Stealing Pizzaz

#KaakaMuttai

This is a story that it aches to put down. And I've been putting off writing it.

As we were walking to the beach Sasi asked what that scooter with a box on it was. Sruthi told him its 'pijja'. I asked her what pijja was and she said it comes on TV. She explained that its bread with something sticky on it and cut raw vegetables and. She said it is very costly and it is not for 'us'.

Shravanthi said that she had tasted it. Then her mother Roopa explained how she had had it. Her husband Seenu was working as a watchman in KFC. In KFC every evening the leftover food is thrown into the wastebin and the workers are not allowed to have any to take away. Shravanthi asked her father if he could not get her some as he worked there. So her father contrived to meet a waiter in the toilet, the only place that did not have CC TV. The waiter pretended to throw a leftover peice from a plate into the waste bin and smuggled that into the toilet where Seenu collected it and brought that to the village for his children. And they tasted the coveted pijja.

When the rich, in a country of deep disparities, indulge in excesses, it creates desire, envy, a deeper sense of poverty. It leads to petty theft and loss of dignity. It hurts many many children, and leaves them feeling inadequate.

Each of our actions and choices has repurcussions - and it needs honesty and sensitivity and intelligence to seek and understand these.

Parthasarathy VM This aches indeed..

Srividhya Gopalakrishnan Aparna Krishnan seriously this aches ..besides self restraint , how do we solve this... we have come really too far... I see a very big chunk of us are not even aware of this and feel it is our right...

Aparna Krishnan if i knew what to do, i would not be wasting a minute on FB.

Srividhya Gopalakrishnan your writing brings the awareness. changes the perspective.. Seriously when i go to a restaurant ( when there is no choice) , atleast either i avoid or if not avoidable the i remember this

Sanjay Maharishi True for every item advertised on tv and elsewhere. In fact to create envy is known in advertising circles as a must. What is the point, they say, if an ad doesn't create envy.

Aparna Krishnan The perversion is so deep, that there is a sense of normalcy. And whole sections of sane and simple society are being dragged into this lunatic space of greed and envy and insatiable desire.

Priya Anand Every time I read your post it tries to make me a pinch more humble Aparna… you are an inspiration

Aparna Krishnan I have been humbled many many times. Living in a community far poorer than me, and steeped in a generosity far vaster than mine. I have little regard for myself having seem myself in the mirror the community held to me, but then as years pass I dont spend too much time worrying about myself anyway.

Afsan Chowdhury I prevent myself from using extreme abusive language when I face or read about such situations. Its not just loss of shame but the introduction of violation. My society is not angry, not raging against such crimes. What we really have is an advert culture. We are living a through a terrible history or even worse people without history.

Aparna Krishnan yes, these are insensate times. deeply criminal, but so normalized that it is rarely seen as it is.

Afsan Chowdhury We shall soon be having the Ramzan or month of fasting for Muslims and the competition for splurging and criminal waste of food and money will begin. Its so shameful and obscene that it's an insult to the faith they follow. Restaurants will stay open from afternoon to the morning the next day as people celebrate gluttony. And this is supposed to teach us "restraint: and compassion"

Aparna Krishnan We call this the kaliyugam. And worse and worst times are promised !! It is said that the time will come when four good people will not be able to stand together and talk.

Afsan Chowdhury Aparna Krishnan Yes, the fast begins at sunrise -Sehri- and ends after sunset -Iftar.. You can't also become angry, use bad language, lie etc. What happens here is the sprouting of thousands of shops selling food of every kind. KFC and others will have special .Iftars, roadside shops and every restaurant will do this. Now Dhaka's upper class has found Sheri parties held from 2 to 5 at night. Theologically, such conspicuous consumption is a sin- haram - but to these people everything has to be consumed. I will send you pics of the rich having fun when its time for prayers and moderation.

Aparna Krishnan no, please dont. its bad enough seeing people feast in glass walled restauraunts in India, when the poor are on the other side of the glass walls. There is enough perversity which has becomed normalized, and the conspicious and insensitive consumption is only on the rise.

Anil Gupta Answer is not pity but pride in what we eat after day's hard work and often based on more nutritious grains/millets. Don't pity please. Show them
Literature which points out how obesity has become a problem among pizza eating children; show them research which shows that pizza bread of maida ( fine wheat flour ) is much less nutritious than whole grain bread they eat. No point in wallowing in sorrow when it is actually very good that children don't consume pizza

Aparna Krishnan I have no pity towards the poor. I deeply respect their generosity, their culture, their wisdom. I have known them very closely. I only point out how depraved the upper class has become in its obscence consumption. The comment in this, and each post, is on the 'rich'. It is they who need to do their introspection. If they will.

Anil Gupta But please show the research I request to local community then the father will not have to beg borrow Or steal pizza

 Aparna Krishnan true. i will. but the advertisements are more powerful than the health logic a small i presents.