This article was originally written in Tamil by R. Ananda Kumar, who is also the author of Naangaam Thadam (Tale of a Rascal Sage). I assisted him in translating this article into English.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Saleeka Shahul and Kat Ramana for their invaluable assistance in refining this article.
“The gaze of a hungry dog has a peculiar glimmer. This glimmer is nothing but a reflection of all the hunger from around the world and across time. Within that glimmer is an archive of all the starvation that has ever existed in the past within the ordinary souls of our ancestors who’ve fought in wars, withstood famines, and survived calamities.”
The inception of this article was before the pandemic. I hereby disgracefully justify the delay by accusing various external factors and also, lethargy.
Not so long ago, I had to attend a wedding held at Codissia, Coimbatore. The ceremony was marvelous to witness. They must've spent a great deal on it. The estimated budget was said to be twenty lakh Indian rupees. The fine clothing and expensive jewelry, non-negotiable for weddings of this scale, would have taken that budget up to a couple of crores.
Following the ceremony was probably what everyone was looking forward to: a buffet with a sophisticated menu of exquisite food from around the world!
The magnitude and diversity of the rich dishes overwhelmed my senses. The scene that played out before me harked back to the tales and fables of imperial feasts in the palaces of Maharajas. I rubbed my eyes, and was quickly brought back to the present. There were no golden tumblers; instead, I only saw rows of plastic water bottles.
As I looked around, I saw little stalls around the dining area. These mini kiosks were meant to serve starters and desserts like ice creams, spiced coffee, and ice beedas, amongst other foods of fancy.
I’d been to a lot of such luxurious weddings in the past, and I remember eating a fresh salad for starters in all of them. Those salads usually were a healthy spread of cucumbers, carrots, beetroots, and tomatoes.
But the salad in this wedding had me all dazzled!
Along with the usual fruits and vegetables, there were these ‘Australian Kiwis’ sliced in two and served on separate plates. While contemplating the necessity of this alien fruit, I noticed a couple of children and adults already grabbing a plate of those Kiwis.
And hence began the feast!
I continued my observations.
A little while later, I was shocked to see that only a handful of those guests had finished their Kiwis. The rest of the crowd had shoved it away after taking a bite or two (Must’ve been the sourness).
All this unfinished food was dumped into a plastic dumpster next to the diner. As I peered in, I saw heaps of the unfinished kiwi fruits, causing a disturbing stench across the diner!
Do note that a kilo of Kiwi costs around 700 rupees!
It wasn't just the Kiwi! A vast majority of the crowd had wasted a considerable portion of all the other food on offer as well. All of it ended up in the plastic dumpster!
I also noticed half-empty water bottles left forgotten on the tables.
I realized that such sights of food being wasted are par for the course across all weddings in India.
Shadowed by the orchestra’s live music in the backdrop, I noticed the crowd casually moving about without any sensitive intuitivity, self-observation, guilt, or remorse about throwing away perfectly edible food.
Catering costs for such weddings are usually calculated based on the number of plates served. The cost of one such plate can range between rupees five hundred to two thousand. They must’ve prepared and served food for at least a thousand guests that day. Let’s roughly assume the cost of one plate to be rupees six hundred. Now keeping in mind that at least half of what was served ended up in the plastic dumpster, please amuse yourselves by calculating the cost of the food that has been wasted.
A big part of this problem is, we humans consider food and entertainment as primal rights and an instinctive path to our happiness. This may be true. But at the same time, don’t you think it is important to regulate and administer such events to reduce such criminal waste of food?
I’ve heard from my friends living abroad that it is a rarity to witness such atrocious scenarios in developed countries. In such places, the usual custom while organizing events is to have the list of the guests prepared beforehand. Later, the catering orders are strictly made based on the guest list. Such conduct is extremely cost-effective and ensures minimal wastage of food. I have even heard of cases where, if the guest did not show up after their RSVP, they were asked to pay for their food for wasting it and being a no-show!
Finally, it was time to leave the wedding! I got in my car and slowly drove out of the Codissia compound. What I witnessed next had me all triggered and added to my already existing mental distress.
By the side of the road next to Codissia, I watched as over a hundred dogs quarreled with each other over the thrown-away leftovers. A few of the bigger dogs were barking quite ferociously and kept the rest away from the dumpsters. Dogs with long necks, thin stomachs, and a malnourished demeanor formed the majority. Dogs with bloodied wounds were scampering about, obviously having lost out on the fight for the precious food.
As my eyes wandered over the wretched scene, I spotted pregnant females wandering about in caution and further on a timid group of weaker dogs sitting quietly and spectating, much like me. Puppies formed the next quartet, some shivering in fear, some playing in the mud, and a few biting the legs and breasts of female dogs in the hope for some milk.
The tribulation that was unfolding before my eyes in Codissia reminded me of another horrifying historical hunger tragedy from Russia: The Khodynka Tragedy!
In the late 19th century, to celebrate the coronation of King Nicholas II, a banquet was held at Khodynka Field, Moscow. Hordes of starving common folk flooded Khodynka Field, expecting free food baskets. What resulted was a deadly stampede, killing hundreds. The Royal Family, the Tsars of Russia, completely neglected the tragedy, and instead continued honoring a feast at the French Embassy. The Khodynka Tragedy was a critical little flame that lit an entire forest: The Russian Revolution!
But unlike the Russian folks, you’ll never see these innocent dogs of Codissia overthrow an existing government.
Sadly, we happen to be extremely superstitious when it comes to such things.
One needn’t be hesitant nor frightened when it comes to the matter of one’s bread!
No Joseph Stalin is going to send anyone to the deadly ‘Gulag’ for a petty food crime! Nor would Mao have the authority to sentence a chap to ten years of forced rural labor! Nor will there be a drastic starvation due to famine or catastrophe in the near future.
I hear a lot of folks vouching against the idea of writing books or making films based on history. They question the ethics of reminding the world of painful events, those that must be forgotten.
Imitative reenactment of history is not to promote nostalgic depression. These historical installments should help us acknowledge the golden times we are living in. A peaceful time devoid of extreme political suffering. A time of soulful fulfillment where one has the opportunity to feed oneself and the ones in need.
But beware. It is an ‘inconspicuous loop’! History can repeat itself! Hence, it is essential to live one’s life with gratitude and compassion.
While reading famine or war literature, we may easily skim through them. But it is impossible to overlook or forget the sufferings due to hunger or starvation.
It is not easy to overlook or ignore the women who were forced into prostitution for a slice of bread! This has happened in the past in many of the present-day ‘developed countries’.
It is not easy to overlook or ignore the children who froze to death in hunger and starvation!
It is not easy to overlook or ignore those desperately hungry families where the youngest children were made victims of cannibalism!
Isn’t it hilarious that one has to learn about the sufferings of the past to display gratitude for one’s food?
And that is why it is essential to develop a habit of reading or watching war literature! It can be very enlightening at times!
It is said that a soul unaware of hunger is one that cannot fully relish the pleasure of tastes.
Think about the children who’ve been brought up in a utopian society of abundance where such luxurious events are organized regularly. In the name of love, luxury, and bourgeoisness, they are being denied the privilege of hunger. Sadly, such children are not aware of the cruel hunger that exists outside of their utopian fantasy. The hunger that exists among humans and other creatures! It is up to the parents of such children to educate and enlighten them about the essence of one’s hunger. Keeping a fast for at least a day every month would be a great exercise to begin with.
When one begins to live in the utopian illusion of abundance, one becomes insensitive to one’s own hunger! And maybe that is why one is able to overlook a malnourished stray dog lying on the roadside.
Yuval Noah Harari states in his book, Sapiens, that men have domesticated dogs for over forty thousand years. Present-day dogs have completely lost the hunter instincts of their wild ancestors. They don't possess the ability to ferociously hunt a meal.
We have to hold ourselves responsible for causing such a genetic tragedy!
Usually, when one intends to chase a dog away (especially the strays), all one needs to do is merely bend down and pretend to pick up a stone. In the name of domestication, we have imbibed such submissive traits into the dog DNA!
What has been done to the dogs genetically can be done to us memetically. Maybe the next prophet has to introduce an extra month of fasting for acknowledging the hunger of dogs or maybe the next Christ has to be crucified explicitly for genetic crimes!
Organizing anna dhaanam (charity feasts) is a tradition that exists among us. Many such feasts are organized as a religious offering in places that are totally inappropriate. By inappropriate, I’m talking about the places where people are constantly overfed in the name of anna dhaanam.
Over the years, the concept of anna dhaanam has become a fancy-religious affair!
Some years ago, I visited the famous Sathura Hills. You can spot a lot of hunger camps (anna chathiram) around the place. Every camp had devotees standing at the entrance inviting anyone and everyone who came along.
One devotee would say, “Siva! Come over here, Siva! We’ve got upma today!”
Another would say, “Siva! We’ve got khichdi today!”
These camps and their devotees promote a ‘Waste no Food’ attitude, which is commendable! (I heard that these camps have stopped functioning during the pandemic.)
In contrast to the abundant food supply available to the Sathuragiri pilgrims, we see a rather pitiable situation at the Vellingiri Hills, Coimbatore (known as South Kailasa) during the off-season or non-festival times.
Such a geographically skewed distribution of food has led to oversaturation where one group is being overfed, leaving a whole lot of hungry creatures (including human beings) elsewhere.
There are certain places where people follow absurd and pointless anna dhaanam rituals.
For example (not sure about the credibility of this information), in certain temples, people organize anna dhaanam as a prayer to some religious beliefs. They have to feed a given number of people, and sometimes it has to specifically be the elderly. At times when the temple is empty, some folks end up paying the so-called homeless/needy to participate in the ritual!
Victims of such geographic inequality are the hungry dogs, crows, and even human beings who live in places of less religious significance.
It is high time we understand that anna dhaanam isn't something that we do just for the sake of it. We have to make sure that we feed those who are really in need.
Like the ‘genetic tragedy’ of dogs, we are solely responsible for all the hungry souls that are a result of such poorly executed schemes and other man-made calamities!
Now, tell me! Have you noticed something?
The gaze of a hungry dog has a peculiar glimmer. This glimmer is nothing but a reflection of all the hunger from around the world and across time. Within that glimmer is an archive of all the starvation that has ever existed in the past within the ordinary souls of our ancestors who’ve fought in wars, withstood famines, and survived calamities.
Hunger is a trait that belongs to a wide range of creatures, not just us human beings. So there were and are a multitude of hungry creatures that exist around the world at all times.
A little observation and we’ll be able to identify the hub of all that hunger!
We have to try and feed those hungry souls of such hubs. That is how one should honor and bring justice to the ancient concept of anna dhaanam!
If there is anything else apart from love and gratitude that one can acquire from anna dhaanam, it would all be bestowed upon one and one’s descendants.
And for that to happen, one must’ve understood the essence of hunger and must be aware of hunger-literature.
I hope you’ve ascertained the fact that charity isn’t an affair solely for humans. It is a concept whose benefits are intended for the entirety of all life-forms!
Let’s make sure that we quench all and any hungry soul around the globe! And by doing so, let’s uphold and promote the idea of anna dhaanam in its purest form!
As a first step towards the initiative, we have decided to circulate little cartons (cake boxes) in restaurants. A poster explaining the purpose and instructions will be put up too. All the customers are requested to use these cartons to collect any leftovers like rice, vegetables, bones, etc. The same can then be redistributed to dogs or any other strays in need.
This is a totally experimental initiative as of now. We'll update and improve our methods and goals on the go!
Common among every animal colony,
Is hunger and agony!
Is it a duty? Or charity?
Responsibility? Or a burden?
For all the hunger to wither,
Let's all join hands and serve together.