13. Nothing to Eat, But...

"My God! The price of rice has gone up so high!” exclaimed Selvaraj, in dismay. 

“What to do, sir? Due to poor monsoon, rice production has fallen. When the supply is inadequate to meet the demand, the price is bound to go up!” explained the shopkeeper, in the manner of an Economics expert, displaying his wisdom during a TV interview. 

Selvaraj murmured something incomprehensible in mild protest, paid the price and bought the rice.

Unlike Selvaraj, everyone couldn't afford to buy the rice needed for their family at such a high price.

Take for instance, Shanmugam, working as a labourer in the wholesale vegetable market at Koyambedu in Chennai.

These days, having rice for lunch had become a rare occurrence for his family, similar to the electricity that would show up only now and then. 

The fall in rice production led to a fall in the stock of food grains available with the Government for distribution.

The repeated assurances made by the Government that of ration card holders would get their entitled quota of rice only highlighted the prevalence of the problem of scarcity. 

During the past few months, supply of rice to ration card holders was irregular. During some months, the supply was delayed and during other months, there was no supply at all.

Since the quantity of rice supplied to ration card holders was reduced, even during the months when the supply had been regular, many people had to buy some quantity of rice in the open market, at a high price, towards the end of the month.

Steep rise in the price of rice in the open market made it impossible for Shanmugam to buy rice from the open market.

To Shanmugam's wife Muthazhagu, feeding her two children was a challenging task every day.

That evening, when Muthazhagu's son Murugesh and daughter Divya returned from the school, the first question they asked their mother was, "Will we get rice for dinner today?"

Avoiding a direct answer to their question, Muthazhagu with a question, "Did they give you eggs for lunch* today at your school?"

"Yes, they did" answered Divya,"but since the egg I got was rotten, I had to discard it. You didn't answer my question whether we would get rice for dinner today?"

"Sorry, dear. I couldn't buy rice today also. Your father has assured me that when he comes home tomorrow morning from the market, he will bring rice" said Muthazhagu, in an apologetic tone.

"Then, what do we have for dinner today?" asked Murugesh.

"I will buy you bread" replied Muthazhagu.

"Oh, I can't eat that dry bread. Don't bother. We will get rice in our school tomorrow for lunch. We will manage" said Divya.

"Tell me, Mom! Daddy gets something to eat in the place where he works. We get lunch in our school. How do you manage?" asked Murugesh, holding his mother's hand with affection.

'I have a daughter who accepts the situation of not getting enough food at home. And I have a son, who, ignoring his own pangs of hunger, is concerned about me, his mother, not getting anything to eat. How fortunate I am!' thought Muthazhagi.

This good feeling made Muthazhagu feel full, with her hunger receding into the background, for a while.

* In the state of Tamilnadu, India, there is a system of providing lunch to poor children in the schools run by the Government.

Thirukkural
Section 1: The Path of Virtue

Chapter 2
The Glory of Rain

Verse 13 (in Tamil)
viN inRu poyppin viri nIr viyan ulagaththu
uL ninRu udaRRum pasi

Meaning
Though this world is surrounded by water, if the rains fail, starvation will cause pain to people, from within.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'ammAvin mIthu akkaRai' by the same author)

Verse 14 

Verse 12