Star Street Teamer: Sowmya Reddy

How does one become a Star Street Teamer? Follow Sowmya Reddy’s lead, and you’ll be well on your way.

Name:Sowmya Reddy
Age: 23
Hometown:Bangalore, India

Q: Tell us something about yourself.
A: I just turned 23. I got my chemical engineering degree from R.V. College of Engineering. Now I am studying environmental law. I have loved animals and nature for as long as I can remember. I am very talkative, and I love making new friends. I am also involved in social work.

Q: Why do you think it is important to be vegan?
A: Though I have been a vegetarian for 11 years now, I was addicted to tea and loved ice cream and chocolate. I saw the Indian leather video and thought that even I am contributing to this. Everything non-vegan started tasting bad, and I was feeling guilty consuming it. There are alternatives for almost everything: soya milk, tofu, soya cheese and dark chocolate; lovely non-leather wallets and shoes and cruelty-free cosmetics. Being a vegan, you are not only being compassionate to animals, but you are leaving a lighter ecological footprint. I have never been healthier since I became a vegan. Now I am sure what’s on my plate isn’t liquid beef, hasn’t contributed to global hunger and doesn’t contain hormones.

Q: What do you have to say about animals used by the dairy and egg industries?
A: Well it’s such a pity – imagine being confined your entire life, machines attached to you. Dairy also contributes to the killing of male calves; they are considered a by-product of [the industry]. Even in the poultry and egg industries, the birds are kept in horrible conditions. Many people consider eggs to be vegetarian. I’ll quote a funny but gross incident. My junior in college was asking for a treat. He said, “Get me a doughnut”, and I said that it had egg, so it’s non-veg. He said, “No, egg is veg”. I said, “OK, if egg is veg, then can you get someone to eat my eggs?”

Q: How long have you been helping animals?
A:I have cared about animals for as long as I can remember. But I guess the turning point was when I was 12, when I watched an interview about Maneka Gandhi’s programme Heads and Tails. She was saying that she became a vegetarian when she was 12, and then I saw a goat who was being slaughtered. From that day onward, I never wanted another animal to be murdered to become my food.

My first encounter with animal rights groups, including PETA, was on World Vegan Day, 1 November 2002, which is a fundraiser for animals with music and vegan food. We had started an animal rights and environmental group called Sanjeevani in our college, and we wanted to volunteer for these organisations. From that day onward, there was no turning back. After that, we organised a massive protest when it was announced that all street dogs should be killed. We submitted a petition to the governor, and the government responded immediately. We have also conducted many puppy adoption camps – promoting adoption of stray animals. In fact, I adopted a stray; her name is Jeeva. She lives on our farm and is the most active dog I’ve ever seen.

Q: You’ve done awareness programmes in schools. Tell us about them.
A: I have been doing awareness programmes in schools for three years while working as a resource person for The Hindu. Through that, I’ve been doing programmes which include humane education – awareness regarding cruelty to animals in circuses and the importance of animals in our environment.

For the past six months, I have been doing Compassionate Citizen programmes in schools all over Bangalore, especially government schools. In government schools, most of the kids are from the slums, have alcoholic fathers and are subjected to a lot of violence living on the streets. So when a child learns to respect another life – e.g., an ant walking on the ground – she or he realises that even that creature has a life and feels pain. These kids will certainly grow into compassionate adults.

A couple of months ago, a Bangalore-based MNC contributed towards Corporate Social Responsibility. It sponsored a whole day of fun, and the kids saw how animals are kept in zoos. At the end of the day, they saw the video “Compassionate Citizen”. When the programme was over, while giving vote of thanks,a sixth-standard girl said, “After watching the video, we realised that animals are similar to us. We have started thinking differently now”.

Q. You’ve done rescues. Tell us about them.
A: I’ve rescued dogs, mostly. Traffic is increasing day by day, and the number of accidents is also increasing. Bangalore has a 24-hour animal helpline, called Krupa, but the best thing to do is to take the animal yourself to the nearest vet.

Q: Tell us about the demonstrations you have participated in.
A: I have participated and organised demos against leather and meat and promoting vegetarianism and soya milk. We have had lots of demos against KFC in Bangalore for almost three years. We went to Chennai to protest against leather at the Chennai Leather Fair last month. At the demo, an activist was slaughtering replicas of life-size goats. A man watched the whole demo, and at the end, he told a fellow activist that he was a butcher and was feeling guilty. It has been a terrific experience participating in and also organising these demos. Apart from having fun, I feel I have grown as a person speaking up for what I believe in.

Q: Tell us something about the demonstrations you have participated in.
A: I have always participated in demonstrations because I believe in them. I have been in demos promoting vegetarianism, protesting animal experimentation and promoting soya milk instead of animal milk. On Valentine’s Day, we did a demo where we had big hearts that read, “Have a Heart – Go Veg”. The experience was great because you are out there telling the world about something you believe in. 

Q: What message do you have for petaDishoom Street Teamers?
A: Take sides: Elie Wiesel said that neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim, and that silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Always remember to speak up – animals want a voice; let it be yours.

Q: What do you plan to do in the future?
A: I want Compassionate Citizen to reach as many students as possible – to spread the word of compassion. It would be great if the government would include humane education through stories in text books. Also, I want to organise a seminar on animal laws for activists to become aware of.