Health and fitness advisors often emphasise on seafood for muscles, high protein, weight loss etc. Few of them have studied the immense health risks that come with eating seafood. Mali Ston is an Adriatic Sea coastal town in Croatia, known all over the world for its unique farmed oysters,...
When I was growing up in army cantonments, meat was on our table every day. It was taken for granted that military men ate meat because they were “real” men. In my grandfather’s house all the women were vegetarian, but he had to have his meat at both meals and the vegetarian women cooked it fo...
I am reading ‘A Curious History of Food and Drink’, by Ian Crofton. The more I read, the sadder I get. It is a compilation of such savagery, such insane greed for destruction, such insensitivity, that I wonder what an alien reading it would think of us humans. In&n...
When Indian elephants meet African elephants, they recognise that they are both elephants. So do Indian tigers meeting Siberian ones. But I have great difficulty recognising that I am of the same species as a person who attends a Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand to drink shots of bul...
Some weeks ago, I made a WhatsApp group for just my People for Animals (PFA) unit heads. There are about 200 of them on the group. It was the best thing to do because now I see their work every day and each one of them is a blessing to India. They rescue the most wounded, terrified creatures. Animal...
A month ago I received distress calls from people in Mumbai that the municipal commissioner had suddenly swooped down on a 20 year old feeding platform (chabutra) for pigeons, which was on the side of the road in Khar, had covered it with plastic sheets and posted police people so that no one c...
Mimicry, by changing form, shape and colour, is unique to animals. Imagine if you went into a Chinese or African neighbourhood and had to blend in. Or become shorter, fatter, change the shape of your nose, increase the number of arms, the odour your body emits. We can't do any of these t...
The moon influences life with its light. Moonlight, its presence and absence, affects reproduction, foraging, communication and other aspects of an animal’s world. Nocturnal animals can hunt or forage more easily under the light of the moon – although venturing out on moonlit nights also comes w...
A few months ago a Veganfest was held in Delhi. It was attended by hundreds of young, affluent, well read and enthusiastic people. The speakers were from all over the world. But each one represented a company that was making vegan products : mock meat, cosmetics etc. There were no philosophers, no o...
Are we the only ones who vote, drink, sleep around, eavesdrop on conversations? Every animal does the same thing. So, why not see the world through a new lens and realise that all of us are the same. It will make it easier for you not to make them suffer or tolerate people and decisions that make th...