Love is hunger

When one walks down the roads of India, you get to see street dwellers. They may follow a religion or not, they may have names or not but we generally call these people as low lifes' or beggars or street peddlars.

The women work as maids in lower middle class families or you may see them begging or cleaning utensils in tea stalls or street side food courts. You may also find them on the road combing each others' hair , a hair massage or killing hair lice in full public view. We sometimes call them shameless too. Well many Indian kids from these families, between the age of 5 to 15 work as child labourers in market areas. Very few go to school under the Sarva Shiksha Avijaan, which means education for all. Many of us look at them but see through them, as if they are non existent.

The men work as rickshaw pullers or daily wagers in different parts of the city or nearby shops. Here, when a child is born, the pregnant woman still goes to a midwife, since they cannot afford the hospital.

Here immune system is of the highest level as these people are made of steel. I salute them.

Sex does not happen in broad daylight here. Everyone waits for night time, in some park, near shrubs, behind trees, far from the crowd. What is love for them then, is it hunger????

Many kind people, who still exist in this greedy world or many NGOs give blankets or sweaters in mass numbers during winter or new clothes during festivals or give them food during national crisis or pandemic. For many of us this tier of people are non existent.

Presently many people across India and the world while fighting against dangerous COVID 19 pandemic are leaving some food for the needy, so that there is no food scarcity. While some people are buying in bulk leaving the shopkeepers with loads of cash against a small amount of grocery.

The place where I live is Kolkata, a metropolitan city in India. Here due to COVID 19 outbreak, our honourable Chief Minister has opened government schools for these street dwellers to live, so that they too can get shelter during this trivial time.

Now when entire nation is on a shutdown, for 21 days and for the utmost necessity of life, FOOD, I too went to a nearby market. My children at home are waiting for me to feed them. Breakfast for the family was banana and bread. The home supplies are short.

Very few people were on road as police were patrolling around the city. If you are coming out for a stroll, well you might be hit by the stick or put in jail. These are trivial times and every life is important. So unless necessary, none are coming out to the streets.

The foresight of our Prime Minister may save many lives, if only we, as responsible citizen follow his directives.

Anyways.... hurriedly walked, covered my face with a handkerchief, as you see there is scarcity of masks for commoners like us. We have yet not had a mask in our hands since March beginning. While going to the market comes a government school. Crossing the school, I saw a woman cutting vegetables . The door of the school was open. I could hear children laughing. Their giggles made me smile. I thought maybe some families are living here for the time period, so I added vegetables in my shopping list and hurried towards the market at Rashbihari Avenue .

Due to social distancing, the queue in front of the grocery store was long. I was at the fag end of the queue. It took me 15 minutes to procure some vegetables and stand in queue for the grocery. My line was not far from the school entry gate. Suddenly a delicious smell wafted into my nostrils and my stomach growled.

I looked towards the school. The windows were open. The scent of fish curry cooked in coriander leaves filled my heart with warmth.

I pondered..... this type of smell proves the cook is too good. Maybe she does not have literacy skill, maybe she is not good looking, but her hands has created a magic potion that has made me, a foodie smack my lips and my stomach produce juices. I simply loved the smell. For me at that moment, love was hunger, hunger for food. A simple fish curry, if can instill a smile on my face and uplift my gloomy mood, I realised what it meant for that family.

The world is beautiful. Love is beautiful. Love is hunger. Hunger to be loved, to feed the family, to live life.

We create classes among the masses but Love is everywhere. One finds it in kindness, warmth, hug, care, friendship, song, dance, poem and food.

Yes, thinking about my children and the urge to feed them, I went home fast with the hunger for love and vice versa. My nostrils flared my heart, which flared my lungs with smell of fresh coriander and hunger was gone... what remained was love.....Home is where the heart is. Homeward bound.....