Desicritics Category: Culture: Food And Drink

Health Care at Home

Ravi Kulkarni — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 03:30:23 EDT

In my previous blog I listed a litany of complaints about the health care system. In this blog, I will talk about some actions I have taken to ensure a healthy lifestyle.

By most standards, I am a health freak. It is not that I always do optimal things nor that I am in perfect health. But I have improved my health considerably in the last ten years or so and my blog is an effort to share my learning.

Over a period of time, I have been consulting doctors and getting lab reports. In order to improve something, one needs a baseline. One measure is to count the number of times a person falls sick. This is very subjective and sometimes deceptive too as major diseases can lurk under seemingly good health. The metrics in the lab reports provide a more objective basis. Based on these metrics I do my own research on possible lifestyle, diet and exercise changes that are needed to get better. I have realized measurable improvements of health over several years.

In my opinion, diet is the primary source of our health issues. After all we are what we eat. I avoid junk food, including all sodas, colas, synthetic additives and preservatives, synthetic sugar substitutes and so on. Where possible I have substituted whole grains for bleached floor, brown rice for white rice, olive oil for peanut oil and so on. I buy organic where I can. About 50% of my personal diet consists of only raw fruits, vegetables and nuts. For example today my lunch consisted of the following (all raw): sprouted moong (green gram), red and yellow bell peppers, Persian cucumbers, broccoli, apple slices, a mango, blue berries, raspberries, almonds and walnuts. I try to consume flaxseed in many different preparations.

Recently I purchased a Vita-mix whole food machine. It is an excellent device for making juices, soups, dips and assorted other things. I highly recommend this product to anyone interested in cooking and especially those who enjoy raw food.

Our teeth play a very important role in our health. It is not just the social consequences of bad breath or discolored teeth; they have a much more profound impact on our lives. Treatments like root canal can do more harm than good in some cases. I have followed a very simple regimen: I make sure to brush at least twice a day and floss after every meal for at least 2-3 minutes. Just flossing alone has made a tremendous difference in my dental health. Recently I also purchased a Panasonic mouth irrigator. This product is available for about $25 at amazon.com and worth its weight in gold.

As I am an IT professional besides being an internet junkie, it is almost certain that my eyesight is weak. However, I have always resisted wearing glasses and never got a pair. I think eyes are the best optical instruments ever designed and they are capable of working under extreme conditions. I have always relied on eye exercises and yoga to keep them in reasonably good condition. I definitely need reading glasses but don't yet wear any. I also do no wear sunglasses even in the sunny locale where I live. I think sunlight is good because we just don't get enough of it in our home and office bound existence.

I have mixed feelings about supplements. If one is deficient in certain vitamins or minerals, it may make sense to take a few supplements until that deficiency is overcome. But I am not sure about the effectiveness of multivitamins. Ideally we should get all our vitamins and minerals from our diet. It is almost impossible to determine the action and interaction of so many different nutrients which are present in foods an isolated in a pill form. Our ancestors did not take any supplements but at least some of them enjoyed perfect health. However, I must admit I have taken certain supplements over the years and they have certainly helped. In particular, Co-Q10 which helped eliminate PVC (premature ventricular contraction, a benign heart condition) and Niacin which helped reduce tri glycerides. I have discontinued use of both.

Our ancestors used to rely a lot on the natural and home remedies. As a result they probably lived a much healthier lives than we do, though our life spans have increased during the last century. Invention of antibiotics and vaccines have reduced deaths due to many infectious diseases. That the overuse of antibiotics is now being seen as a leading cause of super infections is the irony of progress. We are born with amazing healing capabilities. And yet we provide crutches and artificial props in the form of concoctions of harsh chemicals in the mistaken belief that intervention is better than letting the nature take its course. As a result we compromise the very body we want to keep strong and fit for a hundred years.

My favorite home remedies are: turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and garlic for simple infections. Home made yogurt, buttermilk with asafoetida for many stomach ailments. There are a few commercial preparations that have become standard faire at our home. These are:

Inflameric as an anti inflammatory supplement
Oil of Oregano as a powerful natural antibiotic
Calendula Ointment (homeopathic) for cuts and bruises
Septilin for colds and flu

As a family, we have almost eliminated consumption of any prescription medicines. Neither of my kids, ten and six years old, have had to take antibiotics, ever.

We do consult doctors on a regular basis, but we tend to pay more attention to their diagnosis and much less to prescription. But once I have confirmed a diagnosis, subsequent course of action depends on my own research. Nobody knows my body, diet and lifestyle better than myself. Best course of action often depends more on these factors and less on a formulaic prescription. An average doctor does not have enough time or patience to take into account all these factors. My source of information:

Curezone - Lot of information, user contributed information, first hand reports etc.
WebMD - Information about diseases, medicines
FDA - US Food and Drug Administration
Allayurveda - Information about Ayurvedic medicines and principles
Yahoo groups - Individual ailment discussion groups

Our modern lifestyle almost ensures that we need to exercise on a regular basis in order to maintain good health. I try to get at least 45 minutes of 3-4 days a week, mostly on a treadmill. I probably need more flexibility and strength training, but I guess I will get there. While my lifestyle and diet do provide major benefits, exercise provides a further boost to it. My tri-glycerides have been high for the last several years. I have noticed that they come down measurably whenever I exercise regularly and go easy on simple carbohydrates and fat.

Yoga and meditation provide benefits to body, mind and spirit. I am still struggling to incorporate these into my daily routine. When I do that, my at-home health care should be complete.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and this article is not medical advice. Please do your own research and always consult a physician for your health concerns. If I am mentioning certain brands and products here, it is because I found them to be useful, not because I derive any benefits from this mention.

Burgers and Fries - Redux

smallsquirrel — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:32:44 EST

Are you simply yearning to indulge your cravings for burgers and fries but are trying desperately to stick to a healthy diet? Here are two options for burgers that will help keep your waistline in check, and a much more healthy option for fries. Salmon and turkey are a healthy alternative to beef. Salmon is chock full of Omega 3 fatty acids, and is considered a super food! Sweet potatoes are also considered very healthy, and are a great option when you're craving a starch but want to make your calories count.

Kids love these recipes, although I might recommend cutting down the chili paste and green chili when serving to anyone quite small.

Again, I am very bad with measurements. You'll have to eye-ball it. I made up these recipes and often just use what I have, so nothing is them has cut-and-dried proportions.

SALMON BURGERS

one tin of salmon OR a nice piece of raw salmon cut into small chunks
chili-garlic paste (about 1 tablespoon)
coriander (a handful, chopped)
red onion (about 2 teaspoons chopped)
one egg (beaten)
bread crumbs (unseasoned- about 1 tablespoon)
olive oil

in a bowl, combine the salmon, a handful of chopped coriander, the chopped red onion, and chili-garlic paste according to taste. These are nice when spicy, so if you can stand it, use liberally! Add salt and pepper. Add about one tablespoon of breadcrumbs to the mix, and a little bit of the beaten egg and mix with your hands. Keep adding the egg and breadcrumbs until you feel the patty will hold together, being careful not to add too much or you will spoil the taste of the burger. Make patties that are fairly thin so that they will cook through without becoming tough. Cook on medium/low flame in a small amount of olive oil, being sure to brown but not burn the patties. Do not overcook or the burgers will become tough.

one tin will make 2 burgers.

TURKEY BURGERS

ground turkey (92 percent lean) about 1 lb.
cilantro (a handful, chopped)
red onion (about 2 teaspoons chopped)
bread crumbs (about 1/4 cup)
grated fresh ginger (about a tablespoon)
soy sauce (2 teaspoons)
green chili (one whole, chopped)
salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients, form into patties and cook in a pan in a small amount of olive oil. Brown on both sides, then cover and leave on low heat to ensure the patties are cooked all the way through... about 5 minutes. Should make 4 patties.

SWEET POTATO FRIES

preheat oven to 425

cut 1-2 medium sweet potaoes into thin, french fry-like slices (or wedges if you prefer, but they will take longer to cook) and place into an over-proof baking dish in a single layer. Thinly slice 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic and add to the dish. Drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil and make sure garlic and potatoes are coated lightly. However, there should not be a layer of oil on the bottom of the pan, use just enough to lightly coat the potatoes. Add salt, pepper, and bake until the potatoes are crispy, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Just before removing from the oven you can add some chopped coriander, or any other kind of fresh herb that you like.

POGO, Kellogg's Special K, and Body Image Issues

Deepti Lamba — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:11:46 EST

Yesterday just as we sat down at Coffee Day my seven year old eyed me and told me with twinkling eyes "Ma, You are fat." I gasped for breath. I asked him where he had heard about fat. He shook his head and gave me his usual - Don't know and dug into his Black Forest Cake.

I wasn't about to give him an explanation about fitting into a size 12 jeans after 4 months of rigorous work outs or that giving birth to him, his sister and taking care of them had made me 'fat'. I wasn't going down the defensive mode with a 7 year old child.

I was more interested in knowing where he had come across the concept of body image. And it didn't take me long. Today while the kids watched toons on POGO the Special K ad rolled in. And before my horrified eyes I heard a small girl talking about her mom looking like Aishwarya Rai and her mom laughed and said she had lost two kilos by being on Special K. The little angel ranted about her mom looking the prettiest in the school and my mouth hung open.

What kind of shit was this? I looked at my son and then back at the TV. It was bad enough that cable channels were feeding shit to our kids about junk food but now we had cereals sneaking in body image neurosis to our underage children.

Where is the protest from parents about these sorts of ads? Maybe its time Kellogg's was taken to court for propagating unhealthy habits to our kids. Can you imagine a kid asking just for sugary cereals for 2 meals to be skinny?

Anyone who has tasted Special K would tell you that its like sugary wood shavings. And to be on a cereal diet is the worst thing one can do to their body. Eating right and exercising is the best way to leading a healthy life.

Once the ad finished I spoke to my son and told him that not everything that is seen on TV is the truth. And that having a fat or skinny mother doesn't make the child happy, what makes a child happy is having a mommy who loves him.

And that if I ever heard him say those words to anyone I would personally come and teach him the meaning of respect.

He looked at me with big saucer eyes and asked 'Why?"

I replied that it was the meanest and most hurtful thing to say and he wasn't a mean boy.

His mind switched gears when he realized his mother was done lecturing and asked if he could go out and play. I nodded absentmindedly, still upset about the kind of bogeymen we were letting into our homes via kiddie channels.

Butchermania

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:38:12 EST

It was an invite to attend a luncheon of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. But this time, the luncheon was at the Worshipful Company of Butchers. A beautiful place. Unfortunately, I had to take a call in the middle so I was shown into an office.

Here’s the back of a leather backed chair with the logo emblazoned on it.

Here’s me during the call, with the laptop open. Can you see the chair? Beautiful handiwork.

The luncheon was held in the Great Hall.

Can you see the table plan? pretty complicated. I was sitting half way up the middle table on the left. Then, after the call, I hot footed it back to the lunch. The food was absolutely delicious. The Angus Beef was so smooth, I think it has to be rated to be one of the best steaks I have eaten in London. But to be expected, if you dont get good beef in the Butcher’s hall, where else would you get it?

I took a sneaky picture of the main window as I was leaving. Can you see the stained glass showing the butchers on the bottom? The top window shows the various animals which are used in the trade, like sheep, lambs, cattle, etc. It was full of grandees and thus felt a bit embarrassed in clicking away…

But outside the hall, down the stairs and the hall has the most amazing dioramas. This was showing a butchers diorama, with cuts of beef, pork and lamb hanging.

I am afraid this photograph did not come out quite right, but shows some kind of a letter of patent relating to the fact that the Princess Royal became some kind of member.

Turning my head, there was another diorama with a huge cleaver on the top.

Took a close-up of the note. There are two flags, first the flag of New Zealand and then the flag of the United Kingdom, some kind of an association, I guess, established in 1809. It says:

“This chopper was used by Mr. Edward Jeffreys at Buckinghamd Palace to cut up the first New Zealand Lamb carcasse shipped to the United Kingdom in the S.S.Dunedin and presented to Her Majesty Queen Victoria in May 1882”

Pretty neat, no? to capture all this history? I know this is not big news or a big historical event, but it actually is very big news once you think about it. This lamb trade has impacted the history, economy, and culture of New Zealand for more than 100 years. And this cleaver was there when the trade was born.

Another diorama with the tools of the trade.

Here’s the Hall.

And here’s the Smithfield Market where you would get the butcher’s with their stalls.

And on the way, saw this, the Kinky Barber, who gives you a beer with every haircut! :) As long as you dont worry about the type of haircut, you should be happy with the beer :).

But lets take a side trip, its the history which interested me. The history of this company goes back to 975AD. Now that’s impressive and goes deep back into the hoary mists of time. When we eat a steak or a chop, do we know that there is this level of history of professional attention paid to how to deal with meat? I did not. This company is deeply involved with the meat industry, it deals with a variety of industry issues ranging from hides to food hygiene, etc.

It is a fine art, this bit about dealing with meat. You simply cannot kill an animal and hack it about. Oh! no. You have to know the physiology of animals and there is a whole terminology around which cuts of beef comes from where?

I was taught how to carve meat by my ma, she used to hunt in her childhood with my grandfather. So dealing with poultry, goat and beef was very interesting. It was almost like surgery. Which you should not find surprising, after all, for quite a long period of time, barbers and butchers used to be the surgeons of those ages. Anyway, it was quite interesting to sit there looking around at the crests, the stained windows, and know one was sitting amongst the ghosts of butchers past for a thousand years. The next time one see’s a big juicy medium rare sirloin steak on the plate, one would know that there is quite a strong possibility that the way it was prepared had some links of some sort to the Worshipful Company of Butchers.

The full slide show here.

Technorati Tags: London,History,Buildings,Animals

Frankenstein or Frankincense Crops?

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:23:01 EST

Here is a quite interesting story about GM foods. Personally speaking, I like the idea of having more GM food around the world. Just because the prices are falling a bit, does not mean that the pressure for more food has gone away. The middle classes of the world are demanding higher quality food, meat and the lot. They still need to be fed and watered. Given the lack of additional farm land, water, the only thing to do is to improve productivity of the existing cropland. GM foods provides one with a way to do this. Here are some interesting quotes:

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) said the global area of GM crops increased from 114m ha in 2007 to 125m ha in 2008, producing a harvest worth $7.5bn. The number of farmers planting GM crops rose from 12m in 22 countries to 13.3m in 25 countries.
Clive James, ISAAA chairman, said the most significant development last year was the first commercial planting of biotech crops in two African countries: maize in Egypt and cotton in Burkina Faso. Both crops contain “Bt genes” from bacteria, which kill insect pests. In 2007 South Africa had been the only country on the continent with GM plants (cotton, maize and soya).

Look at some of the benefits:

Of the cumulative economic gains of $44bn over 10 years of growing GM crops, the report attributed 44 per cent to yield increases and 56 per cent to reduced production costs, including the use of 359,000 tonnes less pesticide.

Now isn't that just peachy? Good stuff to read that not only you increase productivity, but production costs are reduced and less pesticide is used therefore reducing pollution as well. Yes, there are quite a lot of issues in this relating to the sale of patented seeds, potential for gene mutation, and the lot, but I think the risks are well worth it. Here is a good report from Friends of the Earth as a counterpoint to this argument. Anyway, I really dont want to get into a head banging argument about this.

One thing which is quite interesting is that if you increase the usage of GM foods, then the sustainability size factor of farms reduces as well. What do I mean by this? Well, in vast swathes of the world, you will see that the actual plot sizes are tiny. Plus with more and more children, the plots of land become smaller and smaller down every generation, till the end where the land is practically too small to support even one family and poverty increases dramatically. But with increase in crop productivity, less production costs, the level at which land sizes are no longer sustainable or able to support even one family increases. So for countries like India and China, this is good news indeed.

But beyond that, countries are now getting desperate for food security. Here’s a great example of what South Korea is planning to do in Madagascar. I quote:

South Korea's Daewoo Logistics this week announced that it had negotiated a 99-year lease on some 3.2 million acres of farmland on the dirt-poor tropical island of Madagascar…….Daewoo plans to put about three quarters of it under corn. The remainder will be used to produce palm oil — a key commodity for the global biofuels market. A Daewoo manager, Hong Jong-wan, told the Financial Times that the crops would "ensure our food security" and would use "totally undeveloped land which had been left untouched."

Here is another example of how Saudi Arabia is doing the same in Pakistan. I quote:

To this end, the Saudis, the Emiratis, and the Bahrainis have been in talks with Egypt, Pakistan, Ukraine, Sudan, Turkey, Yemen, South Africa, the Philippines and Thailand to buy up or rent arable land and expand agricultural production in these countries.

This is actually good, I dont have an issue with this. This is pushing investments in poorer countries and combined with new types of crops, the food situation in the world will get a desperately needed fillip. So instead of these crops being Frankenstein type of horror for the world, I suspect they will more be frankincense.

Technorati Tags: agriculture, India, Egypt

Photo-Essay: Cooking up a Storm

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:06:20 EST

I try to get to the kitchen once every often (and no, its not a blue moon day!!!!). It usually turns into a giant fun time exercise with the kids where mum is banned from the kitchen (thankfully, we really create a giant mess). This is a story of our latest gastronomic escapade. While browsing the local Sainsbury's store, I came across this excellent Gammon Joint and picked it up. Having never cooked a full joint, Muppet BD thought that its high time he tried it out. Ah, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Here’s the first recipe which I found. Now I have the patience of a hot and hungry flea on a desiccated cat. Any recipe which has the word “hour” in it is automatically discarded. So when I read that i have to soak the joint in cold water for 3 hours, or simmer for a further hour or bake for another hour, I gave up the idea of cooking the joint whole, despite the idea of having cloves driven into the fat being very alluring. A clove scented gammon joint? wonderful. But no, too much time, I like cooking but not spending my life cooking.

So decided to cut steaks out of it and try this recipe slightly amended. It was less a cooking exercise and more like a conductor conducting a demented epicurean philarmonic orchestra and 2 kids and too many things to do and to take photographs. So please bear with me, sometimes I will have to skip.

So I have now cut the joint into the thick steaks. Very very nice steaks they were too. And now the sauce is being prepared from mustard, soy sauce, honey and couple of touches from the weird Muppet BD brain (Tabasco, a bit of lime sauce and a bit of garlic paste).

Here are the kids putting in all the stuff inside the bowl.

there was much enthusiasm over the mixing as one can see. I think there was more sauce on the tabletop rather than inside the bowl, but never you mind.

now the steaks were thickly coated with the sauce.

while lil ms. princess was on hand to do quality control, pointing out to dada where all he had missed.

Now, instead of mashed potatoes or new potatoes, I decided to go for roast potatoes in goose fat. The potatoes were divided up into two parts, and each was given one bit to cover with the fat. Goose fat is just brilliant, much better than normal fat or any other basting liquid that you might find for roasting potatoes. The potatoes feel very rich and taste very crunchy indeed.

Here are the kids using the basting brush and basting the potatoes away to an inch of their lives.

now for a side dish of peas and sweet corn, take them out of the freezer and mix them. Lightly dust with butter and plonk into the microwave for 5 minutes. Then you take it out, put in salt, pepper, a dash of lime juice, and its a great side dish to eat with your steak, doesnt take time to make, straight from the freezer.

while the steaks are getting marinated, I prepared the pineapples on the side, they have been drained and are ready to be caramelised.

Here’s the first lot of steaks in the pan and the plates on the right ready to receive the bounty.

big steaks, these suckers.

Cook till golden brown, hardly took 4 minutes over a medium flame.

Everything is now served on the table other than the roast potatoes which are in the bowl.

Mum is coming in to do the final touches, Kannu is checking the potatoes in the oven while for some reason, little princess is making strange dance moves… As you can see, no pictures of the final dish, but it was a fun time.

Cost of ingredients? About $15 quid,

Time to prepare? about 50 odd minutes

Number of people required? about 3 people in all (can increase till space constraints you, but keep the kids away when frying the steaks, it will splatter)

Compliments to the chef: fulsome

Amount of scolding received after the end of the meal when mum looked at the kitchen to see the mess? Hideously awesome

Will we do it again? heck yes.

Here is the full slide show.

Technorati Tags: food and Cuisine

Fiction: Twists Of Love

Deepti Lamba — Mon, 9 Feb 2009 04:07:59 EST

He shifted on the bar stool and looked towards the main door. His eyes met hers. She wasn't the one he was waiting for. Part of him registered that she was attractive. She was curvy, with pretty eyes, wavy hair. She wore a black top with a plunging neckline along with black trousers.

The steward spoke to her and took her to a table. His eyes went back to the door. Where was she? He had been waiting for over fifteen minutes. He looked at his watch once more and then at the door. He fidgeted, turned back to take a sip of his whiskey sour and again trained his eyes on the door. He knew he was acting like a twenty year old and less like the thirty five year old man that he was.

She had finally agreed to go out with him as a date and not as a friend. He had watched her go through disappointments and heartbreaks for over five years and kept his love under wraps. She never saw him as anything more than a buddy. For her there was no chemistry between them but last night she asked if he wanted to be her date? She wondered out loud that maybe they were like old married couples and maybe she had been a fool not to see what they had.

He smiled and agreed, maybe they did have something. He gave a restrained smile. He wasn't going to lay it all out in the open. Not yet. He had his dignity and he was, after all, not a twenty year old.

But his heart was very much that of a twenty year old's. He hated himself for the eagerness he felt in his heart as he waited for her. His drink finished and he ordered another. Time was ticking by where was she?

At the table the lady in the black top and trousers played with the cutlery set next to her plate. Where was he? Was he going to make it? She looked at the door and then at her watch. She was a fool to believe him. Her eyes wondered around and she saw people laughing, drinking and eating. Feelings of loneliness washed over her and despondency came over. The tiny voice that insisted her he wasn't coming grew louder. He had stood her up, again.

He ordered another drink. It was his third whiskey sour. His stomach grumbled with hunger and he ate a few peanuts. His eyes wandered around the room and he saw the lady in the black top also sitting alone. It was close to an hour since she had walked in. Maybe they both had been stood up.

Their eyes met and they looked away. Indians didn't acknowledge strangers. Where was she? Had she changed her mind? A sense of forbidding came over him; maybe she had gone back to her last boyfriend. The devil in him twisted the knife deeper. Maybe she was in his apartment, lying in his bed, loving him, whispering sweet nothings in his ears, maybe she had forgotten all about the friend she had stood up. He gulped down his drink and ordered his fourth whiskey sour.

She drummed her fingers on the table and then looked at the alcohol menu and ordered whiskey on the rocks. He was late but he had always been late. She wasn't going to lose her temper. The guy at the bar also seemed alone. At least she wasn't the only one waiting for someone in the pub. He was a nice enough fellow. Easy on the eyes, actually. Her mind reverted back to her husband of ten years who couldn't keep his pants up when it came to pretty women. She wondered why she was a glutton for punishment. She was a fool.

Her drink came and in anger she gulped it down. Gritted her teeth when it hit her gut hard and asked the waiter for another. She crossed her arms and sat back against the chair and began to brood. The waiter returned with her drink . He whispered that the gentleman on the other table sent her a drink. She looked to her right and saw two twenty-somethings smile at her. They looked decent enough. One of them raised his glass at her. He was more than easy on the eyes. He was hot! He was a Shahrukh Khan look alike. She raised her glass and took a sip. He came over to the table.

Sitting on the hard stool he wondered whether on his fourth or fifth drink? He wasn't sure but one thing he was sure about- he had been officially stood up by the woman he had waited for what seemed to be most of his wasted life! But he looked at the door hopefully. It opened and a couple walked in. Disappointment punched his gut. He cursed himself and ordered his fifth; yes, it was his fifth.

The bartender raised her eyebrows. He glared at her. She smiled at him. They started talking. He was tipsy and his mind became hazy. He couldn't remember her face anymore. He concentrated his swaying senses on the bartender. She made him laugh. He ordered another, she told him to go easy on the drinks and he replied only if she would go easy on him. She showed him her pearly whites and he felt a balm on his soul.

The lady in black smiled when the good looking twenty something asked if she wanted to go to the nearby nightclub with him. She didn't let herself think about the risks and agreed. She wasn't a wet blanket; she too could have fun. She finished her third drink, got to her feet and swayed a bit. He grabbed her elbow to steady her and before he helped her out of the restaurant he nodded at his friend who raised his glass to him- Jackpot! He had a date.

The bartender gave him his sixth whiskey sour and lightly said if he would stop drinking she would take him up to her apartment for coffee; her shift was over. He smiled, pushed his drink to the side, inclined his head at her and gave her a devilish smile. She blinked. She wanted him. She gestured towards the door and they went out of the restaurant towards the stairs. Her apartment was on the first floor.

Something was wrong. She felt her world whirl around her, the nightclub would have to wait. Drinking on an empty stomach was never good. She bent over and threw up right on the porch of the restaurant and her black trousers got splattered. Humiliation, embarrassment and stomach ache made her groan out load.

As he was walking out with the bartender, he saw the lady in black throw up a few yards away from him. The lady in black was drunk. The bartender went up to the lady and asked if she wanted a taxi. She declined and asked her young companion to take her home. Her companion looked uncomfortable but felt he couldn't leave a drunk woman to fend for herself and agreed to drop her home. Taxis weren't safe.

The bartender returned and put her arm through his and took him to her rooms.

She, on the other hand, was carefully bundled into a Scorpio and she mumbled her address. Later, she didn't resist the helping hand towards her door and then her room.

Morning came in it's sunny glory. They both blinked and groaned. He was in the unfamiliar apartment and she was in her own bedroom. Memories of the sex escapades spilled forth.But hangover warded off the shock.

She stumbled into her bathroom and looked for the Ipill kept behind the mirror. She wondered if that kid had used a condom.

He sat up and grabbed his head. This was his first one night stand in his thirty five years of life . Did he use a condom? he wondered. He didn't carry one; he wasn't expecting to get lucky. The woman on the bed snored loudly and he stifled the next groan.

Her cell phone rang.

His cell phone rang.

They both groaned as their partners continued to slumber peacefully.

She wrapped herself in a robe and gingerly walked into the living room, side stepping the clothes left strewn around. Her black bra lying on the floor made her cringe and she closed a tight fist against the little butterfly encrusted Ipill.

He grabbed his trousers lying next to the cheap bedpost and pulled the cellphone out.

They answered their phones in a whisper

"Hello?"

His deep baritone in her ear made her close her eyes in pain. She tried to remind herself that he had hurt her all over again. She promised herself that she'd be strong for once and not given in.

"Sweetheart! There was a big jam on Brigade Road and the Airtel lines were jammed. I couldn't get through. I was so worried. Have I blown my chances with you? Sweet heart I am so sorry. I love you. I don't want to lose you. Can I come over? Please honey. Give me a chance? Give our marriage a chance? "

He went on pleading .

She stared at the Ipill in her palm and replied "No, I'll come over at lunch time. We'll talk then" She closed her cellphone and went into the kitchen to have her pill with water.

He remained quiet as his friend of five years gave him an explanation.

"Babes! I made up with him. We are fine now. I tried to call you but the lines were jammed. I know you will be happy for me......"

She went on speaking but he stopped paying attention to the flighty chatter. His eyes were on the bare chested woman who lay on her back and smiled up at him. He smiled back at her. His twenty year old heart did a little skip. Being with her seemed right.

She held her arms open and as he lay down with her he whispered "Happy Valentine 's Day."

Nature And Women

Deepti Lamba — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:32:23 EST

The theories aired here are all mine. They are subjective and the report used here is merely to substantiate my bias.

Read the two sentences? Now we can begin.

Nature intended man to be the tiller and woman to be the earth. Women bodies are more fat than muscle as opposed to men, we tend to hoard more and get this we tend to be less able to resist our hunger pangs than men. According to a study conducted by Gene-Jack- Wang MD:

Hungry women can't control their desire for food as well as hungry men can, a brain imaging study suggests.

The finding may explain why women are more prone to emotional eating and why women are less likely than men to lose weight while dieting.

"Women have a much stronger reaction to food, such that whether they try to inhibit their desire or not, they have stronger signal [in the part of the brain that controls hunger perception and desire to eat]," study leader Gene-Jack Wang, MD, tells WebMD.

The above article made me choke on my third chocolate cookie. I haven't fallen off the bandwagon completely but at the same time I cannot resist the goodies either especially when I have hunger pangs.

I got inspired and carried out a personal survey which consisted of five women (remember its a biased report) and three men. (Some survey, right? bear with me)
The women I knew where trying to lose weight by eating right and not dieting.

Over phone calls I spoke about food with them; food that they had been staying away from to lose weight. Most had lost substantial amount by eating right and exercising but the cravings never left them.

What did they miss the most? The mouth melting tenderness of a pizza, pasta, pastries, paranthas, deep fried food, butter, ghee, chocolates and the list went on.

I put us all through the torture and then waited till the evening and called them back. And they all had fallen off the bandwagon just a little bit- like me!

I then spoke to three guys I got to know at the gym. I called them up and asked how the dieting was going. Whether they missed the alcohol, the late nights, the in between gorging, the sweets?

They laughed and replied - it was all about diverting one's thought process. One would go off to play cricket, the other would run and the third would call up his skinny girl friend and have a fight...I mean talk to her.

They were precise in their dedication. They wanted the SRK lean body and the abs of John Abraham etc

The women however never thought they could get Bipasha's abs ever; the hanging gut would reduce but not leave entirely. One was informed that liposuction was the only solution.

Being 'fat- asses' the sisterhood had decided that we could live with reduction and not perfection given our ages as well.

Since time was short I asked the guys how many times they had fallen off the bandwagon and over what?

They all had one common answer- over booze with their chaadi pals and that too on weekends. Otherwise it had been a breeze.
At last there was one commonality between them and us- booze but they were quick to respond that they hit the gym the next day with or without the hangover.

Was there guilt involved? They replied - No! Why would there be guilt?

I did not open up the Pandora's box. The hatred towards the mother earth hips, the thunder thighs, the saggy boobs or the thickened ankles.

These guys were overweight but oozed confidence. Successful in their fields and had tons of self esteem. They had targets. They were sure they would get back into shape. It was the hunter goal oriented mentality spilling with blind optimism.

The women on the other hand were cautious and talked more about losing weight for health reasons. They negated that it had nothing to do with self esteem but then sheepishly agreed that while they loved the food the weight had them worried deep within their hearts.

Even the most ferocious of them who'd eat people at boardrooms held this secret deep within her heart. To protect their 'self love' they inevitably got defensive about their weight whether society pressurized them or not.

Weight, food and emotions! The three are our mantra but not of men generally speaking. They are made of a different mould.

Nature wants us, women, to weigh more (healthy weight), store more , make babies more and to love more. That's nature's way of telling us women to be a happy.

Nature knows nothing about jobs that make us women slobs and less likely to exercise, nature doesn't know anything about heartbreaks that make us finish bars and bars of chocolates or go on eating binges. All nature knows is to make us multiple and with our limited ovaries nature is always on the overdrive with us and not with the men.

Men can father babies even when they are in their seventies, maybe even when they have one foot in the grave they can squirt out some tiny life giving sperms. They can till the fields till their dying breaths but we run fallow (thankfully) and nature doesn't like it and she maximizes and we women lose the battle.

But we needn't work against nature. We can work with her through our metabolism rate.That is her gift to us and the ability to build stamina. After all when the dinosaurs came (subscribing to the christian creationist theories) we had the strength to grab our tots and run.

However, for the modern women steeped in world full of heavenly food its an uphill battle that we truly never win. Sometime or the other we slide off and find ourselves face deep in a mud choco pie. Why? Because we grew up as food junkies. Even the sexist film stars are on diets. Its the way we live.

But this junkie lifestyle may not be the fate of our daughters if we bring them up with the notion that exercising is like flossing and sugar is just as bad as tobacco.We have to be fearless like the Amazonian goddesses and lay it out to our future female warriors that nature has a clear agenda for us and apart from screwing up our bodies to be baby making machines she tricks us with men.
Yes, men . There are those who want skinny babes all through their lives but most men come to love the woman and not her body. They love the person within just like they love themselves warts and all.

They adore the mother of their children, the apple of their eyes and no matter how fruity our bodies get they love us even more till we ripen so much that our arteries get blocked with love.

We are after all geared to make babies, be mother earths to be tilled and bear fruits of labouring love. But like I said we can work with nature; we can be imperfect Xena the warrior princesses- all curvy, sexy, mommies who work like demons on the treadmill, give in to our cravings once in a while, not begrudge ourselves for the pounds put on and love the men and children in our lives.

Nature has her goals and so do we. We should work with her and make her work with us. In the end the earth is reaped and there is pleasure both in the sowing and the reaping.

Related: Rich Men Give Women Better Orgasms

Spice, Spouse & Migraine

Suresh Naig — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:15:47 EST

After my graduation, when I was inducted into pharma sales, I started learning enthusiastically little bit of human physiology, anatomy and pharmacology, besides the nuances involved in pharma selling. I was enthusiastic since I misread the title of a book given to me as Anatomy and Physiology of Nurses instead of the original title Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses.

Though my stint in pharma selling was brief, it taught me some valuable lessons in tiding over difficult situations. I don’t know whether to owe it to my acquired knowledge of pharmaceuticals or sales, or a combination of both.

Having conditioned and indoctrinated for long in class-room training, where one training manager would have a field’s day on several new recruits in a classroom; and field training, where a manager would convert the filed into an improvised classroom; I was compelled to learn that my product was the best. As an ideal student, I learned to believe that everything pertaining to me was the best including my health, which obviated the need for me to experiment the medicines I sold, contributing to my sound health in turn.

One of the medicines I promoted to the doctors, to be tried on unsuspecting public was a brand intended to relieve the symptoms associated with Migraine. It had a combination of all possible poisonous substances, major being “ergotamine”, which is derived from the fungus infected “ergot of rye”, which has the capacity to shrink blood vessels, technically known as vasoconstrictors. By constricting the dilated arteries to the head, which had caused that pounding head-ache known as throbbing, this medicine, I was taught to believe has the capacity to alleviate the headache due to migraine. To improve the veracity of sales statements, I was briefed to caution the doctors, that this medicine should not be prescribed during pregnancy and as a standard procedure, not more than four tablets per day and not more than ten tablets in a week should be prescribed for all others.

In the 80s during the first trimester of pregnancy, my wife had severe bouts of migraine one night, demanding me to give the medicine for migraine, which was in my possession as physician’s sample. Her migraine had numbed all her other mental faculties, whereas it had sharpened my bluffing skills, so as to save the foetus growing in her womb from drug induced abnormalities. Without switching on the lights of the bedroom, I stomped to the store room, where I had kept all the physician’s samples. After getting what I was searching for, I walked up to the bedroom and made her swallow two tablets with a cup of water, without switching on the lights of the bedroom. After half an hour she felt the head-ache was tolerable and went back to sleep. What I gave her that night, was not the medicine intended for migraine, but a “placebo”; again a valuable information I picked up during the training programme. Placebo is a blank drug without any therapeutic action, used in double blind trials, to evaluate the true physiological potential of a drug against the false psychological effects. The two tablets I gave to my wife were nothing but B-complex supplements.

Though I could avoid a potential disaster by administering a “placebo” to my wife during her pregnancy, her migraine continued to be a cause for my head-ache. She tried different medicines and therapies, ranging from Ayur Veda, Homeopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Reiki, which made many practitioners richer by knowledge and purse, but she continued to suffer from frequent bouts of migraine.

One doctor with a scientific bent of mind suggested her to keep a tab of food she consumed, so that he could discover the food item which triggered her migraine. My wife picked up abundant knowledge about migraine from him, and she learnt that migraine could be classified into different categories such as, hunger triggered migraine, food triggered migraine, tension triggered migraine and at time certain spices too trigger migraines. His logic was to identify the trigger of migraine, so that it could be avoided to avoid migraine.

Her methodical documentation of food and spices eaten was of little use, since the doctor could not peg a single food or spice to her migraine. After eliminating many food items including spices, as the source for her migraine, the doctor concluded “tension” as the causative factor for her migraine, and my wife concluded “spouse” as the causative factor for tension.

After so much of research, she concluded that migraine could never be cured but could be avoided, and realised the spouse can neither be cured nor avoided. She started believing in the dictum “what cannot be cured should be endured”.

A chance discovery of mine rescued her from the sufferings of migraine. When tried on her, the associated complaints of throbbing headache, nausea, photophobia and spousophobia of migraine dramatically stopped, relieving my head-aches too. One day I told her that migraine afflicts only intelligent people, her face brightened like a thousand watt incandescent bulb. Her joy was twofold, since science declared her to be intelligent and more so because I don’t get bouts of migraine.

Supersized Kids - Don't Do What America Does

Harold Bergsma — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:45:45 EST

I watched a group of school kids being shepherded by their teachers on a cultural outing to the San Diego Zoo. There were two children who were lean and athletic. Twenty others were, shall I say, fat! Many carried bottles of Coke or bags of chips as they walked by. Supersized kids abound. We are looking at a ticking time bomb regarding future health issues in this county. This time bomb is ticking for many other countries as well that imitate the American life style. It was not always this way.

Twenty years ago, one could travel to Chingmai, Bombay, Kandy, Pokhara or Karachi and be struck with the unique cultural identity of the inhabitants by observing their clothing, their head dress and what they ate. The streets used to be filled with vendors, small shops, and specialized market areas where only pots and pans were sold, where sweet merchants shoed the bees away from their displays of jalabees, where cloth merchants occupied small stalls filled with bolts of cloth that even a rajah would covet. The streets were filled with skinny people, muscular workers, slender women dressed in traditional costumes which did not reveal their curves. And the children ran here and there; ran, not waddled here and there. Traditional modes of transportation were available including horse drawn carriages, rickshaws, dandis, wildly decorated lorries, bikes and it seemed all the rest were walking on two feet.

Of course I am being nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ where what was ‘cool’ was what was Nepali or Thai. Are those days gone forever? We now see replicas of downtown Chicago or New York in Karachi and Mumbai? Must we see clothing that only was worn in Los Angeles in December now in January on the backs of practically every young man wandering the streets; blue jeans, T shirts, and those god-awful visor caps worn backwards just like in El Paso, all duly emblazoned with slogans that were rejects in San Diego? What has happened to the Burmese wrap around ‘longee’, to the elegant sari, to the loose fitting pajama pants and kamiz? “Where have all the chaplis gone, long time passing?”

In my childhood dormitory room there were twelve youngsters who slept together in the Woodstock hostel in Mussoorie. Eleven of us were skinny, always hungry, beanpoles. The twelfth was an unfortunate young man from Delhi, from a very wealthy family who sent him sweets, candies and biscuits every week. His nick-name was Motu, and he was a fat little guy who had a box under his bed with a lock on it. In it he hoarded his candy bars which he sneaked when we were all fast asleep. It was where he kept his shiny silver rupees which he used on Saturday to buy cakes from the box wallah. We coveted his stash, but, unfortunately gave him a hard time on the running track, on the basketball court or when football teams were selected; he was the last one chosen. He was there for a year and did not return. Children back then were cruel.

On the June 23rd. Time Magazine cover there is a picture of what could be Motu’s younger American brother. The cover shouts, OUR SUPER SIZED KIDS. “It’s not just genetics and diet. An in-depth look at how our lifestyle is creating a juvenile obesity epidemic – and the scoop on how to cure it.” The American way, (you know the WAY that the rest of the world copies so slavishly), has produced a generation of people who are overweight, fat, to use the forbidden three letter word. Not just the kids, adults, particularly those from poorer families, families that don’t read books, that get food stamps to survive, families that have marginal incomes, it is among these that the problem of being overweight is most severe. But young people from families of both the rich and the poor are suffering from the same problem, obesity. It is the American way. Fast, unhealthy foods.

I was on Newport Beach last week and did a survey of preteen kids that walked by our beach-house. Many were fat; most were eating or carrying food in their hands. Time’s report was correct; we have a real problem here! Supersized kids, super-fed kids.

We brought a variety of things to the beach house to share with the other four families that were together, you know, potluck. We brought whole grain cereals, and fruit, strawberries and lots of mangoes and peaches. Guess what? We seemed to be the only ones who ate them. The other food, the American stuff was more delicious. Chips, dips, cheeses, breads, deserts, hot dogs, Kentucky fried chicken, you name it we had it. (Ice cream cones were only consumed when we walked along the board walk.)

American children who are overweight are setting themselves up for a lifetime of problems, diabetes, high cholesterol, arthritis, heart problems and a host of other diseases related to adiposity. It is a national problem. Certainly, this aspect of our way of life should not be coveted, mimicked or adopted in ‘developing’ countries. Interestingly, the highest rates of obesity among adults and children are among those with high rates of poverty and even ‘hunger’. Poorer people, Mexican laborers, migrant workers, maids, are frequently people who live close to a financial margin that is, just getting by. Obesity and hunger go hand in hand in America the land of opportunity. Why? In America, prepared foods are the most easily available and very cheap. A greasy, double meat, and double cheese bacon burger fills a hungry stomach cheaply. But where is the subzi? Vegetables, if you see them are tossed salads, if you are lucky. White flour, grease, sugar makes things taste very good and these are the culprits. Where are the fibers and fruits? Most Americans love to drink. No, I don’t mean water. But with their meals a beer sounds good as does a Coke, Pepsi or Orange Juice. Small containers of sugared, fruit-flavored water are the first choice for most school children. Pure carbohydrates which give a quick lift and a fast let down. Fast foods, fast life, slow kids.

I read a very nice study by Stephanie Schulze, a Student Participant from North High School, Iowa entitled, “Education for Poverty: Information against Hunger and Obesity in India.” I was struck by the title, the topic and the research this student did about India, half way around the world. “Hunger and obesity can coexist because of a lack of nutritious food and a lack of education about healthy lifestyles. Hunger is prevalent in many countries, including India.” Her point of view is that education will be the answer to better living, better nutrition and less obesity in India.

The National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, India, has published studies that show that the “…primary deficiencies in the diet of people in India are mainly whole grain calories, vitamins and minerals.” Stephanie’s study goes on to say that one-fifth of the population in India is undernourished (21%) in spite of the food distribution programs that exist. The kinds of foods that are frequently distributed are high calorie foods, white rice and flour, sugars, and animal fats or hydrogenated vegetable fats. Not only is there a growing obesity problem among poorer Indians but among women. Studies show that Indian women are genetically more predisposed to gain weight around the middle and their posteriors. I didn’t notice that among the Bollywood dancers. Are they a different race?

It is not just the poor that are getting fat in India. “India is facing an obesity crisis among its newly wealthy middle class as millions of its rural poor still struggle for enough to eat. As the country becomes richer, many people are becoming fatter and, like Westerners, they are seeking medical help” (See Amelia Gentleman in Mumbia, “Observer”, Dec.4, 2005, “India’s newly rich battle with obesity.” Not only are Indians wearing blue jeans, they are getting gastric bypass operations that restricts the amount of food absorbed. Even men are …concerned about the male breast area and love handles.”

For the wealthy, Indian foods have always been heavy and rich. (silver covered) Stews, curries, ghee cooked breads and sweets are favorites. The newly affluent are concerned, like the Westerners in an epidemic weight gain problem. Now diet pills sell like hot cakes, and cosmetic surgeons are doing a good business in Mumbai.

But there is a vast divide between the newly affluent and the millions who struggle to feed themselves. A World Bank study said that 45 % of Indian children under five suffer from malnutrition; while a McDonald’s branch in Delhi is selling Chicken Maharajah Macs to the newly middle class. A beefless burger?

Amelia’s article reveals that an estimated 25 million Indians have diabetes and the numbers are growing. The medical profession and medical journalists need to become assertive in their statements to those who make laws, those who teach, and those who lead. Diseases like TB, malaria and dysentery can be treated with pills. Those who become fat, particularly our children face a lifetime of problems, the hardest of which is loosing the fat and eating more healthy diets. Motu, I wonder if you are still with us.