LET’S TWEAK OUR CUSTOM A BIT

If you belong to the upper middle class I think you are acquainted more with wastage than the shortage.

This is Diwali week, people can hear cracker explosions all around them. And all our activist friends talking about the amount of air pollution and noise pollution people are creating. That part is worrisome right but I sometimes marvel at the amount of money which is wasted on these crackers. I mean it’s literally putting a matchstick to thousands of rupees. Probably, to show our neighbors how much better off we are as compared to them.

During Navratri on Ashtami or Navmi, there is a custom of calling 7 or more girls and offering them food and goodies. The girls in my colony are really in demand then and they go to on average 5-6 houses and get Halwa, ChHole Puri from all. At times so much is collected in their house that they don’t know what to do about it. After all how much can a small girl eat ? Why don’t we tweak our custom a bit and give it to the girl begging on the street. They will appreciate it more. They need it more.

A friend of mine told me that whenever they have dinner in a restaurant they get the leftovers packed and at times order additional chapatis to go with it and give it to the first beggar they meet at the signal so the family outings end on a very warm note.

Remember, there is a demand somewhere for whatever we have in surplus. It’s just a matter of getting it to the right person. If we all make an effort we can make a difference.

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Kuljeet Saini is a science graduate. She was a computer science teacher for more than 6 years but now she is a complete homemaker with two very beautiful energetic boys to look after.