The Baggage Of Guilt
Fortunate people are those who have food, shelter and good health in the present days. The increasing rate in corona patients has made the government take the drastic step of lockdown. Everything was going good so far until lockdown. When the day of lockdown was declared, I saw people rushing in every store to get groceries and other essentials. Even my parents had to maintain the distance in the long queue to get the essential products. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Hi everyone, I am Rohit from Mumbai. I am a student as well as I am an online freelancer. I am a kinda foodie who loves to gorge on delicacies. My brother also has a fascination for foods. But, he likes to eat less food than me. My mom will fill his plates with food and my younger brother will eat half of the food and then will pass on the rest of the food to me or mom after he finishes his food. By God's grace, our family was fortunate to get daily food and lead a lavish life; as dad and I used to work from home. At the end of the month, we used to get our monthly salary. Hence, we never have to face a financial crisis.
We read in the newspapers that there are innumerable families who have lost their jobs and I saw in the neighborhood how people faced difficulties during the covid situation. There was a tremendous rise in the covid patients with each passing day. The number of deaths of covid patients was getting uncountable. There was a lack of beds for covid patients in the hospitals. Many unfortunate covid patients had to lie on the floors of the hospitals. Salute to the doctors and nurses who tried their level best in saving the lives of the covid patients. It was indeed a challenging task for doctors and nurses to work in the covid situation, but they did not give up.
Amidst chaotic and devastating situations everywhere, I happened to witness many people who had been begging for food. On the other hand, I witnessed wealthy and insensitive people who did not value food. In the tough covid period, there were many people who were lucky to stuff their kitchen with food. Such people did not know the value of food because they had food in abundance at their homes. One morning, our sweeper came to collect garbage from our building. My eyes caught sight of my neighbor who dumped a huge amount of food in the trash can and then she handed over the trash bag to the sweeper. How cruel or insensible can some people be at such a crucial time who are throwing food outside when numerous people on earth were fighting to get a handful of meals? I was so furious that I was about to give a piece of my mind to our neighbor, but my mother stopped me from rebuking me. My mother told me later it was futile to waste your energy on such people who do not give importance to food. Our neighbor had the habit of wasting things without
understanding the value of things in life.
After a few months of complete lockdown, shops, supermarkets, restaurants and malls have started to function again gradually. My brother and I decided to go to a nearby food joint to enjoy delicious meals after a few months. It was good to see people were buzzing in the restaurants and on the streets. The food joint which my brother and I entered followed covid rules. Our hands were sanitized and we entered the food joint by wearing a mask. While eating, we removed the mask. As soon as we finished eating food, our masks were back on our noses. After a long time, we got a chance to taste the lip-smacking delicacies which we missed a lot. As soon as the foods had been served, we started binging on them.
After my brother and I came out from the food joint, we came across a heartwrenching sight which made not only us feel the importance of food but also to all people who came in the food joint. There was a little girl and a boy in shabby clothes who came to collect the leftover foods of the customers who eat half of the food and dump a majority of the food in the name of "diet". Our eyes were almost filled with tears when we saw how a little girl was feeding her little brother the leftover foods which were given to them in a garbage bag by the staff of the food joint.
Dinner then, my younger brother did not leave a speck of food on his plate. We all got a lesson from the little boy and girl who were craving for food but were happy with the leftover food they got.
It's my humble request to all people and readers not to dump food in the garbage. Eat food as per your need. By dumping food in the garbage, you are disrespecting our Almighty.
In a few words, Aparna defines a woman who beholds high aspirations and firmly believes in expanding her horizon. She holds a Master's degree in English from Mumbai University. By profession, she is an online Senior Content Writer and Blogger who writes informative articles for various Indian, UK, and US blogs and websites.