Roti, kapda aur makaan: the three necessities of life that we take for granted. In fact, not only do we assume they will always be there, but we take them to a new level, where they no longer are a necessity, but a luxury. What happens when it
is taken away from you? When you don’t know where you will sleep tonight or where your next meal will come from, or if you are left with one pair of clothes to survive? Ever thought of that?
Rohit (Timmy) Narang challenged himself by doing a TV programme where he would have none of the above. Timmy runs Ambassador Sky Catering, where they provide thousands of meals per day. Ironically, he was chasing a grain of rice not knowing when and where he would get his next meal. “We see food on plates being wasted. None of us blink an eye at it. We go to fancy restaurants and pay dollars for gourmet food. Imagine if you don’t know when and how you will find a morsel of food,” he said, narrating his recent experience. “Your attitude in life changes. Your behavior towards people change. You are in survivor mode, and all you care about is how will you feed yourself.”
We sleep on comfortable beds in our air-conditioned rooms. We aspire for bigger homes and furniture that spell luxury. Even pillows today have their own hierarchy. “What if you really don’t know where you will rest your tired body?” Timmy asked. The world of luxury has hit us like a hurricane. Clothes have to be stylish and branded, otherwise they are not up to the mark. “I probably have clothes that are lying for years in my closet with tags still on them,” he laughed. “The funny thing is the more we have, the more we think about it and the more complicated our lives become.”
The experience has changed Timmy completely. “I now worry about my driver’s meal times,” he said, referring to how many times we overlook the fact that those who work for us may not have eaten till late in the day.
“We have way more than we need. If we really reflect on our lives, we need so much less than we have. Life is so much simpler and better when you are out of this rut.”
“But you knew the experience would be temporary?” I asked him. He paused and answered, “Yes, it was temporary, but when someone like me, who has been a stickler for nutrition and good food which I have every few hours, gets none… all this becomes a reality,” he said.
“My friends mocked me when I planned on going for this,” he reminisced. “Today, I feel a strength within me that is powerful. I know I can live without materialistic greed,” he said to me convincingly.
“It’s time to reflect,” he said, “To give back to people who don’t have all this. Not with money, but real food, clothes and shelter. Unfortunately money sometimes does not reach them,” he said. “We have much more than we need. We have to prioritise and it’s time for me to make people who don’t have ‘roti, kapda nor makaan’ feel better,” he said, with a positive spirit.