Wastage
Sunil Sharma
Wastage of food
Every day Tanya wants pizza,
And Rohit, his Big Mac,
While Papa orders his
Paneer-tikka along with
Butter-chicken with lots
Of garlic-onion;
Mama likes her pasta
And burgers and fried noodles;
The family eats lot of
Un-burnt calories in their
Heavy meals,
Sitting idle before
Wide-screen TV
In their pricey
Well-lit Mumbai home,
The family eats
And
Never watches the
Tilting scales,
The leftovers are daily
Meant for the distant
Land-fills and dumps;
While, little Laxmi,
Few blocks away,
Living in the crowded
Damp slum,
Often goes hungry
To her disturbed sleep
Along with other crying siblings,
As they have nothing
To eat in their dim-lit
8x8 pavement- tin-home;
Cannot this imbalance
In lifestyles be corrected?
Asks Tanya’s young
Ideal teacher, in a
Voice sonorous,
By avoiding waste,
Sharing untouched food
And eating simple meals?
Sunil Sharma - Sunil Sharma is India-born story-teller, poet, critic, freelance journalist, literary editor, reviewer, interviewer and essayist. He is a college teacher. His debut novel, The Minotaur, is inching towards critical acclaim, and, short fiction and poetry are featured in many prestigious international and national print and online journals. He also edits NFJ (New Fiction Journal) and is on the board of many literary journals.
