Anyone who has taken an American history class in high school has learned about Upton Sinclair. If your memory is failing, let me explain. Sinclair was an activist writer and muckraker. A muckraker is an investigative journalist who exposes corruption within the government. Before the 20th century, a group of people known as progressives were cracking down on major corporations such as standard oil, U.S steel, and the meat-packing industry because of their atrocious working conditions and lack of ethical laws. In 1904, a meatpacking union in Chicago went on strike and Sinclair was asked to write about the event. Upon visiting the place himself, Upton Sinclair was appalled at the horrifying conditions going on in the meatpacking industry. He then proceeded on to write his acclaimed novel, "The Jungle," a fictitious story of what happened in Chicago.

"The Jungle" is not your typical bedtime story. Sinclair's novel uses extreme details and gruesome imagery to show how dirty, rotten, and contaminated meat products were packaged and sold to the consumers. As Sinclair himself had said, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."

When deciding to go vegan, you'll get hit in both the heart and the stomach. For starters, animal cruelty is not OK. Animals are slaughtered on a daily basis. Secondly, don't think that just because the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act were passed in response to Sinclair's novel automatically makes eating meat "safe." If anything, you were probably better off eating meat 100 years ago than you are today. The only way to ensure that your meat is 100 percent safe is if you are literally going from farm to table. And since you probably aren't, the meat you are eating is processed. Continuous eating of processed meat, especially read meat, has lots of negative health effects. You already know this, yet you still choose to eat the meat.

Now don't mistake me for the average vegan enthusiast, because I hate those people. I've seen plenty of click-bait YouTube videos that are supposedly about why a certain person is bad. And the 45-minute video consists of a single person ranting about that "bad person". It starts out with introducing that bad person, then the ranter introduces himself, next he wastes a good chunk of time talking about dumb things, and then right when you as the video viewer find the video to be pointless, the guy finally gets to the point. He concludes that the person is a bad person because he/she is not a vegan. (Now take a really long dramatic pause.)

I'll let you in on a little secret of mine: I am not a vegan. Not even a vegetarian. But I am ready to become one.

Several years ago, I met a person and the two us became friends. After a long time, I decided to invite her over to my house. My mom being the perfectionist she is, goes all out in making a variety of dishes for dinner. As me and my friend settle down at the table, what she told me next was disturbing. Apparently, we weren't as good of friends as I thought we were. Because after one full year of knowing each other, this girl tells me that she is a vegetarian. And I've seen her eat meat before, but apparently it was "fake" meat. So here I am with my mom and we both knew that everything for dinner in my house had meat. In a state of panic, my mom took out some iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing. And here is the best part. My mom gave my friend and I some salad and a bowl of ramen that had ground beef in it. During the 10 minutes we spent at the dinner table, (and I swear this girl is the only one in the world who can do this) my friend managed to eat her entire bowl of ramen without looking down at what she was eating. Like I was sitting there praying to god that this girl doesn't send me to jail for knowingly breaking her decade long no meat streak while she's eating like it was the best thing she ever put in her mouth. That had to be the most stressful situation of my life, and I'm glad I made it out alive.

I told you that story for several reasons. One, next time someone comes over to my house and I have no vegetarian options, she is going home hungry. Two, next time someone comes over to my house, I'm going to make sure that I have vegetarian options. And three, like I mentioned before, that girl and I became really good friends. She told me that she wasn't always a vegetarian, but became one because of animal rights or whatever. Whenever I felt like indulging a bit, I would go over to her house and find myself surrounded in vegetarian friendly food. I even once tried her fake meat. It tastes like chicken.

Growing up in a desi family, it's very hard to go the vegetarian route when the only alternative to meat is a plate of grass. Heck, I even grew up celebrating a holiday devoted to slaughtering cows. My family would never in a million years give up meat products. We can easily pay off the house mortgage with the excessive amount of meat stored in our deep freezer (mind you, a deep freezer that we bought solely to store meat). While I was writing this article, my family ordered Indian takeout. And I figured you know since I'm convincing other people to not eat meat, I probably should be doing the same. So this time I specifically ask for Bhelpuri, a delicious vegan option. Meanwhile, everyone else in my family is stuffing their faces with beef biryani and chicken kebabs. And every 30 seconds, my mom is trying to get me to eat the other stuff. And before I knew it, I'm eating naan and kebabs. This happens to me every single day.

Which is why I told myself once I get to college, I'm not going to even look at meat let alone eat it.

I'm not choosing to go meat free because I'm an animal rights activist like my friend. I just don't like the taste of meat. I hate the texture, and I can't justify eating something that was once alive.

If you watch the news, you'll know that the last couple of years have not been good for the meat industry and related corporations. In fact, studies show that Americans are consuming less meat. There have been several cases of E coli found in cows and chicken. Chipotle had an E coli outbreak. Hot dogs and bacon cause cancer. Chickens are the most abused animals on this planet. Thousands of them are crowded into a tiny enclosure where they're injected with hormones until they become morbidly obese and unable to walk. If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everybody would be vegetarian.

Now is where we take it a step up and go from vegetarian to vegan. I don't understand how people who are so engrossed in a meat free lifestyle can justify eating animal products. If anything, if I had to choose between eating meat and eating animal products, I would pick meat. I absolutely hate eggs, especially when its served with toast for breakfast. Take that egg and put in under a light bulb, and you'll see that egg turn into a chick. Eating an egg is like eating a chicken fetus. Most yogurts contain live cultures, and I'm not big on eating that stuff. And I used to enjoy milk, until one time my teacher said that they apparently contained traces of animal pus. And from that day on, I could never drink milk without feeling like I'm drinking cow urine. And as for cheese, yes, that stuff is really good. That one I still haven't been able to give up, but I'm trying.

Being a vegetarian is not a hard matter. There are plenty of people who have given up meat and the meal options are endless. Being a vegan is hard, and this is why you should do it.

Being a vegan is a style. The title gives one a sense of self-pride. It's the same pride you get from using an iPhone or wearing name-brand clothing or owning a giant house or being a doctor. I almost feel a tinge of jealousy when people tell me they are vegan. You automatically feel better about yourself when you choose to go meat and dairy free.

But unlike iPhones and houses, veganism is not a materialistic want. At the most, maybe you'll have a couple vegan customized t-shirts and a bumper sticker. You didn't choose to become a vegan because it was the latest gadget or trend.

You are a vegan because you want to be happier and healthier.

And there's nothing wrong with that.