From A Young Writer's Pen:

I am a nine-year-six-month-old Indian boy born in the U. S. A. I am vegetarian since birth. I am proud of my religion and thankful to my parents who are helping me understand the principles of Jainism. There are many things I do not understand yet, but the main thing I know is nonviolence, which leads to being a vegetarian.

Being vegetarian is fun. The thing I like best is that one does not have to kill for food. There are many things besides meat that one can eat and enjoy. If I could have three wishes, one of them would be for everyone to be a vegetarian like us. My family knows one other family who is vegetarian. Are you a vegetarian? I hope you are.

I do not remember much before I started school. When I was six, I started school. First week of school I had problems with lunch. My parents wanted me to continue being a vegetarian. My principal interviewed me alone and asked if I was forced to be a vegetarian or not. I said I was not being forced. I just wanted to follow my parent's religion. I still had the problem for a few weeks, because I had to have all the items of food on my plate including meat, but after a while my mom talked to the principal and I did not have to. Now I enjoy my food at school. It is no problem. My younger brother starts school this year. I am sure he will have no problem.

In the summer I go to overnight camping trips without my family. Now I do not have to be told about food. Some people think I would not like it because I could not have cook-out fun. While other kids make their hot dogs, I enjoy roasting peanuts.

I also go to birthday parties and team parties of my baseball team and do not feel that because I am a vegetarian, I am different. I can have cheese pizza, etc. I never come home hungry.

Sometimes we have to eat what we do not like, that is, different kinds of vegetables and some lentils, but at home when we see that everybody is eating them, we learn to like them. When our family goes for a long trip, we have to pack food, maybe more than other people so we can have enough variety.

When we go to India, our grandparents are so proud of the fact that although we are away from home, we are still vegetarian. Their pride and joy at our being vegetarians gives me more of a push to continue being vegetarian.

Many American people we know are vegetarians. They are not Jains but they consider vegetarian food to be good for them. I do not know what religion they follow but it is good that they are vegetarians. Many of my friends eat everything. Right now I do not know how to tell them not to eat non-vegetarian food but when I grow up I will try to tell them. Whatever they eat, they still are my friends. We have everything in common. They do not call me an Indian or a vegetarian kid, they call me Raj. In the end, I only want to say that being vegetarian in the U. S. A. is not difficult.

The police chief, whose alms were turned down by a beggar because he used to accept bribes, said: "My heart continued to drift through ups and downs for many days. I had no peace of mind. Sometimes, the crimes of accepting bribes would appear in my mind. At times, the beggar would appear to ridicule me. Yet at other times, I would dream of the faces of my impoverished wife and children.

"Something clicked one day and I vowed not to accept any more bribes. Gradually, everybody including my relatives and friends turned away from me. I could not afford to offer gifts to my superiors at work. So I was not promoted. For a while, my heart was in agony but my willpower continued to become stronger and stronger. In spite of my well-wishers' and friends' advice and pressure, I resolved to keep my vow. Soon my mind was at peace and my monetary concerns became irrelevant."

Home / email us