Whether you are a North Indian or a South Indian, a Gujarati or a Maharashtrian, a Bengali or an Assamese the sound of a child feeling hungry is something you understand in a jiffy. That is what motherhood and motherly instincts are all about.

Similarly the child, any child…understands the sound “Mum-Mum” and starts licking his or her lips in anticipation. The word is so appetising that hunger vanishes when a child hears it and expectations begin, digestive juices begin to flow and that smile of contentment takes shape.

The word has become so much a part of our lexicon that we even use it for pets…”Mum-Mum” Time is feed time…and the desperate wagging of tails and the gasping hungrily is a signature response to this sound.

It’s an amazing phrase…actually, an amazing sound. It encapsulates everything from “I’m here for you” to “Are you feeling hungry baby” to a host of other emotions and comforters.

The funny thing is that the progression from this terminology leads coldly and not very kindly to words like Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Naashtha, Khaana etc.

Suddenly you feel that “Dinner is Served” is not an affectionate announcement but more of a Railway Station Tannoy Appeal. And this is true of almost all languages and cultures.

However there is one word that I heard that breaks the rule. And the word is “Buvvaa”.

As a child is growing up, the mother and the elders ask the child whether it is time for “Buvvaa”. When the child is an adolescent or even a youngster “Buvvaa thinnava?” is an endearing question.

Why, even after marriage, a concerned wife asks her husband to eat “Buvvaa” on time. There is all her love and care mixed into that ball of rice, the roti or the curry…or the curd.

People who eat “Buvvaa” tend to have a more satisfied smile on their faces. Just like they did when they had Mum-Mum when younger.

I sincerely wish that the newly formed Telangana Government should adopt a more “Buvvaa” stance when planning its next ‘Feed the People’ program…perhaps a lesson they can learn from my friends at 13 Dhaba where Love is Served Free