Nikhil Mogre

My birthdate is 2nd. february 1959 . I was born in a non-vegetarian family (ie. both my parents are non-veg.) But my paternal grandmother was a pure vegetarian. Since birth I have always been a pure vegetarian and sometimes I have sat outside a non-veg restaurant when my parents ate there . They hence never forced me to taste or have NV. The initial basic reason I had was humanitarian (why should we take the lives of other defenseless living creatures for our own sake?)

As I grew up I started realising the scientific importance of vegetarian food and happily stuck to my beliefs . I completed my engineering studies from Bombay and started my career in an engineering company. My most important criteria for selecting my wife-to-be was that she TOO had to be a vegetarian. I got married in the year 1985 and we have our son Arjun who is presently 9 years old and a very good and strict vegetarian. He attends most of the lectures and seminars held by The Vegetarian Society and also propagates his feelings in his school . I am presently running my own business in computer hardware and am one of the dealers for COMPAQ , INTEL , Microsoft, H P etc. My wife Leena runs a Fitness academy , which gives training to persons who wish to make a career in fitness and excercise.

My first meeting with Mr. Jashubhai Shah and The Vegetarian Society was due to my computer business four years ago. I went to sell him a computer and in his words I sold myself to the vegetarian cause. It was a day I'll never forget. It has given me a chance therefore to meet all of you at this conference .

Regards Nikhil .