We had this release weekend; some of the staff had to work on Saturday and Sunday. A load of food was ordered to keep the staff going…Apart from meals there were snacks; crisps, chocolates, fruits, drinks…. I overate! All these snacks were so tempting and in front of me that even though I was full, I was tempted to stuff myself….

In the evening when most of the staff had left, I took a stroll in the kitchen to get some tea…I saw the bin was full of unwanted food…loads of left over stacked up… My immediate reaction was “What a waste!” I got a bit disturbed. The way home I was restless, but was not sure what the reason was. I took a taxi back home as it was too late. On my way through the London streets I could see tall buildings, most of them offices, all lit up. London is really amazing to look at night, I thought! As the excitement settled down, the restlessness creped up again. It was Sunday evening, but the lights of all the offices were on. A waste again! Or may be they had a good enough reason to keep them ON throughout the weekend.

The next morning on my way back to office, I saw a huge banner which read “some people in the world do not have clean water, food….” And something more (I don’t remember). It struck me; I was ashamed of myself….. I remembered the left over food, the bin loaded with food, all the delicious, tempting food that I munched on even though I was not really hungry. This was not the first time that I had seen such an ad…. I had seen it hundreds of times before, but what I felt bad about is that I am not doing anything about it. What can I do? How could I tell the management to not throw away so much food and order only what is required? How can I tell all the offices to switch off the lights? I see people around me wasting paper, and not recycle them but how can I tell them not to? They will think I am a nerd!

I have been brought up in a country where I have seen poverty from a very young age. I would see beggars on the streets everyday on my way to school. I saw my mum reusing plastic bags, newspaper but at that age I did not know if that was good or bad. I just knew that this is how it is. I learnt at a very young age that food is precious and that you should not waste it. If there was any left over my mum would give it off to maid servants or beggars, who would be very grateful to get it.

But then things started changing. I came to a different country, a country which was already developed, was much more sophisticated, it gave its people all the facilities which I never imagined I would get in my country. I was happy to see a country so self sufficient. I could rarely see a beggar; a maid servant was as rich as I was. The government took care of the people so well that I realised that the people here did not know what poverty is. What it is to go without food, electricity, water for a day or so. The country may have had a history of struggle, but last 3-4 generations were not touched by the dark side of life.

It is very easy to get used to the luxuries and comfort that life offers but to live without them is a struggle. I got used to these comforts myself, and slowly forgot about the basic living style that I used to lead back in my own country. I forgot what I had seen and felt about those poor people. I forgot about the naked kids playing around the open gutter. I forgot that I can help them get what I have got in life.


I started using plastic bags generously, throw away paper even if the other side was blank (I had the habit of using both the sides of paper – making the most of it). I also started to bin food if I did not like it. I kept the tap on while brushing, lights on even if I was not in the room. I forgot about all those people that I used to see everyday struggling to get the basic requirements of life. I should indeed be ashamed!

And now I think it is not what others are doing around me that I should worry about, but I should think about myself before pointing my finger to others because I have seen poverty more than people here. I have experienced the darker side of life myself and hence it is easy for me to relate to these issues. I should do something about it. I can do something about it!

I may not be able to change the BIG world but I can try changing the little world around me by doing what is right. And you never know there may be many such small worlds around you that are changing or will change and there will be a day “let’s hope” when all these small changes will change the big world. Fingers crossed!!