Every day I walk a short distance from my home to the bus stop around 7 a.m. to catch the bus to my office. On the way there are a few garbage bins. A week ago, I saw a garbage collector standing beside his garbage cart holding a couple of bajjis . Walking past him, I heard him tell his co-worker, “These eatables could have been given to poor people like us. Instead of being thrown in the garbage, it would have satisfied our hunger.” He was right. I realised that the bajjis would have been a feast for him.
There are similar incidents happening all over the country every day. We often read in newspapers that tons of food is wasted every year.
While the less fortunate suffer hunger and malnutrition, we see the rich splurge and waste. Tons of food grains rot in open yards and government storage places for want of proper care. But the homeless go hungry every day.
In busy junctions of the city, we see beggars running from one vehicle to the other seeking alms. Western countries are conscious about food wastage. Being a developing country, how can we afford the luxury of wasting food? According to reports, India wastes about Rs. 44,000 crore worth of food annually. Why can’t we do something to stop this squander?
We console ourselves when we face any monetary loss, but hesitate and think many times before parting with a penny for a good cause. On one side there is wilful waste and on another, there is woeful want.
The world is governed by opposites. There is night and day, winter and spring, joy and sorrow, surge and pause, tide and ebb and so on. While I was musing, the bus came and all I could do was hop in and push myself into the crowded bus.
