A bad ad for veganism leads to an odd 'debate'

Economic Times

3 days ago

A bad ad for veganism leads to an odd 'debate' I experienced my Pontius Pilate moment last week when a vociferous digital platform interlocutor, who had first taken offence on account of an ad, and then taken umbrage because I had disagreed with him, challenged me to disprove a single thing he had written. When I gently explained that some of his notions would not be defensible in a court of law, he decried the notion of objective information altogether. Had this been all, I might have dismissed the matter from my mind. After all, his refusal to separate reality from fiction was a pervasive delusion championed by many heads of state, politicians, startup entrepreneurs, and social media personalities. But he urged me to follow suit. I felt no such impulse. Instead, I felt compelled to reply.
His original ire was directed at a Peta message displayed on a hoarding, pleading for more people to consider going vegan. The promotion was poorly conceived, and even more poorly executed. It displayed a woman carrying aloft in her left hand a large street dog, whose bewilderment was exacerbated by the fact that the adult human female was suckling one of her teats. The even more execrable copy read: 'If you wouldn't drink dogs' milk, why drink the milk of any other species? Please. Try vegan.' This image and the message were, so he claimed, a direct assault on Hindu sensibilities because it made a mockery of milk, and by extension, veneration of the cow. I admitted that it showed poor taste, but that it did not seek to denigrate the cow. Furthermore, I wrote, calves all over the world were either mercilessly slaughtered to enable the profitable growth of the dairy industry, sometimes within hours of being born, or were left to fend for themselves, hungry and homeless, far from the comforting care of their mothers. This, he insisted, was the problem: Peta was trying to force Hindus to equate milk with meat, and was criticising a habit that was far more innocuous than the wholesale slaughter of animals. I tried to reason with him. I wrote that if Hindus sought insult in every message, then, like the proverbial eavesdropper, they were sure to be affronted at every instance. He responded that, as a proud Hindu, he was ready to respond to any slur. I then opined that Hinduism was too heterogeneous to be monolithic. Its philosophical systems were proof against any form of frivolous assault. This was not, he answered somewhat curiously, a matter of chemistry, which could differentiate between homogeneity and its opposite. Taken aback, I tried to reason more literally, explaining that Peta had probably made a concerted push with the community because vast majority of Hindus in north India were vegetarian, on account of their ancient and indelible Buddhist roots. At this point, he sent me a private message and requested a voice call. Sensing that I might yet convince him by acquiescing to his request, I readily agreed. 'I think,' he began without preamble, 'that the government should immediately ban Peta'. 'That would be extremely unreasonable,' I retorted. 'It would be tantamount to shutting down Alcoholics Anonymous for using, say, canine urine as an absurd proxy to promote abstinence.' He laughed. I felt that I had finally broken the ice of unreason. 'But this,' he said, quickly disabusing me of any such hope, 'is not a dog. It is a cow that is being ridiculed. It is sacred. This is unforgivable.' I appealed to his sense of reverence for India's plethora of sages, scholars, and leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi who, I informed him, had seen a connection between diet and equality, viewing veganism as the ultimate expression of ahimsa, a cornerstone of Hindu dharma. But he urged me to allow him to enjoy his version of the truth, based on individual experience and personal choice, rather than binding fact or onerous learning. 'Tolerance, after all, is key,' he said. 'It allows us to discover our own path.' His reasonable response beguiled me into sharing my credo. 'That is exactly how I became a vegan,' I said without hesitation. 'Bloody infidel,' he spat back in Hindi after a moment's silence, and hung up.
The writer is founder-CEO, ALSOWISE Content Solutions
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.) Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Zepto has slowed, and Aadit Palicha needs more than a big fund raise to fix it
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