Dear India

It is with a heavy heart

That I have to inform you

That you were right

All along



No, it's not

About your Bollywood movies

Which are terribly corny

And I can't bear to watch them

For more than ten minutes



No, I'm talking

Of course

About your tradition

In vegetarian eating



Yes, it may seem

From the outside

That meat

Equals prosperity

Here

In Europe



But in fact

It is only on cost

Of the well-being

Of the non-human beings



We screwed up

Big time



We created huge factories

To imprison animals

Or livestock

As we now call them



We give them antibiotics

Not because we care

But because we want

To prevent economic loss



We feed them special food

To make them big

And dead

In no time



And for what?



For nothing more than

Taste

Tradition

Satisfaction

Ourselves




You

However

Have shown empathy

For many centuries



Almost half of your population

Used to avoid

Killing creatures

Just to eat them



But the times

They are a-changin'

And you look

Towards the west

Towards the wealth



When it should've been us

To have learnt from you




So

Keep your spirits up

And we shall follow

With reason

And empathy

To give them rights

And

To free them

At last