~ Rs 5, is all it is..~

 Today, I write about my first hand experience of what Rs 5 means to many, though for us it might be just a negligible amount which we might even don’t think of when there is no change  to be given back to us whilst we go shopping. When you are providing home cooked food for a nominal amount of Rs.5 / plate consisting of morsel of food containing four chapatis, lentils , Rice, Salads and a sweetener sometimes, your hunger would satiate only when you will partake some of it.

You get to experience humility of a lifetime when you become a part of a initiative which includes providing for sumptuous lunch to the downtrodden and the unprivileged section of society. Within no time your see serpentine queue being formed consisting of people who want to have lunch priced at unbelievable rates.

Suddenly a voice is raised, and you hear thus, “Bhaiya, mere pass paanch Rupay nahi hain!” – [Brother, I don’t have Rs.5], expecting that he would not be served the lunch, he continuously looks into the cauldron full of freshly cooked rice along with ladle serving lentils. He loses hope of being fed but suddenly gets a help from a lonely stranger who offers to pay for him. The camaraderie of people standing in the queue to have grab of their plate is worth watching. Unknown to each other but still forming a bond over those few minutes when they are in the queue is a lesson learnt on humanity. It was not that he would be bereft of his afternoon lunch, but it was made available by a person not knowing him – may be the similarity of predicament they are makes them help each other at such odd times.

The queue starts again and suddenly one more chap turns up with a cheeky smile as if he wanted to tell something different which he actually did. He had a short story to tell “bhaiya, mere pass teen rupay hi hain, do rupay kahin gir gaye !” – [ Brother, I only have Rs 3 and I lost Rs 2 coins somewhere!”], there was certainly no cause of concern and he was served lunch with same aplomb and with no differentiation whatsoever. There are many such examples which make you feel about how important Rs 5 is for them, a full plate can be served, and they can have lunch which is sufficient to satisfy their hunger.

Many of them would come with a second round of having lunch and not before praising the taste of the succour demand more by taking out the humble Rs 5 note crumbled inside one of their pockets. The second time they have their lunch, many burp and give us a genuine feedback of how they felt about the taste and also about the feel they had whilst they had their meal. Feedbacks such as “Bhaiya bahut swadhisht khana tha,bilkul ghar jaisa!” – [Brother, the lunch was very tasty, felt as if it was home cooked!”] – such a feedback acts as a catalyst of motivation for us to serve such souls better day by day and make us feel satisfied by merely seeing such people having a sated appetite and thereafter moving back towards doing their daily chores as satisfied souls!