This paradox shall never end?

The above has become too common these days!

Most of us are over weight yet we dont stop eating more than we should! We over eat and then sweat it out on the exercising machine or on the grounds; yet we shall not decide to do away with the reason for the over weight. Because of this we have a new set of professionals, related only to losing weight. We have exotic places just for losing weight and exotic doctors waiting to scalp away a bit of you. And then we have producers who produces more than what we can consume and trying to market it by any means. Then we have food authorities willing to put expiry dates on every item so that they can be thrown into the dust bin. we also have big, fat and gaudy weddings that end up with lots of food that go waste. We also have festivals after festivals which makes us to hoard food.

It is a losing game indeed! But if we look at the other side of the story, 90% of men (not to talk about the children!)  in India like the one below sweat it out to have a quarter of the food that is being wasted into their stomach!

While India leads in poverty, it is not bad when it comes to obesity! 

The obesity ratio stands at 12% and India comes close to the following nations: Spain: 13.1% Ireland: 13%  Germany: 12.9%  Portugal:  12.8% Finland: 12.8%  Iceland: 12.4%  India 12.10%  Turkey:  12%  Belgium: 11.7%  Netherlands:  10%  Sweden: 9.7%  Denmark: 9.5%  France:  9.4%  Austria: 9.1%  Italy:  8.50%

Though I try my best not to waste food, I still need to reduce the intake. How about you?

http://nrhm-mis.nic.in/UI/FamilyWelfare2011/03%20Section-A/03%20Section%20-%20A.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_India
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_pop_bel_pov_lin-economy-population-below-poverty-line

Eat happily or warily?

It was the season of food poisoning for the media. It is always thus. One incident is enough to start a chain of events and then there will be nothing more. Everything shall continue the same way.

It started with the death of a person who ate Shawarma. This must be the first such incident in the world. Later one got to read daily reports of food poisoning and raids. Many hotels were closed down and many stayed closed in fear of raids!

But I do think that many hotels are taking their customers for granted. Maybe they are getting enough revenue from those who seek their daily spirit.

Recently we went to a hotel in Tiruvella for dinner. We had finished shopping from a new outlet and since Hubby needed to get his pants altered, we chose the nearest hotel. It is one of the oldest in the town. We glanced through the glossy menu and saw many delectable names. With much anticipation we placed our order with the head waiter. This is when he suggested that we order just chappathi and chicken curry if we want to get our order fast. Although our original order was not that great, he told us that it will take more than 30 minutes. Since we were all hungry we decided to take his advise. Thus started our wait for the food to arrive. 10 minutes, 30 minutes and 40 minutes passed. Hubby decided to collect his pants in the mean time. Later the food arrived and we wanted more chapathis. It was after considerable time that it arrived. Later when Hubby arrived we found that we might need more chapathis. This is when the waiter told us thus: " Did I not give you 2 just now? Even when it was meant for other guests I gave it to you! ". Hunger can lead to many emotions and I don't blame Hubby when he lost his temper. He was just about to dig into his food when he hears such 'encouraging' words. In Malayalam they say " Paysa koduthe kadikkunna pattiye vanghichathupole ayi" or we paid for a biting dog. Here we are spending money to have some food but we are scolded for stating our needs. He gave it to the waiter and the head waiter comes with explanation that there are many functions going on and hence they are busy. In reply Hubby told him that in this case they should just close the restaurant and not open it for business. By then he had lost his appetite and went to find the manager. The manager nodded his head and said sorry. Anyway that was the last visit to this hotel.

It was this same experience we got in Bangalore. We had a booked one called " Ivory Inn" through the net. I had called them and asked them if it was near to MG Road etc. and I was told it is very near. But it is only when we saw the rooms that we found that we had been cheated. Since it was late at night we couldn't find another. This place was also far away from main Bangalore. We shifted from there the next day itself. We had found this place from Trip Advisor but next time we shall be very careful.

It is time the hotels made an effort to keep customer service their prime objective. With customer service should come cleanliness and quality. After all we are paying for it and if you lose customers who shall pay for your livelihood?
 
Thought  I shall add how things are done out here. It is mandatory that sandwich / shawarma shops operate in full view of the customer. This way they are forced to keep things clean. They normally have an open room where one can see everything being done. Municipality also checks frequently and those who violate rules are sealed. Our government too needs to operate thus. A dream?

Food

The other day I was watching a Food & Travel show hosted by the famous Padma Lakshmi. She was in Udipi and inside a 400 year old kitchen. I googled to know more about this temple which gives free food for all devotees irrespective of caste, color, religion or whatever divisions the world has given to the human being over the years. I could not get more information and the closest find was the Dharmashala and the Krishna temple. Upon searching for Dharmashala, I was delighted to land on GVK’s blog and a blog post that I had missed reading. He has given an account of his visit to the Dharmashala and put up some pictures too for the readers.


To many, Udupi brings to mind the lovely vegetarian “thali”.

We have these restaurants here in Kuwait too, though I am not sure if they are indeed serving authentic “Udipi” meal . But it is only when you eat such a meal do you realize how vegetables can be cooked in a variety of ways and how delicious it is to eat them. I read the following on the Udipi cuisine: This cuisine was developed by Shivalli Madhwa Brahmins who cooked food for Lord Krishna, and at Krishna Matha in Udupi, the food is provided free. I was much intrigued to know that it was the pujaris themselves who cooked these meals and that these meals are given to all and sundry free of cost. Normally none is allowed inside this kitchen but I do know how Padma was given an entry. But it provided a good look inside one of the oldest functioning kitchen in the world and one could see big pots and pans and the poojaris in various stages of cooking. The meal was also served by them and it was done so efficiently. The speed at which the rice and accompaniments were served on the banana leaf to the waiting devotees is awesome. I hear that more than 1000 are fed thus daily. ( I could not get more information on this anywhere and hence I am assuming that this is a daily affair)

The money for this is from the devotees themselves. I am also not sure if there are many such temples which provide free meals. The idea itself is very heart warming. Since India has a long way to go on hunger and poverty, I am hoping that more places of worship catch up on this idea. The closest to this that I have come across in a Church is during special days like Easter, Good Friday etc. But then the food is served only to the devotees.

While thinking about the money that the faithful puts into the coffers of famous pilgrimage centers, would it not do wonders if it was used to feed the needy! After all, isn’t the need of food the most basic and the most important, unless of course you have acquired the skills of the Swamis who claim to eat nothing. And I believe it would be only a few who would continue depending on this since most would eventually stand on their own feet. And it is also a fact that believers of all religion give happily to a Temple/Church/Mosque more readily than to a real person in need. And the sad fact is that we seldom care what happens to this money. Some of us believe ardently that building a Church worth crores is more important than giving the same money to the poor.

But then isn’t it only a wishful thinking? And my dreams of seeing for example the Christian priests cook and serve food to strangers needs to be squashed right away before I am accused of mental illness :)

Source: Wikepedia

Prawns.....yummy!

It is Shrimp / prawns season in Kuwait!

Even we bought a good share of shrimps and last night I made Shrimp curry. It turned out okay, though hubby says it would have been better with a little more salt!

I put some coconut pieces to get those crunchy bites and enough red chilly powder. And while I was searching for a good recipe to make more curries, I came upon this site: It is great...