After prescribing austerity for “cattle-class” plebians, and proscribing SUVs for the super-rich, the national advisory council (NAC) has mooted “one dish per meal” at social functions like weddings and funerals to prevent wastage of food in a country that is climbing on the hunger index.
Surely, the 192 couples who tied the knot at the 40th mass marriage ceremony held in Dharmasthala on Wednesday should surely give Sonia Gandhi‘s fantasists some fancy new ideas? Like, how about all the eligible in every town doing the saat pheras on the same day every year?
Photograph: Karnataka Photo News
churumuri 
>>Like, how about all the eligible in every town doing the saat pheras on the same day every year?>>
Would that be alone or with a partner :)
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fantastic idea, and yes, lovely picture. kudos to kpn.
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This nanny state is going too far. The rulers have now become completely out of touch with reality.
Instead of coming up with concrete proposals to curb price rise and corruption, they are declaring useless sermons.
The NAC has now become the National Autocratic Council.
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If there is a national referendum on such measures to save on wastage of food (and hence precious resources) I would be the first to support and canvas for its success and its implementation .This urgently needed to be taken up by NAC or any other movement and this will definitely go a long way in alleviating hunger and health problems and huge spending. In this regard I wish all Churmuri readers to have a perusal on the following which was recently sent to me by a friend;
IN INDIA WE FEEL THAT ONE’S RICHNESS IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE BIG PARTIES GIVEN AND THE FOOD THAT IS WASTED THERE….
As narrated by a friend ……..
Germany is a highly industrialized country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country.
In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life.
At least that was my impression before my study trip.
When I arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me in a restaurant.
As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.
There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.
We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.
As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.
When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt that they were really being too busybody.
“We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind,” my colleague Gui told the old ladies.
The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an officer from the Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine.
We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Euro note and repeatedly apologized to the officer.
The officer told us in a stern voice, “ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES.´”
Our face turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources.
To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat. THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS.
My colleague photostatted the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a souvenir. All of us kept it and pasted on our wall to remind us that we shall never be wasteful.
Ramachandra
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Aren’t mass marriages ideal places for a mixup.. What do u do then? Go for a mass annulment ? BTW this NAC is pure gold … too bad that there aren’t good stand up comedians around.
@Ramachandra K S,
Aren’t BMW, Benz etc, a huge waste of resources :) Do you really need a 12 cylinder engine? So aren’t Germans huge hypocrites ?
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Should get eligible bachelor Rahul Gandhi married in such a mass event! Lots of moneys saved and worth a watch.
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KSR
You could have asked the restaurant to give you empty boxes to carry the left over home. That would have saved you the fine.
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RKS,
Cant believe your story. Like mouna said – couldnt you parcel the leftovers or get a box to do it yourself?
Maybe the old ladies were trying to send out a message to desis who dared to order food in a restaurant?
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@mounaprasad. I agree. Almost all the restaurants have take-away boxes.
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KH -agree this is pure gold. While we are at it how about some other restrictions (clothes we wear, footwear we use, amount of water we consume, movies we see etc). So may items to choose from. How about restricting everyone (except the super rich) from having more than one child. We only have to look at our big neighbor to the east for inspiration. We have already got the food idea from our western neighbor.
@Ramachandra – your story does make interesting reading. I agree wastage is never a good thing. However, I am sure at least a mention of this food rule and a possibility of a fine beforehand, either by the staff or the ladies would have made you a little more aware. I am surprised that they waited till the very end and did not offer you an option of taking the food home.
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@Karihaida V8s sell well to boost the ego of buyers and their pockets. But most of the food is imported.
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it is for us to implement and avoid participation in lavish weddings even if it offends the person who invited us.In Chennai halls charge 1 to 1 1/2 lakhs per day as rent for functions.any comments bala
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Ramachandra KS,
I went to the same restaurant yesterday.
The sign on the wall said
Waschen Sie Ihre Hände in die Schüsseln.
Your friends did not get fined for leaving food. They got fined for washing their hands in the plate. The sign mean “No washing hands in the plates”
The guys in uniform who escorted your friend out were not from social security. They were Lebensmittel (Food Inspectors)
They found germs in the viscera left on your friends plate after ablution and deemed it fit to be fined for making it dangerous for others..
Many things in your story do not add up . So I am giving this logical explanation.
***
Desi went to Germany and ate food in a restaurant.
Food was too much. Desi left half the food in the plate. As is wont he asked for glass of water and washed his hands in the plate on left over food. He then gargled some water, cleaned his mouth and spat all the water into his plate which had leftover food.
German ladies in the next table.. Speaking amongst themselves in German.
(Yikes.. Look at that guy he puked in the plate and now leaving this place without cleaning it up .. Let us call food safety guys .. ring ring )
Food safety inspector speaking in German.
Did you just puke here?
Desi(not understanding the question and not knowing German)
What I do with my food is none of your concern.
German inspector writes in his diary. “The guys says since he has paid money for the food, he says he can puke it or shit it.. and it should be no concern. I will advise him about necessity to keep surroundings clean and fine him for littering” .
German inspector tells the Desi.
You have paid money.. But surroundings belong to society. It is your duty to take your wastes with you and I am fining you 50 Euros.
Desi takes a snap of ticket and then sends an MMS to India that, If one wastes food in Germany they get fined 50 Euros. MMS will then be read by Purandareshwari in Parliament when house is discussing another of email read by her extolling how NASA is run by desi scientists. Jai Ho. Ho. Ho.
(Ho in colloquial language has a derogatory meaning)
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@AG,
Godwin is supposed to show up only after the 10th comment …
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Coming to food wastage, there are these lions who kill a deer or two and just eat what they want and leave the rest. Our NAC members should be sent to the lions, of course to teach them not to waste food.
That is another matter that, when the lions finish their lunch, other smaller animals and birds are behind their toes to clean up the rest.
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@Narayana:
Awesome
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K.S.Ramachandra – I doubt there is any truth in your story. I’ve been in and out of Germany for the past fifteen or so years, and you don’t get fined at a restaurant for wasting food. Right now I’m in Tubingen (the Univ), traveling to Darmstadt (another university town) tomorrow, and I do come across food being wasted in restaurants. It is not just in these small towns, but in Munich and Berlin too. Your buddies may have been fined for some other offense. Had they wasted food, I think the max they would have got is a good talking-to or a mild scolding.
Germans are very precise and particular about recycling, though. You have to really, really make sure you put the right recyclables in the right bins. One time when I first came here, we had this huge german guy scolding me first thing in the morning because I had put the paper and glass in the same bins!
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Naryana,
LOL..superb post
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I just noticed the same story written by KSR is also published on 2 different websites by 2 different authors. Now I doubt if this genuine or just like one of the mail forwards.
http://www.funonthenet.in/forums/index.php?topic=202783.0
http://www.mudraa.com/trading/84204/0/wasting-food-hemant-.html
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Few more to that list .. I am almost convinced that it is one of the hoax mails
http://www.citehr.com/329133-dont-waste-food.html
http://kennethg.blogspot.com/2011/03/ticket-for-wasting-food.html
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@narayana
Awesome!
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These kind of mass marriages are arranged by Sriramalu Abhimanagala Sangha every month…..
PS:I think K S Ramachandra is a NAC mole, he has successfully killed the next killer idea :)
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KH,
Well, you cheddis were a little slow in filling up the comments on this thread.
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Narayana,
Just now, saw your blog — Educating Arundhati series is awesome!
Rajkiran
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Looking at the larger picture:
the worthies above can and will choose (or have already chosen) the way in which they get married…
While you may mock the government for interfering in what is essentially a private affair, you conveniently forget that an Indian wedding is, usually, a sop thrown at conventions. Where’s the democracy in that? Do you or don’t you feel the pressure to conform to society’s yardstick of what a wedding should be like?
And now can you blame the government for trying to change the way people get married without sounding hypocritical?
Although mass marriages are regrettably symbols of government largesse, it is also true that they come as a relief to parents who are spared the expenditure. If seen through the perspective of parents who spend their life’s savings in getting their girls married, you can almost find it in yourself to forgive the government for this piece of folly.
The one thing that we can cavil at is the crudeness of Government measures.
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@AG,
please leave my cheddi alone will ya ?
BTW ur profiling/stereotyping seems a tad off .. need to recalibrate buddy ;)
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There are times in a restaurant when you want to taste their special items without really knowing if you like it or not. I have no problem asking for the left over food be packed and take it home, even in Bangalore. That way, we dont waste food which have paid for and it can be used at home for another meal.
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Serve only 2 or 3 veg items in the Parliament canteen and not at subsidised rates!!!
All politicians to marry their kids in the local muncipal community halls and no food please
No politician or minister to attend weddings in their official cars and no convoys
No private parties to be hosted by any politician or minister
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congrats to all who nicely organized this event.
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What all does a meal in Parliament canteen Provide?
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Parilament to provide only four dishes from today.
Menu goes like this.
Truffle Pakoda – 3 naiya paisa
Truffle Halwa – 3 naiya paisa
Truffle Juice – 4 naiya paisa
4th Dish is a VIP dish not available for others. If you want to know what the fourth dish is you have to file RTI application. But once they tell you the dish they will kill you to keep it secret.
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