January 1, 2007 Amaravati, India: It was two weeks before the Kalachakra initiations to start. The holy place Amaravati (where many of the Tantric teachings originated, in Particular the Kalachakra) was yet to witness the crowd of more than 200,000 people from all around the world but for a group of young Tibetans, it was perhaps their busiest days. They are the ‘Tibetan Volunteers for Animals (TVA)’ and they call themselves "a voice for the voiceless".

Preparing to leave for Amaravati from Mysore, they had with them more than 30,000 copies of booklets and magazines, 5,000 CDs, 8,000 Posters, a huge pile of Paper bags, huge banners, pamphlets, photographs, T-shirts, caps and a bunch of other stuffs.

TVA started the Vegetarian Kalachakra Project in the month of April 2005. The project involved distributing pamphlets, posters, stickers, doing advertisements in popular magazines, news papers and websites, campaigns and coordinating with different government and non-government organizations, all intended to mark this Kalachakra a Vegetarian event and urge people not to eat meat during this holy event. The response from the general public was great and heartening. TVA’s message was very loud and clear; and very well delivered to all the Tibetans around the world. None of the restaurants in Amaravati served meat during this Kalachakra at Amaravati. The impact of TVA’s campaign was remarkable. This was for the first time that a religious ceremony was marked Vegetarian. 

 28th December 2005: TVA members and volunteers were busy at the Vegetarian Restaurant they had opened. All were Volunteers and most of them in their teens. By this time, people had already started flocking into the holy place. Some volunteers were from Suja School who had come all the way from north. Two Canadian girls - Christine and Rebecca and Noemi a French girl who were among the volunteer team.

Two of TVA members went out to check if the other restaurants were serving meat. They returned back without a bit of disappointment.

Day 1 of the Initiations: A stall near the Museum gate was setup. Three volunteers distributed pamphlets, stickers and booklets. Also the Semchen Magazine (the official magazine of TVA), caps and the Documentary CD ‘Law of Nature’ were displayed for sale. The Vegetarian Restaurant already started attracting a huge crowd. “The intension behind opening a Vegetarian Restaurant isn’t just to serve people. We intend to convince people that a good tasty food is possible without meat because many Tibetans complain that a good food seems impossible without meat” said Lobsang Wangdak and Sonam Tsering la, Restaurant Managing team (Volunteers).

Day 2: Photographs taken at the slaughter houses along with the posters and pamphlets from PETA India, Beauty without Cruelty and Wildlife Trust of India were pasted on a huge 10 Meter long plywood and was displayed beside one of the main roads. With a portable Loudspeaker and a mike, 3 of the volunteers spoke on the plight of animals and urged people to quit meat. Christine, a Canadian Volunteer spoke in English. The demonstration was done almost every evening in both Tibetan and English.

Day 3: Noemi, a French Volunteer and Yangchen a volunteer from Bangalore, wore masks of animals and marched into the streets with placards. It continued till the last day of the Kalachakra. This attracted a lot of attention from public and the messages on the placard were clearly delivered.

Day 4, 6AM: Three of the volunteers started sticking a green stamp sized stickers on everyone’s collar. It read ‘Celebrate Vegetarian Kalachakra for World Peace’. Totally 20,000 such stickers were stuck. The Australian Kalachakra Foundation visited TVA’s restaurant and interviewed a few volunteers.

Day 5: A Helium balloon, 15 feet wide carrying messages like ‘Celebrate Vegetarian Kalachakra for World peace’ (in English and Tibetan) and Go Vegetarian, Save Lives; was released and floated 150 feet high in the sky. The balloon remained in the sky till the last day of the Kalachakra.

Day 6: The Documentary CD – ‘Law of Nature’ was screened outside the TVA’s restaurant.

Day 7, 11:30PM: Dr. Phendey from Kollegal (TVA Volunteer) checked some of the volunteers who were not well and also did a regular medical checkup for all the volunteers. Such medical checkup was done frequently as all the volunteers were working restlessly.

Day 10: In coordination with Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), TVA Screened the Documentary Video – ‘Law of Nature’ on a huge projector screen in front of a crowd of more than 4000 people. As a result 38 people signed a lifetime commitment not to eat meat. 

Day 11: All the T-Shirts sold out. The T-shirts carried messages on it and were sold at Rs100/- ($2). An Eco-friendly paper bag, a few book marks and few stickers, all carrying message of peace and animal rights, were given out with every t-shirt, magazine, cap or CD.

Overall the Vegetarian Kalachakra Project was a great success and TVA hopes that not only this time but in future also the trend continues. 

As the day set upon the last day of the Kalachakra initiations, it paved a way for a new beginning and a new hope for the animals who suffer everyday at the hands of the so called superior beings. Back in the tent, TVA members were busy discussing about their next campaign. TVA is preparing for their campaign at the Nyingma Monlam from 30th Jan to 7th Feb 2006 at Boudh-Gaya.

TVA expresses its sincere heartfelt thanks to the organizing Committee of H.H. the Dalai Lama’s Visit (Switzerland), Rowell Fund, Ven. Tulku Pema Wangyal, Mr. Philippe Guichard of France, and all other government and non government bodies who made the Vegetarian Kalachakra Project possible. TVA also thanks every one for their kind support and love.
Being Vegetarian isn’t all about loving animals. It’s about living a life free from cruelty, tyranny and hypocrisy. Remember until you stop buying, the killing will continue..

May all sentient beings live in peace!

Live and Let Live