Akshit Rao

Pauper to Pepper Akshit Rao

As long as you are dependent on anything, you will not be free. It could be love, water, happiness, food, sex or air, as long as you need something, freedom will not be yours. I was in Bombay when I met a beggar and had a lengthy discussion about freedom with her. I had this conversation with a beggar out of all people because I had realized by now that a person who has little or nothing to lose is closer to freedom than the rest of us. She had attained a certain level of freedom; she could eat anything and imagine what she was actually hoping to eat. A plate of plain, flavorless rice would taste like biryani to her. Pauper to Pepper is a compilation of short stories of my food journey from childhood till now, my experiences of desperation for food to meeting people who had it in abundance. Looking back at my journey, the various people I came across and my closeness to food makes me wonder if I, too, will attain ultimate knowledge and freedom one day, like she did.