Source: Unsplash
We have so much information and energy coming at us from all corners of our lives, every day. And a lot of it seems to be bad news that we need to wrestle our way through. In this game of going from one piece of dark news to the next, it feels rebellious to hope. To set our hearts and stubbornly insist that this is going to be a good hour, day, week or year.
To say that we will smile and we will eke out little bits of joy despite the avalanche of things that are not working. Through the cold, dark seasons the thing that keeps us warm and lights up the next step on this journey is hope. It is the thing that pushes us to take action, to build a world that we want to see. Hope.
So where does hope come from?
We’ve thought about this a lot. Does hope come with the sunrise? The yellow glow of the moon? The laughter of children or the hope in your dog’s eyes when he begs for a bite of your snack?
That’s when we came across this paragraph on a random corner of the internet -
I hate the word 'hope'. It's a cruel and bitter emotion that won't leave you alone. In meditation, one is taught to 'let go' of attachments to emotions. I can often do that with anger and grief and anxiety. In fact, I've gotten pretty adept at it. But not hope. I despise it because even if I let it go, it never lets go of me. - Issac
When Issac (a doctor in training) wrote this, he was waiting for an organ donor to be found for his father. He puts forward the idea that sometimes, hope can be a bitter, reluctant thing. But he also shows us that it is just human to hope.
It is within us whether we want it or not. Issac echoed the sentiment of Alexander Pope (who wrote this in 1774) - Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
Stubborn hope
Are we ever truly hopeless? Even if our hope to lose those 10 kgs disappears as we approach New Year’s eve or our hope of finding love evaporates as your blind date drags on. Does it not spring right up again? Tomorrow is a new day when we begin and end the day in hope once more.
Source: Pinterest
Dare we hope? Yes, we do.
Here’s what hope looks like at The Huda Bar
Collectively, our team hopes to take the message of good, clean eating and living out into the larger world. But we all have our own personal wishes and hopes as well –
“To see myself in a better position personally and professionally.” - Anita
“To give my children a better future. To see the company grow and more people to join the THB family” - Manu
“For THB to grow and to provide her kids with better education.” - Stella
“To be able to live peacefully for the rest of my life.” - Manjula
“Deep strength, courage and kindness are my hopes for the year.” -Dipankar
The Hope Sale
Good, bad. Bitter or happy. At the Huda Bar, we love this warm emotion whether it’s for the big things or the small. It spurs us to action. It was Mandela who said ‘May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.’ And this is why we begin each year with the Hope Sale. It’s a token of our gratitude to this community. A hope and a wish for a healthier, happier year. And our contribution to making it so in whichever way we can.
How do we work toward creating the world we hope to see?
We’d love a world where kindness and contentment rules! Where we can operate without costing people or the planet anything. And we try to make that happen from source to sale.
Most ingredients are all brought together from farmers close to us, who have worked the land for generations right here in India.
Our kitchen is warm with laughter and enthusiasm to bake, mix, pour and cut another batch of bars or pack up another shipment.
We send out each parcel filled with all our hope that it will make the person on the receiving end happy.
“This business started with a passion for everything that is healthy. Which means healthy inside out. This does mean a continuous commitment to choosing better products for our packaging. What would have cost us 5 paisa or 10 paisa, today costs us almost 1 rupee 50 paisa because we’re refusing to back down on this point.
If you ask me, the thought of putting our products in cheaper plastics has not crossed my mind, you just take it as par for the course as something that happens and understand that your margins are low and work accordingly. Does it give me sleepless nights? How to sustain the sustainable business? Yes, it does but I think it’s worth it.”
-Pratibha PanthCEO & Co-Founder
