Serve, Just Enough

“It’ looks so cheap and we’re not doing it”, announced thelady of the house, while reacting to the idea of offering carry bags to theguests accompanying the bridegroom. Believe, this is one new trend in our partof the world that has taken over our wedding season. I happened to attend a fewbig fat weddings (that’s what most of our weddings have turned into) quite recentlyand I couldn’t resist myself the temptation of highlighting a few things thatare discussed at almost every wedding function in Kashmir but somehow we end updoing nothing with regard to the same. Infact this issue gets brushed under thecarpet almost around the same time.

Showing off or spending extravagantly, without any sense isthe new norm in our society wherein we are already facing the menaces ofunemployment, late marriages, drug abuse, hunger and so on. Forgive me forbeing rude but we don’t even behave like animals (for they too follow their setrules and guidelines ) when abnormally huge quantities of food are served to usat various functions during our wedding ceremonies. Order of the day is to pileup the serving dish – more the number of dishes and larger the size, higher theso called social status tends to get and such is the mad rat race that nobodywants to be left behind.

   

The quantity of food that is served at our weddings issimply appalling and to make things worse we take pride in wasting food. Someyears back one good addition to our not so ethnic Wazwan was the introductionof carry bags – you eat some and you carry a portion home. By the way, thiscarry bag thing has become a bone of contention for many or should I put itmore bluntly – a mark of indecency, to certain elite circles (as if wastingfood was the most decent and noblest of deeds on planet earth). As a matter offact, even in functions where enormous amounts of mutton and chicken are cookedand carry bags are also offered to guests, has anyone amongst us ever thoughtof the quantity of rice that gets wasted and how many people could possibly befed with those enormous quantities of grain. Further more, I am not going totalk about the damage done and pollution caused by the so called modern disposablecrockery items to our health and environment in this write up. We are leastbothered about that.

In a world that grows enough food to feed everyone, it seemsperverse that hundreds of millions across the globe still suffer from chronichunger. Countries like Syria, Yemen etc caught in the throes of a civil war arefacing catastrophic famine, hitting millions of people. We need not look thatfar because situation in Kashmir too is not that rosy either. There are so manycases of families having lost their bread winners, struggle for a decent squaremeal. Children especially orphans and widows are the worst sufferers. Ironydoesn’t quite describe the situation where, in a world that grows enough foodto feed everyone, one in nine persons suffers from chronic hunger, as per a2017 UN report. Do we even have an idea about how many million people aresuffering from chronic undernourishment especially those living in countriesaffected by conflict. Unbelievable but true that hunger kills more people everyyear than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined together. Such has been thechange in circumstances around the world that, after a period of decline,chronic hunger and malnutrition have been on the rise again. Violent conflict,climate change and rising economic and gender inequality have all contributedto adverse food security, threatening to undo decades of gain.

One of the easiest things most of us can do is to helpreduce food wastage by doing our bit. No faith or basic human values allowwastage of any kind. Extravagance and show-off are traps our society needs tocome out of. We would be doing ourselves and fellow humans a big favor byacting moderate in our dealings and it’s time we get our act together and takea stance. Further, the need of the hour is to introduce the concept of FOODBANKS that would not only help reduce food wastage but also go a long way infeeding the poor, hungry and less fortunate. Just imagine, how much of adifference that would make to the world around us. Lastly, it’s time to let goof some of the not so good traditions and customs and move on to somethingbetter. Let’s understand that someone is dying for the food, we are throwingaway…..Think before you waste food again!

(Ifthikar Bashir is a freelance Financial Advisor)

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