In a casual discussion with my friends at work, I concluded the ongoing discussion on greed for money by saying that it is a matter of two chapatis in the end. What I mean here is that anything we do here in this world – any job, any business or any act is to satisfy our basic physiological needs – food and thirst. While Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Model does outline the increasing orders of human needs, I plan to justify basic needs of food here at the crux of everything we do.

It makes me wonder sometimes, how people who make good money, end up being obese due to their sedentary lifestyle and then join a fitness center or gym and a strict diet regime to shed those extra calories and get back in shape. The joy of enjoying extravagant food is lost when one is asked to have those 2 plain chapatis. May I ask, if having 2 chapatis can make you healthy, what is the point of getting obese, and then getting back in shape. Why not be wise enough to enjoy your 2 chapatis and stay healthy?

The same 2 chapatis motivate all of us to work so that we get access to at least 2 chapatis a day. Yet, our greed does not end there, and we often go beyond those 2 chapatis to accumulate what is undesirable. Look at diseases associated with obesity – diabetes, cardiovascular diseases – all of these could have been avoided, and when you are being treated for them – the physician again asks you to have those 2 chapatis.

What I really want to convey through this post is that while as a human, you are blessed to accumulate wealth and even enjoy it; please exercise caution in your actions. Whatever you do today has a profound impact on your tomorrow. Hence, if you stick to your 2 chapatis aka simple, healthy and balanced diet; you can enjoy a longer life in comparison to a rich life poisoned with excess of healthy or unhealthy food.

P.S. Chapati is equivalent to one piece of bread (for those with non-Indian origin)