For the past several months, a young lady has attended poetry circles at my home, and the heartfelt conversations about poems have led to a friendship between us. Recently, as we were discussing something about the inequalities in this world, she expressed her frustration and helplessness in a manner that led me to spontaneously throw out a suggestion that we could do something, maybe cook lunch and take it to those near us who happen to be homeless. Her initial reaction was to say don’t sign me up for anything, but as the weekend approached, she followed up to ask if I was serious.

I had wanted to do this for a while and only needed a companion. We agreed to do it. As we made plans, she asked why we couldn't we just buy some food to give away. I told her I want to offer home-cooked food, as they probably eat mostly commercially prepared food. She volunteered to cook a pot of beans and I made rice and cut-up salad and fruits. I drove to pick her up and then we drove to downtown San Jose to give it away.

We struck up conversations with individual street people to ask how they were and learn a bit about whatever they cared to share, and to ask them if they would like us to bring some homemade food from the car parked a short walk away. In the process we talked to a fellow who was trapping stray cats to take to a shelter. He had seen us delivering plates to a few people around around the block. When we asked him he cared for some homemade food, he said in a friendly way, "But I am not homeless". We smiled and said we are just happy to share it. As we continued our conversations with others, we learned exactly where many more of them might be. So, we drove several blocks away to the park, with the remainder of the food. There were so many more people there that we ran out of food very quickly. With so many visibly unserved, we felt bad leaving. Her original suggestion about buying food came back to me. We decided that we would find a grocery store nearby and buy ice-cream to give away, as it was a rather hot afternoon. That turned out to be a good choice. Icecream on sticks and in cones was far easier to pass out and it was popular. I left the place with a desire to cook more and return there soon with more rice just because one of them had sounded so excited about being served warm rice.

The seeds of this idea came to me from multiple groups of friends from ServiceSpace. There are folks in Pune who cook weekly for the homeless, and for Awakin attendees. Bay Area friends too have done it several times. Harshida has cooked and fed so many folks every Wednesday, for two decades, that I feel I had to atleast try to pass it on. The permission to do it on a smaller scale is also a part of the ServiceSpace values where small acts are a pretty good place to start. As I had not been able to join any of the existing groups making these offerings, I was glad to have found this opportunity, thanks to the young lady willing to go along with the suggestion. She is leaving the country later this week, and wrote me a farewell letter, to say how this experience meant a lot to her and will stay with her.



I had learned enough from this maiden visit to be resolved to cook more food and return there soon. One recent morning I cooked up lots of rice and vegetable curry in lentils. I had to find another friend to assist with the final part of handing it out. I called another poet-friend to ask if he would be willing to spend his lunch break helping me with my project. He agreed. I loaded up the car, drove to San Jose, picking him up en-route. He was shy to hand out the food, but agreed to plate it, while I walked from the car to make the offerings to the people sitting in that park. This time we had enough food for everyone who wanted it. I am glad to finally be passing it on. They say the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, and I am grateful for inspiration to my ServiceSpace community, for help from my poet-pals who got me started and to the ones who accepted the offerings. I am reminded of an African proverb that says, if you want to go fast, go solo, but if you want to go far, go with others.