Lately, my dad and I have been talking a lot about beef. I know some may think that talking about beef is an odd topic, so if you are not familiar with it, in the Hindu religion, cows are sacred. Why is this? Well, cows provide milk to humans to drink and mothers provide breast milk for their little ones to drink. Therefore, mother’s = cows = sacred.
My parents never once stopped me from eating beef while growing up. I would always look forward to
After spending about a month with my nana and nani (maternal grandparents), I came back home to my parents and told them that I no longer was going to eat beef. My preteen self had realized that if I wanted to raise my future children to value their Indian culture and heritage, I would have to do something that would exemplify that I was a great citizen of the Hindu religion, so I decided to give up beef and never look back… not until recently at least.
I have never been an ultra-religious person, but I have always believed that there is a higher being, one that can help guide me. As I have gotten older, I have witnessed more and more people trying to push their beliefs on me. I have seen people with some of the most out-there superstitions and it makes me question how they go about their day-to-day life. One thing that this has taught me is that no one, and mean no one, can or should dictate your relationship with God. Not your parents, not your priest, not your religious scriptures, nothing. All that matters is what you believe in and if you do not believe in anything, that is okay too.
So back to my story. For a long time, I was hardcore anti-beef. There were times when someone I was out with ordered some beef dish and as they went to take their first bite I would say, “moo” really loud. But then I started to think, why was it okay for all of these hardcore Hindu people to drive cars with leather seats or carry around a leather handbag and wear a leather belt (and while leather can come from many forms of animal hyde, cattle hyde is the most common type of leather). I was one of these people and then I started to ponder why is it okay to use the cow for its leather but not okay to eat beef?
In my experience when I have asked this question, the answer I have gotten has been, “Well, these are not Indian cows,” which is then followed by an uncomfortable giggle. Uncomfortable because I just called you out on being a hypocrite. Leather is made from the skin of the cow. To obtain the skin, you have to kill the cow. Killing cows is not okay per Hinduism, right? It is not even about eating the damn thing, Hinduism says you do not kill cows. So why do we continue to support the killing of cows by wearing such products? Because often we choose to turn a blind eye.
This brings me back to my original statement about beef and Hinduism. In my personal opinion, whether or not I eat beef does not make me any less of a spiritual person or a Hindu for that matter. My occasional bite of a hot dog or pepperoni pizza slice will not result in a one-way ticket to hell or me coming back as the smallest living thing to work my way up the
There are many old fashioned thoughts and beliefs in Hinduism but the world continues to evolve and so do we. So, please do not live your life confined to the walls of your religion or culture, go out there and make your own decisions (and learn from your mistakes), be yourself. Do not let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do and do not let them make you feel inferior. As Angelina Jolie once said, “Some people say you are going the wrong way when it’s simply a way of your own.”
