Fw: ..BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY!
Dr Raj Kamal
"MONEY IS YOURS BUT
RESOURCES BELONG TO THE
SOCIETY"
(An eye opening story of an
Indian in Germany)
Germany is (as you know) a highly
industrialised 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
(the original sender) 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 nice, and whether the couple can enjoy this
meal.
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 busy.
"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
Mark fine. We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Mark 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.
--
with regards,
VINESH T M
Bangalore.
ph: 09035603301