Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Sep 27, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Sep 27, 2004 |
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Trends Columns - Swati CA Are our roads safe for women or are roads safer without them?
Episode 94
That was some food for thought over the fortnight, and I have been munching the mails that landed in my inbox. "Hi Swati, I have written upon this issue so many times in the local newspaper," writes Kamal Anil Kapadia, a CA from Mumbai. "We had very limited food items in my marriage, enough for one to remember and to fill in the stomach. Leftovers were apportioned and given to beggars; in case food was unfit for human consumption, it was given to animals. Nowadays we have tonnes of food, hundreds of items to choose from. People just take the items for taste and then throw off." That's right, I mean, wrong. "Let me narrate a typical marriage celebration I attended at Racecourse-Mahalaxmi in Mumbai. Welcome drink (coconut water, juices, cocktail, and so on), soups (Chinese, Italian and so on), starters (can't narrate, more than 10 plus), food (Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Indian — Punjabi, South Indian, Gujarati, Marwadi, and so on), beverages (tea, coffee, cold drinks, foreign brand soft drinks, and so forth), snacks (South Indian, pani puri, bhel puri, and so on), desserts (ice creams, ice golas, pineapple crush and so on), popcorns, bread items (sandwich, burgers), dry fruits (pista, badams and so on), mouth-fresheners (mints, and so on)... " Oh, I'm already gasping! "Now, tell me, is this a wedding or an eating function? We were really tasting food for namesake and at the end we did not have enough place to eat the main course, as we were already full tasting all the other food items. It is high time people really think before wasting food even as many people are dying for want of food. Hope this does not fall on deaf ears." Let me too hope so. "Dear Swati, the scene described by you is familiar in South India, because of the absence of buffet system," writes M. Radhakrishnan. "Well, the host feels the guest should `vayarara sapitutu manamakkalai aaseervathaikanum' that is, eat stomach-full and bless the couple. Nobody can question this feeling; accordingly, menu is arranged based on affordability. I will not suggest a reduction of the menu for two reasons." Hey, why? "One, as a host, I like to offer as many varieties as possible to satisfy good eaters. Two, people who are going to waste will anyway waste, irrespective of the number of items. One can also argue that the caterers can serve what the guests want. In practice, this may not be possible because a person with sugar will be eagerly waiting to eat sweet and when the server is about to serve, the spouse sitting next will say don't serve. This will lead to an embarrassing situation. "Therefore, it is up to the eaters to see that they don't waste much. Though my wife has the policy of not wasting food at such functions, I follow the policy of `better to waste rather than going to the waist'. We are again back to square one. Therefore, the ideal situation to avoid such situations is to follow the buffet system. Regarding the other waste at marriage as mentioned by you, I wish to state the economy will flourish when there is more expenditure. Therefore, according to me, there is only one wasteful expenditure in marriage: amount invested in jewellery. It's a dead stock. All other expenses are good for the economy. When money changes hands don't you feel the economy grows?" Good argument. "Dear Swati, in any marriage, excluding the cost of new jewels, 50 per cent of the remaining amount goes for feasts at various times," says a mail from M. Thanga Velu. "Lot of waste occurs, I do agree. But in South India, we are still traditionalists. We do not go for buffet type lunch or dinner. We still clamour for plantain leaf, tabletop feast to be served. We want the bride's family members to greet us politely and submissively, till the marriage function is over. We have been pampered more out of fear than out of respect. Hence in the dinning hall, caterers do not know our preference. They lay dozens of items that are prepared according to the status or the richness of the bride's father, so that no one complains about the feast. You know Swati, marriages breaks up at times due to the non-cooperational attitude of either the bride groom's mama or atthai (aunt) or some other close relatives who pick up silly quarrels in the dining halls, putting the life of the new bride into jeopardy. "Hence the bride's father does not take chances, make everybody merry till the marriage is over, even though at heart he is bleeding, on seeing the hard-earned money wasted. Secondly, buffet dinner or lunch is slowly catching up in the educated circle nowadays, and will take many more years to percolate to the bottom, even though waste is less in such an arrangement." But if people are going to merely taste, waste may still continue, I'm afraid. "Thirdly consuming the waste food is the only manner beggars can access good food. Tell me, how many households give good food to beggars. We give them stale food or leftover stuff, thinking that we will be blessed for this small gesture; but I think it is more sin than keeping quite. Hence seeing beggars near the dustbins is a common scenario near marriage halls. There are good Samaritans who prepare food packets exclusively for beggars and distribute to them during the feasts separately. "There are some who do poor-feeding separately in orphanages on the occasion of marriages in the family, or wedding anniversaries. Joyous faces of beggars outside marriage halls are an indication that they bless the couple from the bottom of their heart, than the heartless relatives." Ah, how ironical! "Dear Swati, on the one hand we have cases of overeating and on the other, we have cases of hunger," writes Anil Kumar Pillai of Kannur. "Can we afford to waste food? Why limit our discussion to wastage of food during weddings? We see food being wasted in many hotels, houses and so on. There are weddings where crores of money would be spent but feeding the poor on such occasions is considered out of fashion. People who do not value food waste them. Whenever anything is in surplus wastage normally happens. Conservation is given importance for scarce commodities, not food. "We find that concern for water scarcity is expressed through boards such as `do not waste water', `close the taps after use' and so forth in many hotels. Have we come across messages and boards saying `do not waste food' anywhere? Is it because water is more critical than food for survival? There is a pressing need to spread awareness on such issues." You're right. "In most of the weddings food is served to the guests irrespective of the fact whether the eater likes a specific dish or not. One way of reducing wastage is through buffet. Let the invitees be given the choice of selecting the item and quantity of dishes. Whatever is left in the end be served to beggars with dignity. After all they are also human beings like us. Why throw the wasted food in the dustbins and then expect them to pick up from there? Is it not inhuman? Doesn't it reflect on our so-called culture? We have to give serious thoughts on such issues which are considered mundane by the majority." There're more questions than answers, it seems. "You are very correct that in wedding parties, conferences and meetings, there is huge wastage unmindful of the expenses and environmental aspects, and also the respect for food," writes K. Chokkaraman, Sr Manager-IT in Madras Cements Ltd. "Reasons: one, the participant is not directly bearing the expenses; and two, educated class of people want to exhibit their affluence. With the entry of MNCs, this trend is going up. Present-day education makes one greedier and pushes them to indulge in extravagance and a lavish life style." How pitiable! "Dear Swati, your concern is right. We are doing wrong," writes Radha Subramanian from Perambalur. "In the recently held marriage of the Sahara Group wedding, it was said at least some hundred crores were wasted for a marriage. Similarly, a treat was organised by a steel tycoon in England and that was considered to be the costliest feast ever paid in London. Although it hit headlines, little did they know that it also hits lakhs and lakhs of poor who starve for their food once a day. May be, that would be a prestige issue to them. "But if there is a common thought also which joins such cause, it will make both (the organiser and the poor) happy. During our first wedding day, my wife suggested that we should celebrate it with those in a nearby Deaf & Dumb school, by spending the whole day with them. On that day, when we went there, believe me or not, I was stunned by the response given by the children over there. "They were so happy for our presence and they felt as if they were in zoos and we came there to visit them. We had our breakfast, lunch and dinner with them and left them with a heavy heart. That night my wife was telling me that, how god has blessed us for not being like them (without any physical challenges)." What a nice gesture! "Instead, spending huge money in giving treats to friends and relatives will not only end in wastage of money but also gain nobody's praise but only vengeance. If required, plan in such a way that the items are given on the request of the guests and not simply served to end up as waste. May be it will consume a little more time but it will earn a little more credit when our accounts are finalised." Well said. "Hi Swati, I belong to the Rajasthani community where weddings are conducted in the most lavish manner," writes Aakanksha. "It's so true that a large quantity of food just goes waste and there are so many people in the country who sleep without one meal a day. Believe me this is nothing but pomp and show. There are at least 60-70 items for the buffet and people serve their plates with about 30 and end up eating may be 7-8 of them. Things need to change. This change is seen at a few places where they do not allow more than 13-14 items. It is a small attempt but hopes to go a long way. We need to realise that food is meant for survival and not extravaganza." Thanks for the thought. "Definitely not, Swati, we are not doing the right thing," writes Mamata. "Such a colossal waste of food when millions of us go without food everyday! Why do we do such things when most of us can't afford such gala? Social pressure? Showing off the wealth? Those of us who can afford all this will always flaunt the wealth. Those who can't afford will say they have to do such things, `kyonki society mein rahana hai' even if it means that after the event their economy goes for a toss. "Occasions like this are also treated as sharing one's joy with others. Such sharing could be done in a more disciplined manner showing some respect for basic human dignity. It takes a toll when others eat from trashcans and have animals for company. This, in a country where the father of the nation chose to wear only a loin cloth, because so many people couldn't cover themselves properly. This is being discussed for decades now. I feel it is a matter of self-restraint and the scene will improve only if it is felt from within." ********
I remember it was only days after that ghastly accident took place on city roads when a brawl among friends turned bloody with a girl crushed under the wheel of irresponsible boys. Ahead of me on the road was a lady on a bike, driving cautiously and slow. A motorist who was getting irritated kept honking and at last overtook her so rudely that she fell off her bike and suffered minor bruises. Though the culprit didn't care to stop, there were many who came to the affected person's help. It's not that I'm trying to champion the cause of women who use the roads, but a fact they have to live with is some amount of bullying by other motorists. At times, the result is fatal, though on most occasions, their palpitation should be going up when bikes and vans drive past them. Do you think our roads are safe for women? Or the converse, do you think our women are safe for the roads? Send in your thoughts by Friday.
For archived episodes of this column click on: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/nic/swati/index.htm
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