Food and its value

Do we really value our food? Read on....

TRUE STORY:

"MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY."

Germany is a highly industrialised country. It produces top brands like
Benz, BMW, Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country.
In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life. At least that was my impression before my study trip.

When I arrived at Hamburg , my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a
welcome party for me in a restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young
couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.

There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.

We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us. As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.

When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood
that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt
that  they were really being too busybody.

"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left
behind," my colleague Gui told the old ladies.
The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out
and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an officer from the Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing  what
the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Euro note and repeatedly apologized to the officer.

The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE  NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES."

Our face turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources.
To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat.

THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT
CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS.

Family Fund : One for all and all for one

We live in a world of nuclear families and busy jobs. The number of occasions we spend with our "complete" families are getting lesser and lesser. The kind of bonding our generation had with families and extended families is very thin compared to that our parents' and grand parents' generation had. Their time was that of joint and large families Although different families are from the same extended family the economic divide between them is getting greater due to the careers they pursue and the areas they live in.

A person leading his life as a temple priest in a small town is not as strong financially as his brother working in a Multi National Corporation in a Metro. This primarily defines their ability to face and overcome sudden need of huge finance, especially during medical emergencies.

With this as the background, I came up with an idea of a Family fund. This is a fund in which each earning members of each family in an extended or in a large family contributes once every month or two months. This should not be considered an investment but rather a contribution each member contributes based on their financial capability.

The accumulated fund will be utilized for aiding when any sudden otherwise unaffordable medical emergencies arise for any member of any family participating in this fund. The fund is meant for medical emergencies only because, that would be one of the most critical situations where one or more lives are at stake. So, when someone in a family is in a critical need, the Family's fund, and the person's family is ready for aid. Rest assured most of the remaining aspects of life can be managed by proper planning.

The Zen of this idea is not collecting or utilizing fund, but rather a platform where a means by which each family member demonstrates the commitment towards the (extended) family, thereby bolstering the bonding with the family. This is one step to assert the "one for all and all for one" philosophy in and between families which form the heart of our society!

Hello Blogging World

Hello World! I've finally started blogging ! 

I've been browsing through a local newspaper randomly today and found an interesting article on "Ted Talks"! Without a moment's hesitation, I looked it up and found a website with an interesting and rich collection of short and videos! I've browsed through this Video called a  The history of our world in 18 minutes by David Christian. An awesome talk briefing about everything that happened since the beginning of Space and Time till Now, in a nutshell! He concludes the talk with a remark on Collective Intelligence, the force that made what we are today in all respects! It also invoked several questions too!

Here is a link of that video for you ....