Adulterated!

When I was younger, hearing stories about adulterated masalas was not uncommon. There were always suspicions that lal mirch is adulterated with red brick particles to increase quantity, or something even worse- dhania powder adulterated with dried dung! The other popular one was that the doodhwala mixes chalk powder in water to make it look milky. So what does the urban middle class do about it? We switch to packaged masalas and milk made by huge corporations and we just pray to God that these corporations have a conscience and obligation to act responsibly. There is very little beyond this that a common man can do. However, it seems like a lot of stupid people mistook this as the common man's weakness. They forgot that we the consumers still have the most powerful tool of asking the right questions and making the right choice. But for that we need to know the source of adulteration- it can be as easily identifiable as an injection or pesticide spray which we can find out about by paying a visit to the farm that the local sabziwala gets his produce from or something as conspicuous as a modified gene!


News and journals are full of food adulteration cases exposed. Use of cheap Oxytocin to increase milk production in cattle, calcium carbide to ripen mangoes, adulterated ghee, ketchup, sugar, turmeric and so on. The list is endless. So much so that we can't even satisfy our sweet tooth without putting our nervous systems at risk because the chandi ka wark on our mithai could well be sheets of thinly pressed aluminium! A part of my mind thinks that these could be concoctions of some very imaginative journalists' brains to scare the common man. But the other part knows that these scenarios are very much possibile and that the health of my family is in my hands. And if there are steps that I can take to ensure there is no "poison on our platters", I would do it and save myself the paranoia.

The most important step to eating healthy is to be mindful of what we eat. A lot of our snacking, especially in front of the idiot box is mindless eating. It's really important to know what we are eating and only then can we worry about where it's coming from. The next thing to think about is how real is the food that we're consuming. So cow's milk vs soy milk, eggs vs egg substitute, cane sugar vs aspartame laden sugar free substitute, fresh juice vs canned juice are some good examples of real vs fakes. I feel the real deal is always more nutritious, great in taste, cheaper to afford and much less likely to be adulterated since it is abundantly available in nature.

Another great way to eat healthy is to opt for local or organic food. Those who live in suburbs where farms are easily accessible can purchase their produce straight from the farm. It's a great way to ensure that your food is fresh and leaves minimal carbon footprint and it is also an opportunity to directly interact with the farmers and learn about their farming practices. For those who don't have this option, almost every metropolitan city in India has come up with some great organic stores selling certified organic grains, spices, produce and dairy. But I think the best option, if your resources allow, is to have your own kitchen garden and grow your own food!

Eat Real!

The IMPURE World

People say public speaking ranks as the numbe one fear that most people in the world have, even more fearsome than death. Me, well I think it can be pretty scary to stand up in front of a huge crowd and speak, but is even more petrifying is to stand in front of a huge crowd of you own family , loved ones and not being able to justify why we are giving them (and their generations to come) the gift of an impure world. All of us today are at that juncture where we are answerable to those around us for the mess that we are making. And what a mess it is!

Population is on an all time high. I quote some statistics from a website which says that India's population will exceed that of China by 2025! We are already a nation of 1.16 billion, up from 350 million at the time of independence. Just thinking of some of the problems that such high population creates in our day to day life -

a) Population -> Deforestation for habitation-> extinction of natural flora and fauna-> global warming->higher temperatures-> loss of crop -> farmer's suicides, death due to dehydration/excessive heat

b) Population -> More consumers of limited natural and man made resources-> More consumer waste dumped into natural resources like air and water -> consumption of contaminated natural resources -> death due to toxicity, congenital defects and rise in cancer

c) Population ->Global Warming -> Shorter/Weaker Monsoon -> failed crop yield -> multinationals pushing genetically modified crop under the guise of being more hardy -> untested GM food landing on our tables

d) Population ->Global Warming ->Sweltering heat -> Increased consumption of carbonated drinks -> Unnecessary and irregular spikes in body's sugar level -> decreased stamina -> Rise in Obesity

e) Population -> Lesser per capita resources available -> Need for more earning hands -> Education on backburner ->Self centered and egotistical behaviour -> corruption, 'honor' killings-> value for money and no value for life

Some might think that these are very far fetched consequences of the population rise but these are only the tip of the iceberg. We are creating a world for ourselves where what we see today will no longer exist for our future generations. My dad says he misses the chirping of sparrows in the morning now that there are so few left in Delhi. That is such a sad thing!

But really, as complicated as it might seem, the solution to this problem is rather simple steps that each of us can follow and make a difference -

a) Educate self and family on the need for family planning. If you have helpers at home, make sure you talk to them about educating women (and men too) in their houses about family planning. Need help - Just found out about http://www.fpaindia.org/

b) Educate people on valuing a girl child. There are still many families that are ready to produce a dozen children until they have a boy. A village in Bihar is setting a great example by celebrating the birth of girls in the village- An inspiring story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10204759

c) Carpool when possible, grow a garden on the rooftop, grow your own food if possible, love a lot and live n let live (unlike what Axl Rose preaches :))
------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~----------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No Honour in Killing!

Coming back to Dilli, I was prepared for some kind of a reverse culture shock, you know things that you grew up seeing but find odd once you've lived a different life. But I never even imagined I would be introduced to a term called Honour Killings in today's day and age. Simply put, some poeple who are outraged with their sons or daughters marrying/falling in love out of their caste or within the gotra (or whatever the hell it is) think the only way to protect their "honour" is to kill the lovers!



To me, the term "Honour Killing" is the perfect oxymoron. It is at best an absurd/medieval idea and at worst a gruesome crime worthy of the severest punishment possible. Where is the honour in killing?

To my dismay, Delhi seems to have become a city of crime- the newspapers and channels carry endless stories of theft, murders and what not. I've seen 2 big robberies in my own family in the last one year! Maybe the situation isn't all that bad, maybe there was always crime everywhere, it's just more in the news now. But crimes like these are universally condemned. Everyone knows it's bad to steal or cheat or kill someone, except for those handful of people who are misguided or do it out of desperation. But these so called honour killings are creating a grey area in the society and people's minds. If the perpetrators of these crimes aren't punished severely, more and more people will get encouraged to commit these horrible crimes which push us many years behind in civilization.



Why is there still no law to prevent these killings? If there is any, why is it so poorly implemented? We as a society need to ask these questions and make sure such attitudes are dealt with severely, lest people start fearing the prospect of falling in love!