The Vagabond

The last few alphabets are the most difficult in A2Z Challenge. Towards the end, you just drag on because you have posted till “V” and you can’t just quit now, when it’s just last 4 alphabets. So, as soon as I finished writing for V, my mind was on an auto pilot for W. I couldn’t think of anything, till the word “Waste” came to my mind.

Though I’m not that traditional temple goer, my belief in religion is more of spirituality, but there is one thing i absolutely adore about all religions, Do not waste food.

Hindus consider food as sacred, and offer it to God before each meal. Christians thank God for each meal they eat. Who understands the value of a food more than a devout Muslim. They denounce food for one month, to understand the hunger of the poor. When you go to Gurudwara ( Sikh religious temple ) and have langar ( community meal ), you can’t leave food on your plate. So all religions stress the importance of not wasting food. Yet, daily tons of food is wasted all over and there are millions who go to sleep without it.

“Not to waste” should be inculcated early on.

Children have less appetite, unless it’s one of their tasty dishes, that’s what they can overeat as well. However, that does not prevent us mothers from overfilling their plates. A small hope, that the child might eat a little more today.

End-result : Its ok to waste.

Children should be encouraged to take small servings from early on. They should be taught to take Repeat servings if still hungry, but only take as much as they can finish.

Our grandparents would cook little, as at that time, refrigerators were not there. Then came these cool devils, and we started cooking more so that we could stack it for next time. At my maternal family, left over of last meal was a norm, but at my in laws family, left over food was looked down upon as if it was criminal, and they wouldn’t like eating it. I’m not advocating either, but if you do cook more, finish it over the next day. If you don’t like eating same change the shape. My son relishes paranthas of left over Aloo Gobhi. Rajma can be mashed into Tikkis which kids love so much.

I have observed that people waste more when they eat out. Please do not over order. It’s always good to order a dish less and then reorder if you are still hungry. However, if you do over order, please take your parcel home.

The Earth is in a delicate balance now. We have already exploited all its resources, and may be nothing much would be left for our grandkids.

Our children are children of abundance. They get everything they ask for. I remember having just one pair of shoes when I was in school. My son has more than me ! Even though I go to work, and he goes to school.

Don’t throw away things. There are organisations which give away clothes, stationery, books, shoes, toys etc to poor. Encourage them to donate.

“Reuse, Recycle, Reduce” that’s what schools start teaching from kindergarten. However, as parents it’s our responsibility to help them inculcate this. Switching off the lights, using notebooks of previous year as rough-books, are some of the things we can help them adopt.

If you have any more suggestions please add in comments.

I am participating in A2Z Challenge this April and this post is my entry for letter W.