Austerity, only on a war footing?

It is only when the crisis hits that thrift begins to make sense.

It was a small family gathering, and like all gatherings, a lot of conversations revolved around food.

Suddenly there was stunned silence when a cousin casually mentioned that she usually made one-pot (read pressure-cooked) meals and quite a few vegetable curries/palyas in pressure pans.

Twenty-three pairs of eyes looked at her in disbelief; then suddenly there was laughter all around, with jokes on her “pressure-cooked” food: “Oh…so you make cauliflower in a pressure cooker? Oh…what about brinjal? And ladies’ fingers? I am sure you pressure cook the greens as well as other tender vegetables.” Everyone was in full steam on their cooker jibes.

Today, suddenly, pressure cooking everything has become an advisory, considering the LPG shortage in the country. Maybe the cousin is having the last laugh after all those jokes on her.

Don’t we take whatever we get for granted? Fuel, water, power. When the current crisis first crawled into the kitchen, we felt the twist in our stomachs.

Suddenly, newspapers and social media began talking about the careful use of LPG, the need to switch to induction stoves, and most importantly, a sudden realisation of the effectiveness of pressure-cooked meals as a means of saving fuel—not to mention the additional advice of soaking pulses and rice a few minutes before the cooking process.

With the war guzzling the global oil supply chain and burping out a severe crisis, vehicle users have pressed the panic button. Now, the public discourse is being steered onto the path of austerity.

There are loud murmurs in the long petrol station queues about thoughtfully using cars/scooters.

There seems to be a sudden awareness to become austere and not switch on the car ignition to the nearby grocery-vegetable store; that’s how important it is to walk to preserve one’s health as well as that of the planet. These are now becoming a war cry in a zone of a threatening fuel supply.

Isn’t it the same for water? The summer is now in second gear, and the water sources and water table are slowly showing signs of depletion. It is still in a nascent stage of crisis. But soon, there will be a clarion call for judicious use of water, and public service campaigns will focus on water conservation.

Now, isn’t it possible for us to become more sensitive about the limitations of natural resources and carefully spend them? Or do we always have to wait for a war or an inevitable water-table threat to wake the eco-warriors in us?

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)