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Should everyone go vegan ?
233 Plays2 years ago
On this episode we are talking with Srijanita Maurya, founder of the petrichor organizations and the animal patronage. She has been a TedEx speaker and winner of multiple awards including Indian diva in the entrepreneur and social work category and the child prodigy award.
This is a conversation type episode and we are covering the folowing subjects:
- Should everyone go vegan?
- Zoos and aquariums should be abolished?
- Exoctic pets are okay if you can properly care for them?
Listen to this outstanding entreprenreur and be inspired.
This episode is sponsored by Cubicle to CEO Podcast and masterclass. Check it out at http://zen.ai/genzceo
Follow ChangemakerZ https://go.changemakerz.org/follow
Srijanita Maurya social media handles at https://lnkfi.re/srijanita-maurya
Episode's page https://podcast.changemakerz.org/animal-patronage
Access exclusive content on the ChangemakerZ app at https://app.changemakerz.org
Produced by Vasilis Skarleas
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Transcript
Introduction and Initiatives
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello everyone, I'm Kennedy. And I'm Vasilis. We run Changemaker-Z, a student-run initiative that aims to empower, educate, and connect Gen Zers interested in entrepreneurship. We interview teenagers with impactful projects and create resources to help you change the world. If they can't do it, so can you.
00:00:23
Speaker
On this podcast, we discussed the logistics of creating different types of projects with Jin Ziers who have already done it. We will leave our social media and website information in the description.
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
00:00:42
Speaker
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Introducing Srija Anita Maria
00:02:32
Speaker
Hello listeners, today we are joined with Srija Anita, Maria, founder of the Petrichor organization and the Animal Patronage. She's also a TEDx speaker and winner of many awards such as the Indian Diva Award and the Entrepreneur and Social Work category and the Child Prodigy Award. Welcome Srija Anita. Hi Kennedy. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. So you know, we always like to ask like, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from,
00:03:02
Speaker
Okay, sure. I'm Srijanita Maria. My name is Srijanita Maria. I'm 17 years old.
Srija's Background and Motivation
00:03:08
Speaker
I'm a high school sophomore from India, basically based in Uttar Pradesh state.
00:03:14
Speaker
So currently I'm doing the high school, which I mentioned before and the founder of two youth organization, which is the Patrick your organization, which is working for the leadership development. And second is going to be my animal patronage, which is an youth led organization working for the animals for saving them from being exchanged. We are starting some awareness programs and leading that we are doing webinars, having podcasts, et cetera.
00:03:40
Speaker
I'm also a YouTuber, I think. I got many internationals and national awards, like Indian Viva Award, Child Prodigy, and Global MQS Award. I'm also a TEDx speaker. This 25th May, only I gave my first TEDx in IIT Chennai. That's so amazing. So I'd like to know, you speak many languages. How many languages do you speak and what are they?
00:04:06
Speaker
I speak Hindi, I speak Sanskrit, I speak English and some you can tell about French. I know only few words not as fluent speaker. I'm almost bilingual in Spanish but with English and Spanish but I'm still working on it. I hope to learn like multiple different languages but we'll see.
00:04:27
Speaker
So guys, if you didn't know, today's episode is going to be more of like a hybrid episode. So it's going to be more like a conversation plus learning a little bit more about her organization.
Animal Welfare and Vegan Advocacy
00:04:39
Speaker
So what inspired you to start the Animal Patronage? I have been working for the animals from the past eight years with my mom in my local area. I have rescued more than 30 dogs and cats in my area.
00:04:55
Speaker
But during the COVID-19 era, we were all locked down in our houses. We were truly locked in our houses where I felt like the animals outside are not getting the proper awareness, like proper food to eat, water. Therefore, I should start something for them so that everyone can start working. Making me only work for them is not enough to care for them.
00:05:19
Speaker
But I want everyone in this whole world to work for them. Therefore, I started my organization, which is the animal patronage, and there we post the posters, how we can help, what other things should be stopped, like poaching, animal testing, these all things should be stopped. We conduct webinars, have talked with different people on our podcast channels, like how they are working, what they are doing, what other you can do to save them out.
00:05:47
Speaker
Well, I'd like to bring it to our first conversation topic then. Do you think everyone should go vegan? And we can both answer. Yeah. Yes, okay, why? No hesitation, no hesitation. Yeah, I probably think everyone should go vegan because going vegan is not a problem. Anything they can, going vegan is probably a good thing. Eating vegetarian, going vegetarian is something very good to all the natures and saving the earth.
00:06:17
Speaker
Firstly, I want to tell about the one sentence, one quote told by John Goodall, Dr. John Goodall, one of my favourite animal protector activists. She told that. Yeah, he likes him also, but then Goodall is going to have favourite one.
00:06:36
Speaker
Like she told that animals are the first to land on the earth and we human beings have no right to stutter them or to kill them, eat them, poach them or detest them. We are not allowed to do so. Therefore, going veganism is something like very preferred and I tell all the youths or all the leaders in the world to go take the cunhaero and take the thing to go vegan and
00:07:06
Speaker
start doing the things for going vegan. So I'm guessing you're vegan, right? And how long have you been vegan? From childhood I have been vegan. I've never tasted vegan. From childhood I am vegan.
00:07:24
Speaker
Okay, okay, that's really interesting. Okay, so my opinion, I feel like maybe, I understand what you're saying, but maybe everyone, it might not fit everyone's diet. Not diet, but some people might have certain health issues where they need certain animal proteins, but I feel like if we strive to cut as much meat out as possible, then that's a really good step about going vegan. I don't know if it's for everyone, but
00:07:53
Speaker
I don't think so means like if I mentioned like some scientific reason like I will say few people say if we will go vegan we will not eating the meats meat are good source of proteins if we will not eat how we will develop our stabilities and how we'll get the good stamina like take different things in the place of that take pulses take different lentices take soya beans in place of that there are many options leaving meats
00:08:22
Speaker
So, it's neither to say that if we are going vegan, we will get the problems or things. It's okay. When we are vegan, it's the best thing for the nature and for us also. No problem is there. Alright. Everybody, I think because I personally think that everybody should try to eat less meat. I've watched different documentaries and stuff.
TEDx Talk Experience
00:08:47
Speaker
So our next question is, so you mentioned you recently gave a TED talk. I'd love to know about that experience and you know, how do you prepare for that event?
00:09:00
Speaker
Oh, my TEDx talk, it was a great experience means I have no word to express out how lucky and I am excited I was for that. I applied for it in the March month and till May 15th, I didn't get any result was not there. Like my heart was fully down that I am not going to be selected in such a high position for that.
00:09:25
Speaker
but suddenly a day on I think about 17th of May I got a result was there like congratulations you have been selected as the teddy speaker and I don't have anything to express it out I just told to my mom and she was totally happy very much and we got I got to know after that my preparation started the topic was on celebrating the diversity of womenhood
00:09:50
Speaker
and there I need to mention now how I am related to the actor because being an entrepreneur being an activist being a youth activist how I feel of that moment like I'm in the period where I'm feeling out of a teenage girl also feeling and not taken a feeling of a woman also
00:10:10
Speaker
And mentioning that in my TEDx talk was something very important for me. I was given a time of merely 10 to 12 minutes. My speech was based on that. And speaking to 100 people, I was like I was shivering the first time when I got to this stage. It was a fantastic moment for me. I couldn't imagine. Oh my God, it's such a big deal. Congratulations.
00:10:37
Speaker
So if you are the recipient of numerous awards, we kind of talked about it, the founder of two organizations and you have been named a child prodigy, you know, it's clear that you are driven and hardworking. Now, where do you think this work ethic comes from?
00:10:54
Speaker
So it comes from basically because of my mom she is the real inspiration which she told me from the childhood I have been an average child. I was a child who was always told that you are not good at academics. I was average child means getting 80% to 85% 90% sometimes.
00:11:12
Speaker
And after during the Covid era when we were logged, I thought of taking out my potential to do something where I was connected to the social media. And just there I started working a lot on these things. I started doing these things. I got into the STM media.
00:11:29
Speaker
By doing research fields, I got into many research. One of my research paper was published on the liquid biopsy, a boon to the cancer patients. And after that, I did many things because of what I got, the child prodigy. Basically, I got the child prodigy because of my entrepreneurship journey. Okay.
00:11:51
Speaker
I can't believe, okay, you said what when people were telling you were below average and now look at you. That's crazy. I cannot believe that.
Abolishing Zoos and Aquariums
00:12:00
Speaker
All right. And to our next conversation topic, uh, zoos and aquariums should be abolished. What do you think? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would say yes.
00:12:17
Speaker
Zoos and Aquarium should be abolished out. Try making the natural diversity there. Try making naturalities. Keep biodiversity platforms. Keep time making a forest. Artificial forest. In place of zoos. Keeping cages. Locking the animals.
00:12:37
Speaker
42 years just for example I'm telling 42 years we were closed in the houses and our situation where that when we came out we were like oh my god we are free so think of the same condition with the dogs cats lions and the elephants who are keeping the cages how they filled out yeah think of that then you will understand
00:13:00
Speaker
Yeah, you will understand what's their condition of a dolphin. She used to swim in the big seas, ocean, vast oceans, and suddenly you captured her, put in the small aquarium of two to three acres, and telling that it's a good place for her, just for the excitement we are using her, entertainment purpose we are using her, that's not the good thing. Keep at your thing, keep yourself in their places, then you will understand what's the real problem is.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. I refuse to go to a zoo or aquarium. It just never sat right with me. I don't care. What they do is they try to tell you that, oh, sometimes the animals can live longer in our care or whatever. It's good for them. It can't be good for them. Their nature is to be swimming for miles and miles in the sea or be out running in the forest or whatever. No cage, whatever, how big or how dressed up, I just feel like,
00:13:59
Speaker
We can there's ways if you want to see animals maybe go on a ship or like even obviously not not everybody can do that or like go to a safari or something and
00:14:11
Speaker
or freaking watch Animal Planet I don't know but I don't think that we should yeah that's a good way just if you want to see go to small forest area get to small area you will see everything there why do you want to keep that small animals in the zoos and just capture them out
00:14:31
Speaker
Yeah. And even if there's, I feel like even if there's not like a good alternative, like, okay, so you never get to see a line in person. That's like, okay, that's too bad. You know, I still don't think it's a reason to keep them captive, but yeah. Um, so you also create podcasts and YouTube content. Do you prefer making podcasts or YouTube videos? I prefer both.
00:14:56
Speaker
My podcast is basically related for the interview purposes on our podcast platform. We interview the people like young environmentalists or young animal welfare workers who are doing different things in the SDG goals or doing different for environmental things. While on the YouTube, I started because many people
00:15:20
Speaker
like how I got to these fields or how I got my first chair decks or these things for that I used to make YouTube. YouTube, I'm not very frequent, but podcasts, every Sunday we used to release one podcast. Okay.
Educational Access and Ethical Concerns
00:15:35
Speaker
So we kind of talk, we've been kind of focused a lot on, you know, your animal activism, animal questions, but I'd love to hear a little bit more about the Petrichor organization and what you're doing with that.
00:15:51
Speaker
I belong to area which was very small like you can't see my state or you can't see my district where live on the map it's such a teeny place
00:16:06
Speaker
And belonging to that area, education is like negligible. People don't know what is MUN platforms, what are the different ways to study abroad or how we can go to different sectors with good markings. And for all these, I felt like students like me who have the potential but do not know about these things.
00:16:28
Speaker
I should start some layer platform where I would be telling them how you can get into different internship like things, how they can get different scholarship or the fellowships, how they can get the different types of M.E.N. platform and therefore I started a practical organization.
00:16:44
Speaker
Okay, so you're helping students, and guys, you're only 16 yourself, but you're helping get internships. I was not thinking about internships when I was 16, but it's good to start early. Have you, have you done any, yeah, you've done internships before with like Pure Ed and whatnot, so. Yeah. Good to start early, because I feel like usually people don't start thinking about it until college.
00:17:13
Speaker
At least I didn't. Now, another conversation topic is exotic pets are okay if you can properly care for them. Have you ever seen those videos? Like someone has like a lion and they're not even a lion. What have I seen? I have seen big people with big cats before, but those exotic pets, I don't know.
00:17:39
Speaker
no no I will not support these things I have seen people keeping the python in their houses and after five years there would be a news headlines like the python has eaten that person oh my god what's the matter of keeping that
00:17:55
Speaker
Just keep them at the place where they are, okay? Don't keep it at the homes. If you want to keep the pets at the home, just keep the small dogs and the cats that are in them, but keeping a lion, keeping python, crocodiles at the homes are not in the pattern. There was like someone who raised a chimp in their home and then sadly, like you said, years later, the chimp got aggressive because male chimps are very aggressive and she like ripped this woman's face off, yeah.
00:18:23
Speaker
it was so bad but yeah it's kind of like what do you expect raising a wild animal in your house like why are we keeping cheetahs like yeah at the mine area i have seen the news like one of the current news i have read like there was a man who kept the small lion cubs the reason behind that was there because that lion cubs mother has died during the time of giving birth
00:18:51
Speaker
and that man kept that cubs for some time for few months after the blinds grown up he just gave to the forest department that's a good thing you can keep a small cub you can care for him or her but keeping like exotic animals such a large animals in your houses and after that one day news comes the person died who kept a python as a pet animal
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah. That's nothing. You're right because people I feel like people they're cute when they're younger and they're manageable somewhat but then when they grow up they're like and then it's like they've been domesticated you can't really like put them back out into the wild but like they're still a wild animal so it's just a mess overall. Yeah.
00:19:39
Speaker
All right, so I'd love to know what you're working on. Anything exciting coming up with Animal Patronage or the Petrichor? I don't know why I'm saying that wrong. The Petrichor. Yeah, Petrichor organization. Yeah, something new coming from the Animal Patronage. Yes, Animal Patronage is going to have some new webinars with some of the universities and the colleges.
00:20:06
Speaker
professors discussing how we can protect the animals from being poached or being from stopping the animal testing. We are also coming up with the different posters like having different persons in our podcast platforms also and different posters for giving the reasons why should we stop doing these things and what are the tips for the youth to stopping all these things in their area with the smallest steps.
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah, that's exciting.
Animal Testing and Alternatives
00:20:35
Speaker
About the animal testing, I feel like people don't realize how bad it actually is. Like, I know this was a joke, but on TikTok someone was like, I thought animal testing was like them like putting makeup on rabbits. No. Yeah. Very, like, can you talk about like some of the realities of animal testing just for your makeup products?
00:20:56
Speaker
animal testing on the makeup products i have seen i have seen like people wearing the animal first and after that they're thinking of that's very expensive taking the crocodile for as they're one of the first brand and thinking of that's very expensive thing that's not expensive my dear it's showing the reality that you have no mercy for those cute animals
00:21:21
Speaker
that lonely animals who don't have the words to speak out for their rights and you don't have you just do testing on them put the foundations mascaras all over them just to try is there any allergy or not
00:21:34
Speaker
Better you do, I have researched with my organization that in place of animal testing, you can use the silicone testing method. That is more helpful for you. It is 60% helpful for the humans for testing. But they are using animals as the thing. That's not a good thing, I think.
00:21:55
Speaker
No, it's not. And it's not worth it. I mean, I'm trying to think. I mean, it was definitely someone who made it Crocodile Skin and these real furs, such a status thing. I don't understand why we have to use that when we can make faux fur and stuff like that. It's just...
00:22:17
Speaker
Kind of gross.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:22:21
Speaker
But alright guys, that is an end to today's episode. I want to thank Shree for coming on and talking with us about her organization and giving a little insight what she thinks on these conversation topics. You can find Shree on Spotify, Instagram, LinkedIn. Her podcast name is We Speak for Change through the Animal Patroners. Make sure to check that out every Sunday, right?
00:22:48
Speaker
Yeah. Every Sunday with a new episode, we're going to have the rest of her social media is linked in the description. But until then, guys, keep changing the world. Bye.
00:23:09
Speaker
Thank you guys for listening. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. We had such a great time. Make sure to leave us a review. If you want more Changemaker's content, you can follow us on Instagram, at JinsearsToRise, and on Facebook, at ChangemakerZ.