!

Funny experience  

There was once my brother teased me and said to me that when I come back home, he would purposely eat chicken in front of me so that I would have temptation to eat chicken. And you know what happened? He became vegetarian at that point of time because he had to put “malai” for prayers. It means for a specific time, he cannot take meat. Whenever I remember this, I would just feel amused. You want to test someone but you ended up being tested! Hahaha…

Steps to become vegetarian

That was my journey of becoming a vegetarian. I believe one cannot become a vegetarian unless you have a strong reason as to why you want to be one. Otherwise the temptation will be there and you will not able to resist it. If you wished to be a vegetarian, here are some of the steps you can take:

1. Find out why you want to be vegetarian
2. Know how the chicken, fish, crabs, etc are being fed
3. Know that chicken are being injected with hormones that makes them grow in just 21 days which is not healthy
4. Feel the fear that they have when they are being killed
5. Get to know what happens to them in the slaughterhouse
6. Tell yourself that you want to be a vegetarian
7. Do it phase by phase, let go of it slowly, maybe seafood first, then beef, chicken, etc
8. Most diseases are related to eating these animals, do research
9. Do it for yourself, not because of someone else
10. Never force yourself, it has to come from within

A million dollar question

A very popular question that people tend to ask me. Do you want to know what is that? What will you do if you get a husband who is non-vegetarian? Will you become a non-vegetarian too? Will you cook non-vegetarian food? Isn’t it difficult for the mother-in-law to cook for you separately? Well, I do not know what the future lies for me. I do not know if I would get married to someone who is vegetarian. Or maybe non-vegetarian. But I remember a good friend of mine shared with me long time ago, anything is possible with love. If you love someone, you will do anything to make them happy. If I find the love of my life, I hope to be accepted as I am. Actually I don’t mind my future spouse to be a non-vegetarian. I can’t force people to follow my principal, unless they want to. 😛 Being vegetarian is good for your health anyway. Hahaha….

Hope these steps can help you to become a vegetarian. These steps helped me in one way or another. Please add on the steps that you find valuable at the comments below. 🙂 If you like my post, pls feel free to like and share it. 😘