One dish wedding possible in India?

When i read an article in "Outlook" sometimes back about the Union food and consumer affairs minister Mr.K.V.Thomas's intention of creating a model or guidelines for how many dish(es) can be served in marriage and other functions, i was intrigued and i thought it can be done(need full details of the proposal),even though most rich people will oppose this idea.In today's world we can not think of only one dish for wedding lunch or dinner, its nothing wrong to have many dishes but it is immoral or unethical to waste food in great quantity in those functions, thats the ministers point.

India ranks 67th out of 122 countries in malnourished countries list.40 million people go hungry everyday.But some rich people marriages are having more than 200 dishes. As per the article , last year rotting of food grains in Punjab and Haryana could have fed over 1 crore people but the government was unable to channel it to public distribution system.The central and state government should channelize the food distribution in a proper manner and they should make sure that the food supplies reaches the poor.I hope after the implementation of MNIC (Multipurpose National Identity Card) through which government can keep track of everything a citizen gets through PDS, that food supplies will reach the poor on time and in good condition.

Come back to one dish marriage , i think we as a guest in marriage or other function never satisfy with one dish but if we all can eat only whatever we can and never leave the plate with any food item, then we can help the whole system.Another big advantage of having one dish (call it as minimal food) is reducing the financial burden on host.10 years before in my village only Mutton curry and rice was served in marriages but now Mutton curry, Chicken fry, egg etc, this trend of serving many dishes forces  the poor people to borrow money and arrange marriage.(You can ask why like that but the reality is if they do not follow the trend their reputation(prestige) will spoil).I have seen many people paying credits after their or their son's/daughter's marriage ,though they do not have any credits before arranging marriage.Of course the cost of gold is the main factor for borrowing  but if we have one dish or less number of dish we can reduce the marriage cost somewhat.

Assam model possible?
I was surprised to read that there is a law called " Guest Control Order,1973" which states that only 25 people for parties and maximum of hundred guest at wedding and funerals can attend!! but as usual no one follows this law in fact many of the policemen themselves do not know the existence of such law.Im not sure this can be applicable to all over India, since for e,g if a marriage happens in a village like mine our close relatives itself count more than hundred.

Conclusion :
Personally i  think that this proposed changes by the ministry will have small(atleast they will think,what to do with leftover) impact but not a big(arranging less number of dishes and for exact number of people)impact on our wedding celebration specially with eating food but one thing the ministry can do ,create awareness among the people specially the rich about the wastage of food in these kind of functions and channelize these food to poor people around the country.

Received one forwarded mail from my friends, check it out:


"Germany is a highly industrialized 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 impression before my short term business 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 romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy. 


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 busybody. "We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind,"  one of my colleague 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 organization arrived. Upon knowing  what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 euro 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."