Vegetarianism is the way to propagate Ahimsa in the country, said Tarachand Dugar, international president of the World Vegetarian Council at the World Vegetarian Day celebration 2013. On this day many events were conducted to promote vegetarianism as a sustainable way of life.
This annual celebration of the World Veg Council which was earlier called The Indian Vegetarian Congress has been conducted for more than 50 years as part of World Veg week, celebrated between October 1 and 7. The council propagates the advantages of a vegetarian way of life in curbing ecological hazards like global warming, climatic distortions and the role of vegetarian food in conserving natural resources like agricultural land and water.
“According to a study conducted by the University of Southampton, it is said that vegetarian kids have a higher IQ than people who eat non-vegetarian food. So we have been promoting this healthy way of living among all sections of people especially youngsters. We don’t force anybody to change, we just tell them what is good about vegetarian food and bad about non-vegetarian, which has converted many of them to pure vegetarians,” said Tarachand.
According to him, vegetarianism can inspire people to follow ahimsa just like it inspired Gandhiji. “With the world full of chaos, we need peace which we can achieve only through ahimsa that can be achieved through vegetarianism,” he added.
To spread the word among the children, the council conducted various events like drawing and painting, poster making, creativity and cookery competitions under theme of ‘Vegetarianism’ — providing them a platform to exhibit creativity and innovative ideas. Over 100 students of all ages from more than 30 schools in Chennai participated in the event.