THE FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL EVENTS TOOK PLACE SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER.

1 On 1st July 2004 I gave a talk at the offices of Brent Hindu Council in Wembley. The event was organised by VHP. I said that through vegetarianism we can introduce people to the Hindu religion and make friends with the host community.

2 On 9th August I was interviewed on BBC radio Leicester Gujarati programme.

3 On 5th September we kept a stall at the Hare Krishna temple in Watford during the Janmastmi celebrations. In total 15 individuals agreed to give up meat eating and become vegetarians.

4 On 21st September I attended a meeting organised by The Food and Drink Federation. The topic of discussion was ‘The Vegetarian food market in Europe’.

5 On 23rd September the NHS organised a conference on ‘Faith and the Health Service’. I said that promotion of a vegetarian diet and Yoga ought to be a priority for the NHS if it is ever to improve the health of the nation.

6 On 2nd October we were invited to the Maha Laxmi Temple in Honor Oak Park. The congregation there are mostly Hindus from Trinidad and Guyana. I said that as practising Hindus we should be vegetarians.

7 On 12th October I attended a meeting organised by the Food Standards Agency. The proper meaning of the word ‘Vegetarian’ and food labelling were the two issues discussed. For strict vegetarians it is making more and more sense to say they are Vegan if they want to avoid all animal products. Meanwhile we hope that the word Vegetarian will mean, ‘no meat, fish or eggs'.

8 On 4th November we attended the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Vegan Society.

9 On 13th November we kept a stall at the Diwali festival organised by the Swaminarayan temple in Neasden. Two individuals agreed to give up meat eating and become vegetarian.

10 On 19th November we took part in a demonstration outside the Japanese embassy in London to protest against the cruel killing of dolphins. We distributed vegan sandwiches to all the protesters.

11 On 12th November we held our annual Christmas vegetarian lunch. The vegetarian Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Brenda Kirby, as well as Malcolm Wicks MP (Minister of Energy in the ew parliament) were amongst the guests. Tom Morrel chief inspector of Croydon police and colleagues were also present.

12 On 27th November the National Hindu Students Forum organised a conference and I was invited to give a talk. I said that vegetarianism is one of the greatest gifts of Hinduism to the world. Each one of us should be its proud ambassadors.

13 On 3rd February 2005 I took part in a debate held by the Cambridge University Hindu students. The topic was, ‘Is vegetarianism essential to Hinduism?’ A lively debate and discussion took place!

14 On 23rd February I was invited to give a talk at the Saint Gregory Roman Catholic School in Southborough near Tunbridge Wells. The video ‘Food for Life’ was also shown.

15 On 11th March I was invited to give a talk at the Virgo Fidelis Convent senior school, Upper Norwood. Since it was a Catholic school I mentioned that St. Francis of Assisi was a vegetarian.

16 On 18th April I attended the Ram Navmi celebrations organised by the Caribbean Hindu Society in Brixton. In my talk I said that ‘Ahimsa’ is the root of Hinduism and as such we should not eat meat.

17 On 1st May the Jain Association of the UK celebrated Mahaveer Jayanti in Hounslow. I urged everyone to convince a few people to go vegetarian every few months! We should speak the word ‘Vegetarian' at least once a day!

18 On 8th May the Institute of Jainology celebrated Mahaveer Jayanti at India House. The Indian High Commissioner Kamalesh Sharma and his wife graced the occasion with their presence. In my talk I urged Jains to support the many animal rights/welfare societies in the UK.

19 On 23rd May I gave a talk at the Swaminarayan Hindu School in Neasden. The talk was given to the school assembly. Special thanks to the principal Mr. Savjani for facilitating the talk.

20 On 26th May I give a talk at the Hindu Centre in Tooting. Around 60 people were present and a delicious lunch was served by the centre afterwards.

21 On 27th May I gave a talk at the Natural History Museum as part of National Vegetarian Week This was a unique opportunity to talk about vegetarianism to the visitors to the museum. Dr. David Ryde, a long standing vegan, also spoke at the event. I also took vegetarian snacks which proved really popular!

22 On 28th May we were interviewed on MATV, channel 829. This coincided with National Vegetarian Week.