Food for Life

Do you remember those five agonizing minutes? You know exactly what I am talking about! Before you rack your brain any further, I will tell you what the fuss is all about. Those precious five minutes that stands between you and the recess period that follows it. When you can feel your fingers twitching towards your lunch box, wondering what your mother might have packed in it. When you can hear that unheard call from you lunch box, egging you to find out what is inside. When you practically hear the growling of your stomach, pleading unto you to tear upon the bag in which the lunch box is neatly wrapped.

Oh yes, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I used to curse any teacher who would take those treasurable extra five minutes out of our break, which only lasts TEN MINUTES IN TOTAL! I mean where is your heart, lady?

It doesn’t matter if you are a child or an adolescent, hunger pangs affects us all during classroom hours, hindering our concentration in our lessons. It is that physical essentiality that needs to be satiated when the time comes. Imagine that one day when you forget the lunch box at home and you have to share your friend’s box during the break period. Nothing is more excruciating than the feeling of not being satisfied entirely, especially when matters of food arise. It energizes us and literally makes us listen to what is going on during the lessons. Think about how you feel after the recess period, when you are relaxed and are good to go.

Sadly, most of the children in India are not bestowed with that privilege. Hunger is highlighted as one of the major reasons for young children to drop out of schools. Instead they focus more on the jobs that can feed them and even the parents seem to encourage that notion. Can you imagine a situation like that?

Even though the government has come up with many schemes such as the Midday Meal Scheme (MDMS) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), majority of the kids go unfed and ungratified. Why does it fail to meet the needs of so many children?

We need to step up and contribute to the society that beckons for a reaction from us. It doesn’t have to be much really, it can be simple steps that help to eliminate hunger of those innocent children. We can think more of avoiding wastage of food, as we are blessed to be provided with three square meals a day when the millions of others suffer.

We can even donate to Akshaya Patra, a non-profit organisation that implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. The Government of India supports this organisation steadily in association with various State Governments and other organisations.

Whenever my friends and I go out to have meal or if it is someone’s birthday party, we ensure that we pack up the extra food and distribute it to the kids who need it the most. You simply don’t let the excess food go to waste and instead, somebody gets benefited out of it. The same can be applied to the lavish wedding ceremonies where plates clattered with food are dumped in the trash, heartlessly. Why not pack them up and distribute them to the hungry mouths who crave one square meal a day?

Don’t forget that for every blog post you write, BlogAdda will sponsor meals for an Akshaya Patra beneficiary for an entire year, as a part of their Bloggers Social Responsibility. So what are you waiting for? Get writing now and blog to feed a child!

I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda