Perhaps my vegan journey began unknowingly in childhood, when I wondered how Jains could use silk, leather, pearls, or even idols carved from ivory. Whenever I wore leather or silk, I felt an inner conflict—a quiet voice inside me whispering that my choices did not align with my values.

Growing up in a Jain family, I avoided roots, eggs, and meat, but dairy was sacred and unquestioned. I believed the stories I’d been told— “the cow gives milk, she is our mother,” and she is treated with love in India. I never stopped asking the most straightforward question: Why does she give milk?

That belief was shattered when I met my in-laws, Gurudev Chitrabhanu and Pramoda Chitrabhanu, lifelong advocates of Ahimsa and veganism. Their words planted seeds, but my attachment to dairy and fears about nutrition held me back. In 2001, PETA India released a video exposing the Indian dairy industry. The truth was brutal calves taken from mothers, cows exploited until they were spent, and finally sent to slaughter. Their suffering was hidden behind tradition.

The moment it truly became personal was while I was breastfeeding my daughter. My milk looked just like a cow’s milk, and just as my body produced it for my baby, hers was meant for her calf. I could feel the pain of a mother losing her child so that humans could take her milk. At that moment, the cruelty of dairy became undeniable, and giving up was effortless. For years before, I had tried and failed to go vegan, but this maternal connection finally helped me connect the dots.

It’s been over 18 years since I turned vegan. Back then, soy milk was the only alternative, yet the transition felt freeing—I no longer had to defend a lie.

My journey has since expanded into advocacy. I co-founded Ahimsafest, India’s largest vegan festival, and later started The Earthen One, a non-profit hosting over one hundred events to help people make small, compassionate lifestyle changes.

Veganism has been my liberation—rooted in empathy, sustained by truth, and inspired by the simple conviction that a mother’s milk belongs only to her child.

It was a very hot summer day in Las Vegas in 1995. My host had arranged a meeting with a few of her American women friends at a restaurant. I was introduced to this lovely group of women. We greeted one another as we were seated.

Our conversation was towards spiritual aspects of life, and they were interested in knowing about the Jain philosophy, its principles, and its belief system. I highlighted the core principles of Jain philosophy and its implications in life.

When the time came to order something from the menu, and I ordered a milkshake, they were aghast. They questioned me and asked how could I consume dairy products as a vegetarian? I was surprised with their question, and I said to them that there was nothing wrong in taking dairy as it is a vegetarian food. One of them interrupted and said, “Sorry to say, but it is not considered to be vegetarian.” Why, I asked. She went on to explain that today’s dairy industry has become a house of horrors for the cows. They are confined, separated from their families, beaten, and killed. The cruelty inflicted upon cows and calves in the dairy industry is one of agribusiness’s best-kept secrets.

She was not finished. Next, she spoke of how cows are artificially impregnated every year. This artificial insemination renders the cow useless and incapable of giving milk after 7 to 8 years after which they are sent to the slaughterhouse. Cows’ natural life span is 18 to 20 years, but at factory farms, they die young.

She continued, what many consumers aren’t aware of is that when they purchase milk, cheese, or other dairy products, they are contributing to a brutal cycle of suffering for calves. For a cow to produce milk, she must have a calf, but those calves are taken away from their mothers immediately after birth. Half of those calves are male, and within a year, they’re slaughtered for veal.

When the lady finished, I had some discomfort in my stomach, but I continued drinking my milkshake as though everything was okay. I knew that animals were abused and killed for meat, but I didn’t see anything wrong with dairy. Upon returning to my home in New York, I found myself very troubled as if someone jolted me from my sleep. Milk and yogurt were part of my diet. My cookbook, “Foods of the Earth, Tastes of Heaven” had many recipes using milk and yogurt. How can I give up these products? I was in denial. I did not want to believe what I had just learned.

It left me mulling over the sad fate of the cows and their babies and I started reflecting deeply over the subject. I had never heard or read about the atrocities of the dairy industry. I studied literature on the subject from PETA and other sources. There was a voice deep within me that said, “You have dedicated your whole life to sharing the message of non-violence, and now, when it is the question of gross violence, why are you hesitating in giving up dairy products?” The moment I realized that I could not be part of this violence, the decision was made for me.

In 1995 I was fifty when I learned facts about the dairy industry and decided to move towards “True Vegetarianism” or Veganism -thanks to my new friends. This meeting was an eye opener for me and changed my life.

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