Hunger...when the stomach rumbles....

It was one of those hot scorching summer days, I was surrounded by scalding hot oil. Rolled over and over, the gram flour became crisp and golden over me. Alas! I was out from the pan into a basket surrounded by many of my kind. But it wasn’t too long before I was picked up and pushed between a pav soaked with green and red chutney. I knew my time had come to serve the purpose of my existence-to calm down someone’s rumbling stomach. Little did I know that this day of mine would probably change the perception of many and touch your life in an unthinkable way. Yes, I am a Vada, crispy golden yellow, the humble favorite of the rich and poor alike.

So, as I was waiting to serve my purpose and being deeply engrossed in my dreamland, little did I realize, I was handed over to a frail man for free. Oh boy! I felt so worthless! The frail man started walking towards the traffic signal, and I wondered why hadn’t he devoured me yet. He looked like the last meal he had was weeks ago. I realized I was going to be shared with his family of a wife and a small baby who were cramped up in an unused drainage pipe. Joy was slowly filling him as he inched closer to the pipe which he called home. The little boy’s eyes lit with joy when he saw his father approach with food. The weak little kid expressed his joy with the little energy left in his body. He was about to get a morsel of food after so many days, but life had other plans. The man tripped and I fell out of his hands into the nallah. Oops, I was now covered with muck and flies. I felt so dejected and sad for the poor man and his family. Suddenly I see the little boy pick me up, clean me with his tattered shirt and in I go into his mouth. Realization dawned on me, how valuable I was. I saw the price health paid to huger.

There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread- Gandhi

Think twice before wasting that morsel of food. Ensure to get on your plate only that what you can eat!