Why there is food on my plate?
And it is there consistently, since the day I was born….
Digressing Foreword
I am blessed. Ever since I was born, I am blessed with food, clothes and shelter., a nice & warm family, parents, good teachers — you get the point, I guess.
Born in southern India — I had never had the consciousness (but why south India & consciousness — is a matter to be dealt in a different story — for now, just trust me)about me, not taking things for granted. Naturally, I faced the consequence, in 2009 — a few months after I turned 27 years old.
The consequence came in the form of financial strains. Being just married, added up to the already existing financial condition at home.
A lower middle-class family — but nevertheless, had never struggled for food, clothes or shelter. And I had my run as a kid, teen and adult until I reached my coming-of-age : employee in a BPO company. So when the consequence of the attitude of “take everything for granted”, hit me, I felt it real hard. Life went on. I was moving from one struggle to another — but never at ease with life. Now, today after 10 years — I asked this question. Just today, I asked myself this question.
Of all the struggles for finance that my family faced, I faced, of all the struggles that I had gone through because of my arrogant actions, rage shown towards parents, friends, relatives and relationships, buried in deep regret:seeing my sister dead before her 10th birthday, of all the worst things that I have experienced in these 37 years of my life — there were too many blessings to keep me alive, with a well formed body (a bit overweight though :) ) & a sane mind(I think!). And Why?how? And of all these blessings — I singled out the chiefly nourishing one. Food. Good, delicious food, and more importantly-I experienced it being served to me almost always with love. Even by strangers. And that, become the question.
And here’s the insertion of the actual story……
So, I had this question in my mind coming up today : after a whole and scrumptious dinner : Thanks to my mom (is the Thanks, a lip-service or from my heart??) — I was strolling at the terrace, observing the waning moon, when this question struck me.
Why there is food on my plate?
As I strolled, I got the below perspectives as reasons & possibilities
- May be Karma — May be, I had been a wonderful, generous human being(yeah! could be) in my previous births and it is paying-itself-of. May be my parents were even more wonderful and great human beings and it is helping me. Born in India, it would be a sin (and add to my karma) if I didn’t think of this possibility :)
- May be I am rich:Born with silver or golden spoon — Hell, no (sorry heavens, I haven’t seen you both yet). This possibility is in direct contradiction to my “digressing foreword”
- May be I have the looks and people are just ogling, serving me with good food, since the day I was born. Sweet lord (I don’t have one — you can pick your choice — Shiva, Buddha, Jesus, YWHW,,,you name it). Is that thought, a dig at myself, I ask. Again, the digressing foreword has this premise covered. I am not just overweight, I am in bad shape that I can’t run for 10 minutes at a stretch :) :)
- May be I am employed : Definitely, nope (I mean not the reason). Well, I am employed only since 2004, after I passed out of college. My father spent his entire life’s efforts in running our family. So, up until 2004 he payed for every morsel of food that had gone into my body and made me up as a man — and his father did the same and his father to all my forefathers. So then the question of who put food in their plate for them to put it on mine?? — fine, one more eliminated…
- May be my country was never at a war : No, No, no — let’s not go there
- May be my community does charity, to all irrespective of class, creed, gender, caste and religion : And so I ‘d always end up consuming good food— lol, lol, lol…tonsuring is better than this thought
- Ah!Ah! got it — Farmers are producing, around the world, round the clock. Eureka moment!!!. How brilliant!!! Yes and yes and yes : **** you, is that even a reason?? Do you want to continue to think of seed wars, farmers dying, whole countries struggling to cater food to even 50% of its citizens
- May be everyone gets good food in this world ,in time — Are you nuts? Which age are you from? — pre-stone age, paleolithic, mumbo-jumbo creature. Don’t I know the statistics (of varying quality and limitless quantity) spread all over our wonderful, life-giving internet
- So, what the heck? Crack the heck if you are intelligent, said my mind again… not again!!
So, I ended up with a question for the originally chosen question. So, what the heck ??— for the question o f— Why there is food on my plate??
The stroll at my terrace lasted about 20 minutes. I asked every question possible to arrive at an answer. And — So, what the heck? was all I ended up with.
And so, I am asking you with all humility — Do you know why there is food on my plate? May be it is good idea, for each one of us, who reads this post to think of getting a possible reason, as to, why there is food on your plate, too? Allow me to presume that, for all my dear global -citizens reading this post in medium with the help of their Kindle, apple or an android smart-phone : the food on the plate is there, and it comes at an amazing consistency, too.
Ignore my fallacies or advise.
Love
Aravindh V Bala
