Thursday 5 March 2009

Blood red, Red blood

I am not a person anyone would call not nasty.
I am also not a person anyone would dare call nasty.
This maybe because either people are too terrified to call me nasty imagining the nasty things I might do to them if I find out what they called me or maybe because I am a neutral person – not too nasty but still sort of nasty all the same.
I like to think the latter is true, even though I like the idea of people being terrified of me.

Whatever you have read till now in this post is pure bullshit.
It has no relevance.
Now read on for the bullshit that I don’t think is bullshit.

I am not a hypocrite.
I am not a coward.
I was always sure about the certainty of the above mentioned two statements – until recently when a casual conversation during lunch made me think twice.
This has disturbed me, terribly.

I am a non vegetarian.
I like vegetables.
I love fruits of all sorts.
But basically I am a non vegetarian.

I have never considered myself to be an activist against cruelty toward animals.
I have never been particularly nasty towards animals as such – I think I am nastier towards babies than animals.
A few days back my unit mates decided to take a break from our anguishing lives and have lunch together.
It was a disturbingly enlightening lunch.
For one, I confirmed the fact that I love clear soup way more than any other sort of soup.
My unit mates realised my stomach’s enormous capacity (blush)
I figured out I can talk against cruelty towards animals while eating chicken and still sound reasonable – I think that is quite a talent.

My unit mates wanted to go fishing – fishing for fish.
I thought it pretty cool until they mentioned about hunting.
And then I clearly remember me asking an extremely dumb question (which does not occur too often) – I asked whether they actually killed animals during hunting.
I wonder why I asked that.
It is clearly one of those dumb blonde questions.
The last thing I want is to transform into one of those.
Maybe I asked the dumb blonde question because I was planning on joining my unit mates for their venture and the thought of me having to kill animals seemed pretty difficult to carry out.
I guess I was just confirming their barbarism.

I do not mind eating what is served on my plate.
But when it comes to having their blood on my hands, when it comes to actually taking away their lives – I think that is crossing a thin line somewhere.

One of my unit mates went on about how deer are awesome catches and how their eyes look awfully innocent as they take their last breath.
This is what I refer to as pure brutality – killing for entertainment.
I think talking about killing an animal and then about how wonderful it looks makes you very little different from a serial killer.
Of course my unit mates do consider me a hypocrite – eating chicken and talking about how horrible it is to kill animals.
The point is I did not kill any of them – it might not make much of a difference to you, but it definitely does to me because I do not have blood on my hands.

And then came the topic about how there are hundreds of people out there getting their hands bloody just for me to eat what I eat.
Well the point is I never asked them to kill and maybe if they stopped I would stop eating meat too – I think.
This makes me a coward.
It makes me a coward who wants others to get their hands dirty to satisfy my needs.

I realised I could never take life out of any living being – if that makes me a coward and a hypocrite I guess I will have to live with it.

I thought I would find it difficult to eat chicken after the disturbing conversation.
But I am fine – still a non vegetarian.

The point is my hands are still not bloody.

9 comments:

Tys on Ice said...

theres a saying that the sin of killing is wiped clean if one eats it...not the sin, but the killed...u get it, rite?..well alrite!

personaly i think thats just another self justifying bunch of crap...if nature didnt want killing , then it wud have allowed us to live on fresh air and love...since thats not the case, theres no use worrying over something that is inbred in us ... violence is in our nature...u kill by the very act of being alive...even as i live, i know that there are millions of life forms that eats off me...my cells are dying and being regrown as i write this...iam killed and reborn in my own life time, several times...each time we bathe we kill millions of microbes..so, who can claim non voilence just becoz one doesnt see it?..

so now, just enjoy that meat...probably the best compliment u can give it anyway..

Anonymous said...

I remember watching my kid eat a ham sandwich while watching a cartoon about a talking pig. I remember wondering to myself what she would think if I told her what she was eating. It is funny how we detach from our minds the idea that we are eating something that once lived. It's almost like we picture farms that grow steaks and pork chops that are picked and sent to the supermarket.

Don't feel guilty about it, though. If it could, that chicken would eat you and everyone you know. All animals are part of the food chain, but us humans are lucky enough to be on top.

Another Blogger said...

@ tys on ice : Ah.. what an apt saying! i think i get the point - i think i shall continue enjoying meat too..

@ Phil T McNasty : Interesting id you have ther, Mr McNasty.
What you have written about the chicken eating me and everyone i know has given me renewed belief in non vegetarianism! i wonder when the food chain is going to tumble though...

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1nFSF-sUaE

tinkin bout dmb blond, dat vdo cam in2 ma mynddd

Rineez said...

The line between killing for fun and killing for food is not just a thin one.

Number of people living by non veg food industry is not just 100s(i really dont have a clue how many; not 100s for sure :-P). They dont get their hands bloody for fun.. they do it for a living.
humans are built to eat meat.. So enjoy the meal ;-)
However I cant agree that we are on top of food chain..
The thing is that We know how to escape a lion or tiger better than a deer does.

DPhatsez said...

(chomp! chomp!)
Never gave so much thought(chomp! chomp!) into eating non-veg food...
Guess the ends justify the means(chomp! chomp!)

Is it just me or is nastiness contagious?

:)

Elessar 26479 said...

hypocrites! all of them!
-_-

Another Blogger said...

@ farukh: :) Seen it already. Im a youtube addict too... a youtuber!

@ Rineez: Whether they do it for a living or not - they're doing it. And I know I can't even if I tried. As for our art of escaping the lion/tiger - we not only escape them we hunt them too and that is what takes us to the top of the food chain.

@ D Phatsez Does your id really say what I think it says or have I just become obsessed with flatulence?! Believe me - Nastiness is contagious! and it becomes worse with time. I was not so nasty to begin with and now... look at me! I am a horror!!

@ Elessar: Are they not the worst species ever?! I think they should not be classified under homo sapiens at all - bloody disgrace!

Rineez said...

@Another blogger: trust me, it is disgusting for the first time only... later you will get used to the disgust

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