OK, so its time to openly admit it.  Some 19 weeks ago, I was curious (tempted) to try just the tip of a fried shrimp antenna. I felt guilty, and thoughts of ex-communication from my totally Hindu Veggie family and friends circle swam all through my dreams. Just 3 short weeks later, a friend so sweetly offered me a taste of some thumbnail size bites of raw fish - some sea urchin, monkfish liver and albacore tuna.  It tasted so good dipped lightly in soy sauce and decorated with the spicy and sweet flavors of wasabi and ginger. But then I called mom and had another big bout of guiilt. This was the farthest I ever fell from the tree, and the nearly 40 years of pure vegetarianism and ritual thinking and belief that I held dear floated away from me. On the one hand, restaurant menus and grocery aisles held new adventure for me. On the other, the death of the old me was inevitable.

 

As knowledge evolves and expands us, we need to take the time to mourn the loss of the culture we committed to. I experienced something similar to this when I got divorced. The moment the gavel went down, I felt hundreds of generations of elders cursing me and worse, I felt like I forced change to the thousands of years of belief in our family that the gold pendant permanently worn around  a Hindu wife's neck on a gold chain held a marriage together and protected the life of her husband. When mine came off, I worried for 5 years about my ex-husband Deepak's life. Then he sent me a lovely letter about how he will never forget me, he's in love with a woman from Bangalore and he's getting married. He didn't want me to intimidate her, so we won't be in touch again, pretty much ever. Gold safely around some other girl's neck, I was free from that whole bag of beans.

 

Luckily my experience with meat, outside of my own culturally-embedded ethical dilemma moments, has not at all been negative. In fact, what started out as temptation, simply based on smells and Food Network shows, fueled by the euphoria I saw on people's faces while eating meat, turned into a requirement for my own health. Fish and chicken, it turns out, make for healthier humans. I decided one day to try and be one of those. My thumbnails, turned into whole sushi rolls, and encouraged/instructed by my friend, I had my first chicken pan-grilled with tarragon, with sides of sauteed mushrooms, green beans & a slice of avocado (which I heart) in my own apartment, of course complimented by a terrific wine. The next day was the last time I will fret about migrating to Diya 2.0. I have to thank so many friends for opening my tastebuds and understanding about the associated fine arts surrounding cuisine. I had a class under Lorraine, where Hans, Grace, Dale and I learned to make chicken curry, shrimp vindaloo and a really cool corn casserole. Tammy got me to taste Mahi Mahi and Barb gave me my first try of Scallops and both of them got me to try crabcakes. Lori and I tried Thai BBQ Squid together, a delicious 1st for both of us.  Dan introduced me to the amazing nabiake udon Japanese soup which is like a treasure chest inside a soup.. and he also got me into Vietnamese pho. One late over-worked night, Pete introduced me to the amazing In-and-Out burger (animal-style, so they say). Leo gave me a taste of ribs when our whole team was having dinner at The Event in January. Schiff introduced me to oysters in Seattle. Each time I taste something, I am pleasantly surprised by how delicious my world is becoming. Rusconi had introduced me to Hamachi (yellowtail) a few weeks ago. One taste made hamachi my seriously favorite thing on earth, next to the relentlessly beautiful avocado. Today, the Operations PM team from Hotmail took me to Bonsai, that restaurant from which Rusconi had brought me my 1st Hamachi. Ainsley and III are taking me to my 1st Lobster dinner on Sunday.

 

This is the 1st b'day where I get to try everything, and I plan to do just that.

 

I still love everything about the life I led as a Hindu. I continue to respect and admire traditionalists who live by their orthodox beliefs. I am still a practicing Buddhist. I am just also a human reaching a little farther to experience all the wonder that this life has to offer.

 

I bow to the universe and thank all the people who have come into my life and introduced me to new sights, sounds, smells, tastes and ideas.  I thank the one who tempted me first... that shrimp antenna led to a life-altering evolution, and I look ahead to a really exciting new year.

 

-- Diya.

 

Disclaimer: Any kids from dance class reading this, Vidya akka has chosen this path after obeying my elders for 1/2 my life. You should still listen to your parents. Be good.