Ahimsa is part of our religion. Ahimsa means non-violence and reverance for all life! Here in India, people keep some food first for our holy cow and then eat lunch or dinner. We keep leftover food for dogs and feed grains to pigeons.

I have been a vegetarian since I was born, and we live in a society where allmost all people are vegetarians. In India the culture teaches not only ahimsa but respect for your parents; I am very close to my mother, and she tells me never to eat any animal.

One of the major vegetarian groups in India is the people of the JAIN community. These people do not even kill cockroaches and ants. They never speak about non-veg items and eat only food which is grown on trees and in fields. They don't even eat potatoes or onions because they grow underground; if they eat them, the small ants that are crawling on the vegetables will get killed! These people use vegetarian soap which contains no fat and wear simple clothes. They use cosmetics that are not tested on animals. I am very much impressed with this community whose members have donated funds for my organization's animals welfare work.

The younger generations in India are becoming non-vegetarian day by day, and it is very dangerous. This is all happening due to the modern lifestyle and copying of western countries. They eat anything, and nowadays Chinese cuisine is very popular; where all the food is made on the street and filled with prawns and chicken pieces. All the teens here enjoy this food but don't know how very dangerous it is!

We have a very stupid EGG committee, and they show adds about EGGS on TV; that EGGS are good, this and that..then young people eat all that stuff. But in India people don't eat animals like dogs, or snake blood, etc.

--Nilesh has been a vegetarian since birth and lives in Bombay, India where he does his "hardcore animal welfare activist" work. He is 22 years old and 99% vegan. Read about the organization he started.