Harshali Zine: I love my journey ‘from trauma to transformation’

Harshali Zine has turned vegan. Her beautiful journey, that she calls “a conscious living”, according to the actor, started two years back.

“One of my college mates Komal Jadhav Pandya used to regularly post animal cruelty-related videos on Facebook, exposing the dairy, meat, fashion, tourism, textile industries. I kept watching all her posts for almost 3 years and sometimes got angry that the videos reflected my choices that were morally incorrect and that I was too coward to bring in the change even after knowing the truth. Once, while I was eating dal ghost I watched one of her usual vegan posts and couldn’t control crying. I just couldn’t bear their pain anymore and decided to just change my lifestyle. It took a lot of courage to choose this path… My friend briefly helped me. I have accidentally made non-vegan choices for which I have forgiven myself and I remain conscious to not invest in non-vegan products. Today I live a fully plant-based, organic, preservatives and GMO-free lifestyle,” says the actor known for TV shows, CID, Diya Aur Baati Hum, web series, BOSS: Baap of Special Services, and Marathi film, Paach Naar Ek Bezaar, among others.

Harshali Zine shares how turning vegan changed her life and how. While earlier even standing for a certain time or walking a small distance was tiring and exhausting but today she has enrolled herself into gymnastics and Kung fu.

“My journey towards spirituality and healing began with the vegan lifestyle… when you stop contributing towards torturing and murder of other sentient beings and eating their dead bodies in the name of food, wearing their dead skin in the name of fashion etc. Slowly and gradually the change starts happening at the cellular level from tissues, organs, muscles, blood vessels to mind. I started going deep into my research and came across Ayurveda, meditation, mind, body, and soul healing, holistic living. These words or concepts were familiar but didn’t make sense earlier. Spirituality is perceived as Woo Hoo by the masses but the truth is, spirituality is extreme end of practicality. It’s the same thread, one just needs to cross the bridge,” she adds.

Harshali Zine used to recommend veganism to everyone earlier. But today she leads by example.

“I help and guide the ones who wish to bring change in their lifestyle… It actually starts with self-love. When you love yourself so deeply, you automatically empathize with every being. A lot of information is transferred in our bodies in the form of food we consume products made from beings who are trapped and tortured in cages, whose bodies are genetically modified by injecting chemicals in their bodies to change their appearances for commercial benefits, who go through the pain of separation from their families, who has never seen light, who lives their whole life in pain and who dies a tragic death, you only feed their pain, suffering, and tragedy to your bodies. There’s no protein in this kind of meat and no calcium in the milk coming from the cows, who are artificially impregnated, used as a milk-producing machine, separated from their child immediately after the birth, and eventually sent to butchery to be murdered. Veganism is the only way to optimal health. I don’t even want to start with how badly the dairy and meat industries contribute towards climate change, global warming, and world hunger. Everybody wants to save the world yet strangely do nothing about it,” she explains.

Highlighting her mental and physical transformation, Harshali adds, “This holistic lifestyle brought transformation in my life. The majority of the masses are living in pain and have accepted that this is how it’s going to be until the end and they’ll have to live with the pain. But that’s not true. You get to choose how your story ends. I took charge of my life, did a lot of research, and self-educated myself. One of the best technologies I have come across is the human body. Discover it more and you’ll know what wonders it could bring in your life. I love my journey ‘from trauma to transformation’.”