Why I chose to become Vegan?

I have been asked this question several times and I understand that my lifestyle choice hasn’t been very welcoming to a lot of people, including my own family and friends.

So, like any other vegan, I wasn’t born vegan.

I grew up in India in a regular Bengali household eating both vegetables and meat and yes, lots of rice! However, I do clearly remember that in contrast to my Bengali genes, I had little to no interest in eating meat. Somehow, I didn’t enjoy the taste of meat unless it was prepared in certain specific ways and growing up, my preference made me feel hypocrite to my own conscious.
As a child, I always felt close and drawn towards other animals. To begin with, my first pet and my first rescue was a hen. Pretty unusual, right? I could pretty much write a small fable about our friendship, but I’ll save that for another time.

Coming back to my relationship with animals, I ended up growing with other companions such as love birds, rabbits, parrots, and dogs. And, the more I observed them, the more connected I felt to them. At first, I didn’t even know that meat came from killing animals, but from the time when I knew the truth, I could not bear myself eating something, or rather, someone with whom I had found deep connections to my heart.
However, despite all the conflict in my head, the need for a nutritious meal, and the guilt of taste, I found it hard to give up eating meat, especially eggs and cheese.

Years went by, and each time I ate meat, I was on a guilt trip with myself. I was almost done with myself feeling terrible and felt the need to educate myself. In 2013, I started doing my research and decided to reach out to people who had been vegetarian and vegan for a considerable period to understand how effective a vegetarian or a vegan diet could be. I will admit that nothing overturned for me overnight. It was quite an effort on my part to restrict myself from dairy and eggs. But the more I educated myself about the cruelty of the industry, the more empathetic I felt for the animals, the easier my journey as a vegan became.

When did I start my vegan journey?

In 2015 I consciously tried giving up on dairy products, and in 2016, I took up the 30-day vegan challenge by Colleen Patrick Goudreau, and ever since then, my life changed.

Today 4 years later, I am so glad that I made this decision for myself, my health, the animals, and as my bit to minimize my carbon footprint.

Do I miss eating meat?

Honestly, I do not miss eating meat but there are times when I do crave eggs and I don’t feel guilty about it. I have come to understand that my body is craving for a portion of comfort food or a fat-based meal and based on that, I try treating myself with some good vegan cheat meal or snack, like a homemade cake, guacamole, and chips, a vegan pizza or a meatless burger. The options are plenty.
Moreover, I found and am still discovering the bounty that Mother Nature has to offer us. With a food culture so rich, a plethora of aromatic spices, and a huge array of vegetables and legumes available, I don’t think I am going to ever run out of recipes and delicious food in general.

Did I turn my husband vegan?

Now, this is going to be funny!

NO, I did not. Please believe me that I did not brainwash my husband into becoming vegan. This is probably a funny accusation I will live with. LOL.

Before we were even married, we respected each other’s food choices. While he loved a meat-based diet, mine as I just mentioned was a little different from his. However, while transitioning or even now, we have never had conflicts with food and neither do we cook separately. There, I am so relieved I got it off my chest!

My husband was always lactose intolerant so ditching dairy was never a problem for him. As an open-minded and health-conscious person he is, he believed in my choices and decided to do his research and learn for himself. One and a half years after I went plant-based, he decided to step on the wagon and is probably more vegan conscious than I am.

What can I say, I just got lucky!

My Inspiration for this Blog?

The will to live a comapassionate, cruelty-free and sustainable life inspired me to “officially” start this blog.

But I would like to give a special mention to my support system, my husband, Som, and my two amazing friends, Pranali and Aniket for being my moral boosters and encouraging me to get my ideas out in the open. ❤

What can you expect to find on My Vegan Diary?

“From My Vegan Diary” as the name says, is all about my vegan journey. It may not be the best vegan food blog, you came across, but it sure tells my story, something that is very close to my heart and my principles.

What started just as blog for vegan baked goodies, now talks about everyday no-hassle vegan foods and recipes. Besides, I would also be talking about my plant-based lifestyle choices (that includes my trials and errors), my garden, household products, biodegrable finds, cruelty-free cosmetics and other amazing things that I learn along the way.

Welcome, Aboard!