Don't Waste things, Give ....

The Culture of giving, as I am often told, has not been a part of Indian tradition. However, I find that is a misconstrued opinion. Making an effort to find a historical evidence, to the proposition of an existence of culture of giving; takes us back to mythology, to a folklore of 'daanveer Karna', a king who chose to give away even the parts of his body, when someone asked for it. The folklore celebrated the importance of giving in the Indian culture, and was a reference point for any noteworthy act of giving, done by an individual in the society for centuries. 

Indian state, from ancient times has been federal in nature, the village being its last unit. In a federal system of government, a social security net provided by the central government is more often than not supported by a local social security net, in order to increase its functional efficacy. During the olden days, a unique social security net existed in India. The community took upon itself a responsibility of taking care of the old, the poor, the deceased and the disabled. Basic amenities like food, clothing and shelter were arranged by the community  for the disadvantaged; and it was done under an ethic of sharing food or clothing with those who were disadvantaged. A traditional ethic of not refusing 'do muththi anaj' to anyone who needed it, created a unique social security net, in which the household was the last unit. There is no statistic to prove that no one died of hunger under this system, but there has definitely been an evidence of an existence of a social concern about sharing food as a day to day practice for centuries.

The agrarian economy that existed in India about 200 years ago, had a large part of the capital, invested in agricultural produce, and thus that was the biggest contributor to GDP. Household income comprised of agricultural produce, and in villages it was used to barter the other essential commodities. The village economy thrived on agriculture and thus the social security net was also very effectively constructed around the agricultural produce. 

It was a right based approach to eliminate hunger. Anyone could come and ask for 'do muthi anaj' from a household. It was a tradition not to refuse him. 

Inequality, in terms of ownership of resources is one of the key challenges of our times. In developed and in developing countries. the poorest half of the population often owns less than 10% of the resources. This could be a dangerous situation, and a big threat to world peace. Population, particularly youth belonging to disadvantaged groups could become an easy fodder of conflict. Another very serious problem that arises from an unequal distribution of resources is the wastage of resources by those who have in abundance, while the same resources could easily be transferred to those who survive in subsistence. 

Modern living leaves us with a lot of resources at home that we tend to waste. Our homes are piled up with, no longer in use gadgets, mobile phones, toys, books, cycles, utensils, food etc. and they could easily be shared with someone who would need them. When we waste these products, we waste the world's resources, increase the landfills, and make our contribution to environmental degradation. 

Isn't it almost criminal to waste resources? 

If we get back to the older system of making a household the last unit in developing a social security net, we will perhaps live in a better society. A peaceful and sustainable world will have to develop its own solutions, more so with people's participation rather than by state intervention. 

We can begin with a small step - Let us not waste the resources, we have. Lets share them.