Achaotic atmosphere prevailed in the orphanage. Kids laughed and chatted. They had sunken cheeks and thin weak arms, but they did have large, grateful hearts. They were lined in a queue.

It was time for their evening meal. They were getting rice today. The chef, Mr Balaram, was distributing the food. He was always grumpy and a horrible man. He wouldn’t care if the kids were crying for more. Who did? Life over there was more miserable than anyone could think of.

“Next!” Mr Balaram roared. Levi, a little boy with round eyes and a round face, nervously walked towards him. Mr Balaram had already filled his serving spoon with rice. He put some rice in the plate and then again roared, “Next!”

But just then he noticed someone squeaking behind him. It was Levi looking at him.

“What’s the problem with you kid?” Mr Balaram said.

Levi gave Mr Balaram a beseeching look. Then Levi looked at his plate and said, “Sir, I need more food, this is not enough. I want more food.”

Mr Balaram looked as if someone had just hit him across the face with a bat.

“What did you say, kid?” he gave Levi a piercing look.

Levi gulped and said, “I want more food.”

“You want more food, huh?” Mr Balaram then snatched the plate from Levi’s hands and gave him a nasty look. “No food for you today!” he said rather shrewdly.

Levi knew this would happen, because it had been happening to all those girls and boys living there, if they wanted a bit more to eat. He wished he hadn’t asked for more food because now he had ended up with no food at all!

At the other end of the town lived Aiden, a rich little brat. Aiden’s dining table always overflowed with dishes. Rice, cakes, porridge, every kind of sauces and what not! But Aiden always found something that was not on the table.

“I want biryani!” he would demand raising his eyebrows. And then a dish full of biryani would be served. He would eat half a plate or so and would say, “It was okay but not really good, I don’t want to eat more.”

All the leftover food would be wasted and go straight into the dustbin.

The difference between the situations of Levi and Aiden was that Aiden had been blessed with food and all the luxuries of life, while poor Levi barely had food to eat.

Isn’t food a blessing we never pondered on? Wasting food is a sin. But we leave food on our plate, despite our mother often telling us not to leave food and always finish what is in our plate.

A lot of people go to sleep hungry each night. Even at this time, when you are reading this piece of writing, many people will be struggling to get food for their kids. Instead of going into the dustbin, leftover food can be the meal of a poor person in a respectable way.

Think about it! If you want to help the needy or the hungry, you could do a simple thing — whatever food you don’t want to eat or have excess of, give it to your maid or servant at home as a gift. You could make a small box outside your house, where you could put leftover food for the needy.

And the best of all, just help yourself to only as much food as you are going to eat, instead of overfilling your plate and leaving leftovers. And we can make a difference in Levi’s life and of all those struggling to get even a single meal in a day — but only if we work together to share what we have with others.

So be thankful and mindful of the food you get, and share what you don’t want to eat with someone who cannot afford to eat.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 31st, 2022