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A Punekar who wants to ensure no one sleeps hungry
Ameya Ghanekar is looking forward to an India tour to promote ‘Trusting The Unknown – Sharing A Meal Today’
While growing up, Ameya Ghanekar, 34 changed six schools across the country, owing to his father’s bank job. This got him to meet and interact with people from different walks of life and view things from multiple perspectives.
Today Ghanekar is glad that he was able to travel so much, as it has helped him kick-start ‘Trusting The Unknown – Sharing A Meal Today’ a project that quite literally requires one to trust the unknown, blindly. Ghanekar says, “Nothing binds us together like food. Even the word ‘companion’ derives from the Latin root word ‘companio’ meaning ‘with’. The second part comes from ‘panis’, the Latin word for bread or food. So companion is someone you share a meal with.I want to do my small bit by sharing meals.”
He started the social experiment on December 29, 2018 in Dehradun and slowly moved to Rishikesh, Mussoorie, Chopta and Tungnath. “I intend to do this in parts. The exercise has helped me personally and professionally. Yes, I have helped them with a meal, but what they give me back in form of blessings and experiences is priceless. I have started to appreciate things around me and most importantly, I have started to appreciate life. It has also made be a calmer and spiritual individual,” says Ghanekar.
A corporate trainer by profession, Ghanekar conducts several workshops across the globe and has travelled to over 40 countries. He shares that what is important here is not only buying food for the people, but sitting down and eating with them. “There’s a difference between giving food and ‘sharing a meal'. Giving away food is a good gesture but sharing a meal with someone we don’t know that’s the part that makes a difference. One could have awesome conversations, cherish the diversities, make a friend, learn something new, contribute to someone’s life and more.”
So, is everyone accepting for the gesture? Or does he face obstacles?
“Well, most of the people I have met have been gracious and glad to share a meal. Some are hesitant, as they find it difficult to trust a stranger, especially those who have been abandoned by their families and relatives. However, once we start eating, they relax and open up. The conversation that follows is mostly nostalgic and full of anecdotes.”
He shares an encounter, where the companion was furious when Ghanekar enquired about his family. “I learnt at that point that I have to be sensitive about my questions. I must not say anything I please.”
In the past six days, Ghanekar has shared a meal with several individuals, however one meal that has stayed with him is of that with a deaf and mute senior citizen. “It is heart-wrenching to know that he had forgotten how to tear chapati. He was trying to explain to me in sign language that it has been a while since he ate chapati. I was heart broken. Incidents like these give me the encouragement to go on with this project.”
The Bharati Vidyapeeth and Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth alumnus does not have a stipulated budget for the project, and doesn’t intend to either. “The idea is to share a meal and not make it a business plan. I go with the flow, by god's grace I am able to afford it. Also, a lot of people have approached me to start something similar in their cities, I am glad to have inspired them.”
Who is Ameya Ghanekar
Ameya is a Tedx Speaker, published author, strength coach and learning strategist, who shuttles between Dubai and Pune for work. His mother Urmila Ghanekar is based in Pune,
How it works?
Ameya approaches a needy person and enquires what he/she would like to eat. He then goes on two buy two portion of the meal. He sits with them and shares the meal.
