Wasted interest
When you don’t have something, you want it. When you have what you wanted, you stop appreciating it. This might not always be the case with everyone but then, when has generalization ever stopped us from floating theories and non-chemical formulas about the problems we face today? That conceded, one can effortlessly notice the brazen attitude displayed towards resources in our country. Yes, we’re talking about electricity, water and food.
Keeping the lights, fans, AC, electrical devices, etc. on when there is no need whatsoever says a lot about where we come from. Chances are one’s privileged background would play a part in making the person immune to the consequences of their squandering behaviour. But then, again, not all the haves waste electricity. Many of them must be trying to keep their electricity bills down. Besides, what about have-nots? Don’t they waste power? From a bird’s view, it is difficult to chastise them. Chances are they barely get enough to even bother to waste. Electricity is nothing less than a miracle in our country and the recently-electrified villages are proving to be more economic with what they are getting. And that’s where the difference between urban India and rural India is blindingly dark.
Secondly, the less we talk about water, the better. A friend of mine from Bombay often used to tell me that there is no such a thing as water wastage. His contention was straight out of a school textbook. Water, in whatever form, will eventually return to the water cycle. Fair enough. Law of conservation of H2O, if you insist. But he was missing a crucial point: It’s not about water returning to its home and reincarnating like a liquid Hindu. The fact that water reached you is a testament to the amount of energy required; it didn’t leave the streams and reached your water tank miraculously. A lot of science and technology was involved to make this journey possible. And then, to have the temerity to waste it is, to me, a cosmic crime. Not to exaggerate but we ought to get ourselves in line with the required gravitas of such situations. Why? Although we have stats for human suffering, there’s no data to suggest the harm inflicted on animals, birds and vegetation—thanks to our recklessness. The balance is obviously missing. With the climate change in place, we’ll only be seeing more of desserts and less of rivers in the mainlands. Karma?
A similar equation sticks with the subject of food. According to an estimate by FAO, between 35% to 40% of our food dive straight in to the bins. If you consider the bulk of people who either go to sleep empty stomach or starve to death, that percentile is highly shameful. Instead of coming up with a system that ensures curtailment of food wastage, we have in place a circus wherein extravagant buffets — depletion is an accepted mode of celebration here — and overstuffed fridge — rot is an accepted mode of satisfaction here — are pretty normal. What’s outrageous about this circus is the haves would rather let their consumables turn to garbage than hand it over to those who might need it. Petty much, huh? Under this rubric, it’s such a warm respite to learn that for the first time in human history, more people are dying of obesity than of hunger.
To conclude on a positive note, we’ll accidentally create a world where either everybody has stopped wasting resources or everybody has earned the right to waste equally.
PS. To answer the unposed question above — why do people who waste do so? — well, because they can.
