Every day Tanya wants pizza,
And Rohit, his Big Mac,
While Papa orders his
Paneer-tikka along with
Butter-chicken with lots
Of garlic-onion;
Mama likes her pasta
And burgers and fried noodles;
The family eats lot of
Unburnt calories in their
Heavy meals,
Sitting idle before
Wide-screen TV
In their pricey
Well-lit Mumbai home,
The family eats
And
Never watches the
Tilting scales,
The leftovers are daily
Meant for the distant
Land-fills and dumps;
While, little Laxmi,
Few blocks away,
Living in the crowded
Damp slum,
Often goes hungry
To her disturbed sleep
Along with other crying siblings,
As they have nothing
To eat in their dim-lit
8x8 pavement-tin-home;
Cannot this imbalance
In lifestyles be corrected?
Asks Tanya’s young
Ideal teacher, in a
Voice sonorous,
By avoiding waste,
Sharing untouched food
And eating simple meals?
(On World Environment Day, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the hungry in a divided world where, as per a recent UN report, more than 20,000 kids under five years of age die daily of hunger.)
