Rejoice!

For about three years I've been contemplating a vegan diet. I gave up milk almost a year ago; now I only drink soya and use soya for tea and cereal. I, however, love paneer, cheese, Indian dessers, and ice-cream. But, I've realized that I hardly ever indulge in ice-cream, kheer, ras-malai etc. However, if I was to be vegan I would never be able to eat another Indian dessert again. I also love cheese: cheese on toast, cheese and crackers, cheese and pineapples, cheddar, and mozzarella; I'd never be able to eat those things again. I hope, slowly but surely, to give these up. My biggest concern? India and my family.

Now, India is a vegetarian's paradise, but everything is cooked in ghee or has ghee put on top of it (as in rotis). After I accepted the job offer I had concerns that I wouldn't ever have any sort of milk again. Jyotsna very nicely responded to my queries and let me know that soya milk and soya products were readily available in India. So while I'm by myself, I should be O.K. Rejoice!

Going home, may be another matter all together. I really don't anticipate a lot of difficulties though; my mum is a quasi-vegan: she doesn't eat any type of cheese or paneer, but she drinks her milk and eats khoya desserts. I'm going to keep my quasi-vegan diet up as much as possible and introduce new aspects to the diet a bit at a time.

I'm not making any grand promises to be vegan, mind you. I know that would mean I could never drink a beer or an alcoholic beverage again! But, then again, that might not be so bad, after all. If you see me out and I drink a beer or I eat some cheese, don't gloat. I'm just trying this for myself...just for me.