Hunger strikes

Pranith always wasted food. His mother wondered how she could cure him of this.

“Papa, one more, pleeease,” Pranith pleaded, while stuffing his mouth with another big piece of masala dosa .

“He already had two…..,” said mother, but stopped midway when father signalled her not to say anything further.

So, the waiter brought in the third

masala dosa and Pranith eagerly started eating it but could not go beyond a quarter of it. “I am full,” he said, pushing aside the plate.

“Such a waste,” said mother regretfully. “That is the reason I tried to stop you from ordering one more,” she said looking at father.

Caught out!

In fact, Pranith wasted food regularly. Even home-cooked food was not spared. He threw the unfinished breakfast into the waste bin. He hardly finished his lunch at school. Half of the contents would go into the bin. He sulked during dinner. He reasoned that he was not hungry. When forced, he would nibble the food before throwing it into the bin.

“Such a waste of food,” mother would say. “Pranith, are you aware that millions in our country go to bed with an empty stomach? While they don’t get enough, you waste food recklessly!” Yes, Pranith was reckless. He cared two hoots about what his mother said.

Late one evening, while mother was cooking, the gas in the cylinder got over. She switched on the induction stove. It began to rain and suddenly, the power went off. Pranith finished his homework sitting near the emergency light. He waited for dinner.

The rain intensified and so did the wind. “Pranith,” mother called out. “Can you call the electricity department?” she asked.

Pranith ran towards the phone but it was dead. Mother’s mobile phone had no charge. “What shall we do?” asked a worried Pranith even as the emergency light went off.

“We have to go hungry,” said mother. Pranith was excited about the idea. After all, mother would not coax him to eat and then scold him when he wasted food; also, he’d be spared of her sermon about hunger and poverty.

The minutes went by slowly. The house was plunged in darkness except for the flickering candle light. Strangely, Pranith began to feel hungry. After a time, he was famished and his hunger became intolerable. Just then, the rain stopped and the power was restored. Mother cooked dal-rice on the induction stove and Pranith eagerly finished his dinner.

The next day and in the days that followed, Pranith stopped wasting food. He served himself only that much as he felt would be enough. Mother noticed the change.

“That night when the power went off, I realised what it is like to be hungry and without food, though only for a few hours,” Pranith said. “Amma, you’re right. We can feed some hungry kids if we do not waste food!”

Mother smiled — on that night, she had resisted her impulse to give Pranith some cookies, which she always kept in reserve. Pranith learnt an important lesson about hunger.