“Imagine the India that can be…..If all of us sacrificed that little bit”

One winter evening as I sipped a cup of hot tea, I was hit by a reality – A crime we all are guilty of committing – Especially the GenX or the youth of today. We, who started our careers with decently hefty packages, enjoy restaurant food every night, smoke the costliest cigarettes -sometimes socially & most often as a status symbol, the ones who drink regularly due to frustration, work issues, as a fad or may be a habit.

This may be one of the 2 sides of this economically poor country. We may continue to bask in the glory of the easy riches, enjoy & be adamant enough to ignore our anti social activities or we may choose to ponder over & think if we can make a bigger & better difference to the India that we all imagine can be – If each one of us is willing to sacrifice that little bit … which we have in excess or are ready to waste.

I am sure it is difficult to know & even tougher to accept that India still has half of its population below the poverty line, we still have deaths due to malnutrition & families which succumb to the intense shortage of funds.

Let’s think of this fact, ever time we youngsters frequent the restaurants as a group or we order food from outside, we waste enough to allow survival of at least 1 malnourished child on the streets if he/she were given that food. If all of us were to promise ourselves to donate the same money we would be able to save malnourishment deaths to the extent of hundreds & thousands of kids.

Smoking – This I believe is one of the most unwanted & peer influenced vice – something we all would be better off without. However, to respect the smoking community, here’s what we can do – If we promise ourselves to smoke 1 cigarette less every day or every week or every packet we consume & donate this saved bit to the society, we would be able to reduce the poverty level by at least 10%.

Drinking – I really don’t know who originated this & how high does some one reach at the peak of its consumption. It’s even hard to understand what is social drinking, drinking in the wake of happiness, or drinking under the cover of gloom, but drink we all do – to the best of our health & much to the discomfort of the ones not drinking along with us. If all of us gave up drinking & contributed that amount for the development of India – We would be a super power – economically – we would be rich. But, to be fair to the drinking community, let’s promise ourselves we would reduce our monthly alcohol consumption by 10% & I am sure we would be able to take up a few districts/villages & uplift/develop them.

Yes, its Diwali time & we all are lucky – we can glow diyas, light lamps, burst crackers & enjoy sweets, but give it a thought – there are homes that do not have lights, kids who do not have food & parents who commit suicides due to lack of income to sustain their families. We may not be able to give life or livelihood to all, but we may be able to enlighten a few homes & allow them to enjoy Diwali – Just the way we do….