A very belated update on 'No Bread Day', which was on June 14th, 2008. This is part of the mail my friend sent out:
"
The first ever 'No Bread Day' ( as a friend aptly named it) - how did it go for you?.
A little under 600 people fasted yesterday. One conservative estimate shows that it translated into 300 kilos of grain saved for the hungry, enough to feed 2-3 villages of 250 people. By the laws of networking, we touched at least 1500 people with our message and people from around 30 countries received the message. But we were never after the numbers anyways. For it was the spirit that counted, not the numbers.
I received various responses to the call for fasting. One friend said "it was too simple to succeed". Another said "this is an emotional act, not a rational one". Yet another called it a "useless gimmick". These comments were most welcome. Because the moment you responded to the plea, the moment you thought about the Food crisis and found our action good/inadequate, our mission in organising this day was accomplished.
On the positive side, one friend wrote in saying the day really tested his inner strength. He realised how dependent our lives are on grain. Another said it made him realise how so few of us are privileged enough to have comfortable access to food. But beyond it all,it was about the fact that we did SOMETHING. And we did it together. And we found that others shared the concern. Now it's time to translate that concern into more action. Please share your ideas. In turn, I can mail you back some of the ideas others have come up with.
At the end of the day, it's a learning that's applicable in transforming our society in everyway: TOGETHER, WE CAN.
"
RK and I had a chat before he sent this out and he seems to have incorporated some of that discussion in his email. This was my first voluntary fast (I tend to skip meals on weekends, mostly because I am too lazy to make them, but that's another matter) and I'm glad I did it. An interesting experiment yielding interesting personal experiences, but that's just a bonus.
******************
The Indian embassy in Kabul saw a suicide bombing today, which killed 41 people and injured 141. I sent RK a quick message to check he was alright, and to my great relief he replied quickly confirming he was. He also said he was just about to go to that area when he heard about the blast. I told him to get out of that fucking country immediately. That his 'do-gooding' could be done from elsewhere too.
But is his situation all that different from what we have seen in Mumbai, Hyderabad and other places in India? He can just as well tell me to get out of here - I could have been eating at Gokul Chaat, I could have been at Lumbini Park. Hell, can it get more unpredictable than Islamic terrorists planting bombs in Mecca Masjid in the Old City? What was the point of that?!
I have a whole bunch of stuff to say on terrorism. Another day, maybe.
^
"
The first ever 'No Bread Day' ( as a friend aptly named it) - how did it go for you?.
A little under 600 people fasted yesterday. One conservative estimate shows that it translated into 300 kilos of grain saved for the hungry, enough to feed 2-3 villages of 250 people. By the laws of networking, we touched at least 1500 people with our message and people from around 30 countries received the message. But we were never after the numbers anyways. For it was the spirit that counted, not the numbers.
I received various responses to the call for fasting. One friend said "it was too simple to succeed". Another said "this is an emotional act, not a rational one". Yet another called it a "useless gimmick". These comments were most welcome. Because the moment you responded to the plea, the moment you thought about the Food crisis and found our action good/inadequate, our mission in organising this day was accomplished.
On the positive side, one friend wrote in saying the day really tested his inner strength. He realised how dependent our lives are on grain. Another said it made him realise how so few of us are privileged enough to have comfortable access to food. But beyond it all,it was about the fact that we did SOMETHING. And we did it together. And we found that others shared the concern. Now it's time to translate that concern into more action. Please share your ideas. In turn, I can mail you back some of the ideas others have come up with.
At the end of the day, it's a learning that's applicable in transforming our society in everyway: TOGETHER, WE CAN.
"
RK and I had a chat before he sent this out and he seems to have incorporated some of that discussion in his email. This was my first voluntary fast (I tend to skip meals on weekends, mostly because I am too lazy to make them, but that's another matter) and I'm glad I did it. An interesting experiment yielding interesting personal experiences, but that's just a bonus.
******************
The Indian embassy in Kabul saw a suicide bombing today, which killed 41 people and injured 141. I sent RK a quick message to check he was alright, and to my great relief he replied quickly confirming he was. He also said he was just about to go to that area when he heard about the blast. I told him to get out of that fucking country immediately. That his 'do-gooding' could be done from elsewhere too.
But is his situation all that different from what we have seen in Mumbai, Hyderabad and other places in India? He can just as well tell me to get out of here - I could have been eating at Gokul Chaat, I could have been at Lumbini Park. Hell, can it get more unpredictable than Islamic terrorists planting bombs in Mecca Masjid in the Old City? What was the point of that?!
I have a whole bunch of stuff to say on terrorism. Another day, maybe.
^
spouted by Non-Sensei at 7/07/2008 02:20:00 AM
3 Comments:
And it isn't just the deliberate violence - it's also the stupid senseless little things that get to me: two kids were killed in Bangalore a couple of days ago when a balloon man's helium tank exploded, and a child was killed when his school roof collapsed on 45-odd students... and all I could think was, "Isn't there enough going on without all this shit??"
*sigh.*
:)
it was a noble effort, his.
it's wonderful that he strongly believes he can make a difference, and he actually works for it.
and unassumingly.
hazaar respect to him.
@t : you ain't seen nothing till you've seen mindless crime in the UK. Samples - a group tied up a 20-odd year old guy (in the woods I think), forced him to drink petrol and then set him on fire. Almost as if to see what would happen. Remains found many days later.
A gang of kids confronted another kid (unknown to them) in a shop and challenged him to a fight, just because he was big in size. The kid refused to fight and was stabbed to death for refusing. He had celebrated his 16th birthday a day earlier.
A father of 3 ran out of his house to stop some 18 yr olds vandalising his car. He was kicked to death right there, outside his house, in front of his 3 daughters, in daylight.
This is not even the tip of the iceberg.
@tdt : yeah, he's done many such things. been laughed at and ridiculed by many, admired by some.
what was interesting to me about this particular effort was he got 600 people involved in just a week. good stuff :)
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