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“War on Every Plate”
Dr.Vijayalakshmi Aluri, Winner of World Bank’s Projects competition, Author, Health Educator, Social worker and Gynecologist, Sri Sri Holistic Multi specialty Hospitals, Hyderabad.
When Haritha was ten, her father took her to the village fair. The air smelled of popcorn, roasted peanuts, and jasmine. Stalls of toys, bangles, and sweets dazzled her young eyes. But what she remembered most wasn’t the colors or the noise — it was the goats.
In a pen near the back, a line of animals waited. She asked, “Why are they tied up?”
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Her father smiled, “They’ll be dinner tonight.”
She didn’t eat that night.
That moment stayed with Haritha long after the fair. She grew up like most kids in her town — meat was part of every celebration, every Sunday meal, every family gathering. No one questioned it. But the fair changed something in her. For years, she buried that memory under school, college, and work.
Then war came. Not to her country, but close enough. News channels flashed images of bombed-out streets, bloodied children, and smoke. Like the rest of the world, Haritha watched from her phone. But one clip stopped her in her…
