It was an important day in my
newly started schedule of life; just two days before I have joined a new
assignment which had given me the opportunity to be a part of the state’s WED
celebration. The theme as you know is THINK EAT SAVE. That was interesting
because right from my childhood I have learnt only not to waste food. It was my
parents, and my grand mom who always said that Laxmi (Hindu Goddess of Wealth)
lies in food so we should not disgrace her by wasting food. Sometimes, when we
had left a considerable quantity of food on the plate because it didn’t tasted
that good as always, mom used to scold us by saying that there were many people
around who are lying hungry. Gradually, when we grew up and experienced lives
out of our mom-shielded homes, we have started realizing the facts of hunger,
starvation and inequality in food distribution. Again, it was Rathaya Yella
sir, who in our college days, always told us about the pain of a farmer in
producing a single grain of rice; which was an another teaching on reducing
food wastage! With all these background and hailing from a lower middle class
family, the theme obviously was a matter of interest.
What I am going to write here is
not particularly about the celebration of world environment day, but about how
we feel about the theme. With deep pain, I have noticed that some people along
with one of our state ministry of Assam celebrated it in some posh locations,
far away from people, far away from the needy. Those celebrations, ornamented
with high quality food that too in abundant quantity is nothing but a mockery
to the theme itself. At the time when such celebrations were laden with
intellectual lectures on saving food and reducing hunger, there may have been
lots of hungry people outside searching for food! So, what is the use of such
lectures which does not have any action in reality? May be that is the case
with many such events across the world.
What I am trying to say is that
in most of the issues, we just concentrate on speaking, not on action. On
issues particularly like this, action should be more than the words. Our
parents may not have any recognition for being intellectuals, but what they
have taught us in our childhood is relevant not only to the home but to the world
as well. Now when I look back to my parent’s advice, I find that there may not
be goddess Laxmi in the food as appeared to a science believer like me, but
those were the keys for a better future. But as we have ignored those golden
sayings, sufferings have begun. Another interesting fact about those old
goodies was that my grand parents and their fore parents believed in keeping
food for the birds and animals, for the hungry who may come in suddenly; a thought
that is of high environmental importance now a days. So that is the fact, what
we celebrate and focus as environmental concern and environmental activism, was
there in our parents and their fore fathers in a much more inherent way; but
they never boasted about it, nor there was any public recognition!
So, before making artificial and
so called intellectuality laden celebration on food conservation, we must stick
to the basics of our lives; reducing food wastage at home and workplace, saving
food for ourselves and for the others lying hungry in and around us and making
an honest and sincere effort on our part. Unless we do that, nothing is going
to save our food, wherever we celebrate, whatever we celebrate and whoever we
heard of!
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