A few days ago, I came across an incident from Kerala that caught my attention.



Employees of a Canara Bank office in Kochi organised what was called a “beef fest” after they alleged that their newly appointed regional officer had verbally instructed the staff canteen to stop serving beef. The employees protested the alleged restriction by serving beef and Malabar parotta themselves.



Their argument was quite simple. What a person chooses to eat is a personal matter, and a workplace should not dictate such choices without a legitimate reason.



In one of his dialogues with medical students at ESIC Medical College, Hyderabad, a panelist brought up this incident with Acharya Prashant, and thy way he approached this happening is really eye-opening. 



Given that the dispute was over beef consumption, this doesn't merely remain a matter of food choice at all. I can wear black or white, I can decide to go back to school, these are my personal choices. They are about me. But when it comes to animal food products like beef, pork, or chicken, the situation isn't similar at all.



Those animals aren't limited to being a meal on the plate, they are consciousness. Not highly conscious as human beings are, but still, they have a certain level of awareness. Those who have been with pets, like dogs or cats, or even our "food beings" like cows and chickens, can agree with my point that animals are like human kids. They play, they run, they become happy, they feel pain, they suffer. One can see its reflection in their eyes. 



**So, this isn't a matter of food choice at all. It is a matter of consciousness. I am a consciousness, and so the animal in front of me is. I cannot kill it because I don't want to be killed. Simple.** 



Now think about those who slaughter a consciousness for a single meal on their plate. They aren't killing the animal, they are killing the consciousness within themselves. They are anti-consciousness. They are anti-life. 



See the futility of this claim: I kill a life, but I love my own life. Is this even possible? You aren't against a life, you are against life. This gesture shows disregard and disrespect towards the consciousness itself.  



This person disrespects consciousness in all possible forms. His wife, his children, his parents, his friends, his colleagues, all are paying blood for their relationship with him. But the fact also is, this person himself is a consciousness. And he slaughters consciousness. One can imagine his relationship with himself, let alone others.



Can a person kill a life and love life in a single breath? What do you think about the quality of life this person might be living? Can life ever forgive him? What do you think?



**Sources:** https://www.ndtv.com/kerala-news/kerala-beef-ban-canara-bank-kochi-beef-and-parotta-employees-protest-9186495/amp/1

https://youtu.be/a6q8HYp02CM?si=Z17E8PhByA9m5Beg

Just a food Choice or something Deeper?