In quest to fill as many empty stomachs as possible, youth shares meals with strangers

By Sameer Manekar

“In our country, children still die of hunger. Not because of a disaster or disease, but because they didn’t have food. This pains me a lot. I wanted to do something and I decided that I would share my food with strangers, with someone who needed it more than I did,” says 28-year-old Ameya Ghanekar, a corporate trainer from Pune who now lives in Dubai.

At the end of last year, Ghanekar embarked on a journey across north India. As he travelled across Dehradun, Mussoorie, Rishikesh and Chopta, he shared every meal of the day with strangers. “I walk on the roads, I talk to people, and I ask them, are you hungry? Many of them say, yes, and I share a meal with them. I just ask them, would you like to share a happy moment of your life and a meal with me. My objective is simple: no one should sleep hungry at the end of the day,” he says.

In Dehradun, Ghanekar says he met a beggar who laughed incredulously when the youngster asked him if he wanted to share a meal. “When I got him two parathas, through his actions, he showed me that he couldn’t break bread, he couldn’t even speak since he was hearing and speech-impaired. I had tears in my eyes at that moment.”

Ghanekar says he wants to alleviate the pain and suffering of unprivileged people, even if only for the short span of a meal.

“We are so privileged, we have so much money, so much food on our plates, every meal of every day. Nowadays, I try to eat from the same plate as the people I share the meal with. I sit down with them, and talk to them about anything. And I can say that I have learned more from that than I did in my entire PhD course,” says Ghanekar.

Two months ago, he had tried a similar initiative in Jaipur, where he shared his meals with strangers for seven days.

When asked about his future plans, he says he doesn’t have any right now. “I believe in spontaneity. I think there is a lot of power in not planning. I don’t know where I am going next, or how long I am going to do this. Right now, I am on my way to Tungnath in Uttarakhand, where the highest Shiva temple in the world is located, and the plan is to keep doing this as long as I can,” says Ghanekar.