I belong to the Newa community of the Kathmandu Valley whose cuisine is a vibrant fusion of flavours, history and cultural practices. Meat, especially that of buffalo, is the central ingredient of our cuisine. Food plays a significant role in social interactions and family gatherings in my culture and being a vegetarian is very difficult. When I decided to be vegetarian for the month of Shrawan, it created a sense of social isolation and discomfort. Friends and family find it difficult to accommodate dietary preferences, leading to awkward situations during shared meals.
Also, transitioning to a vegetarian diet requires a shift in cooking skills. We are accustomed to cooking meat-based dishes, it was challenging to create flavourful and satisfying vegetarian meals. Without the experience of cooking proper vegetarian dishes, we struggled to explore options resulting in monotonous and unappealing meals.
Yet I survived the whole month of being a vegetarian and decided to continue until the end of Gunla festival which is the sacred month for the Newa Buddhists.