I was a spoilt brat(still am) , adamant and rebellious! Just like almost any, to-be teenager. I used to be very fussy about many things, especially the lunch my mom packed for school. Being a working woman, she found it hard to meet my end of demands of a proper lunch which would meet my liking. One fine day, I decided I would not eat if my lunch was the same old curd rice with pickle. I though, "What the hell? My friend's mom managed to cook fried rice and noodles for her almost everyday and I get just curd rice or sambar rice?"
We all know that curd, once kept out for a long time, has the tendency to turn sour and not so good to eat or even smell. I just got down from the school bus and had to walk a few meters to reach home when suddenly my mom's words popped into my head. "Come home one more time without eating your lunch, I'll make sure you will starve for two days." I used to think "Oh my god! Why does she have to make a big fuss out of this? It's just food and that too curd rice which is turned out all sour and smelly!" I ran to the nearby dustbin (Yes I'm environment friendly) to clear the box so that I don't get shouted at by mom. I was almost about to throw it when I heard a voice, loud and crystal clear "AKKA!" A boy even younger than me with torn clothes, came running as fast as he could and said "No don't throw it away. Please let me eat it." I said "It's spoilt. It wont taste good." What he said and did just made my heart skip a beat. "It's okay even of its spoilt. Its still food. I have not eaten for two days. Can I please have it?" I handed over the lunch box very hesitantly to that kid. He ate like he was seeing food for the first time. I had so much of guilt and there was this lump in my throat that i found hard to swallow. In two minutes he had eaten it all. I flashed him a teary smile and the smile he returned, it can still be picturised clearly in my mind. Happy, innocent and content. They say when you smile from your heart, it will be shown on your face. That moment, I realised what it truly meant.
What I promised to myself was, I would never waste food no matter I like it or not. I was fortunate enough to have a mother who made sure I was well fed and NEVER starved. As for the boy, I handed him out a bar of chocolate which I had saved for myself. He flashed that amazing smile again and left me spell bound. I still at times get reminded about that boy when I eat curd rice. (something that I relish now) I always wonder, what he'd be doing right now. From waking up each day to a comfortable place to sleep at night, I say thanks for all those little things that enable me to have a good life.
12 comments:
Good one sruti - glad you still like curd rice. However I don't remember packing mostly curd rice or sambar. Looks like you have a selective memory about the lunch packed. However glad and felt teary eyed to read how we learn lessons
"I was fortunate enough to have a mother who made sure I was well fed and NEVER starved" - fully agree with this statement of yours Shruthi.
Lovely piece.
"We don't realise the value of something until it is lost," our Upanishads say.
It's such small incidents that prove to be life-turners. Keep it up Sruti.
We dont realise the value of many things because it is all available easily. I am sure our parents and grandparents must have gone through so much to get it! We should consider ourselves really lucky to have been blessed with such wonderful parents!
Shruti! You would be a wonderful
writer. Take it up!
Prabhakar Unle
Pah sruti....Pinre ma.....Yenpa assnt directors idhu yela note pannunge pa...:P....Gud job...:)...Cheers...
really good Sruti ma :)! selection of words is really good !! Continue writing blogs ;) !!!
Simply Fantabulous..am spellbound with no more words. Glad that you remembered the incident and came out with a Blog. With your permission i want the patent rights for this to come out with a script for a short film :-)
@ALL- Thank you so much !! :):)
@Harish: Yes. U surely can! :)
sruti super im so proud f u :) keep going im loving it :)
Srut"s How very sweet of you. a thought provoking story. A few lessons learnt shared for you knowledge
Think about the sorts of foods that you end up binning: they aren't usually candy bars or packets of chips. The foods which we waste are perishables, like fruit, vegetables and bread. Figures show that the top foods wasted are:
vegetables 900,000 tonnes
Potatoes (359,000 tonnes)
Bread (328,000 tonnes)
Apples (190,000 tonnes)
If you're in the habit of buying lots of fruit and vegetables, only to bin them (uneaten, and moldy) a couple of weeks later
If you've been watching the rising food prices with dismay, consider whether your over-shopping habits are partly to blame
Buying two bags of onions when you only need one not only costs you more but creates an artificially high demand for onions - thus driving prices even higher
Do you often end up throwing food away because it's gone off before you've had a chance to use it? If so, resolve to sit down this weekend and plan exactly what you'll need - before doing your weekly shop.
When you go to the supermarket without a shopping list, or with only a vague idea of what meals you might consume over the following few days, it's easy to end up with a shopping cart full of whatever products catch your eye. Even if you avoid the boxes of donuts (half of which will go stale and be thrown away), you might fall into the trap of buying over-large portions of healthier foods and failing to eat them before the expiry date.
Just think about the perugu annam and the little boy you will waste not. Can you clean up your refrigirator this week end please. No kidding just a soft remainder
Love
Seenu Mama
Supraja
Sruti the same thing happened with me when I was doing my interinship in bangalore. As I was reading, like a flash my mind went back to 1999, you know even the year was same, with a difference a mother begging for the food (the same curd rice which I was going to throw as I did not eat in the afternoon as we had burger) for her 5 year old child, really the lady took the rice from me and gave to her child who was very hungry and I was standing with tears in my eyes.
You have capacity of writing well, good keep it up.
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