Back to India: Trans Fats, Saddle Bags & Assorted Ills
Filed in Uncategorized, December 18, 2006, 10:34 am by Priya Raju TweetPriya Raju is on a roll here. Here is her second post.
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When it comes to working out, I’m one of the laziest people in the world. No exaggeration: If this kind of laziness became a formal discipline, I’ll pass out summa cum laude. My husband Sukumar is an industrious guy. He at times complains of difficulties in dropping off to sleep at night. That is one problem I never have.
For the past 2 decades, I’ve been struggling with my migraines. It just grew & grew every year, like a human child. If my math is any good, it is 21 years old & it has probably just graduated from college. It is alive & kicking – and I’m in deep shit.
My doctor now wants me to start a mild to moderate exercise plan. Whenever I have my regular checkup, she asks me if I’ve started working out. I promptly tell her that I’m “waiting for X”: X being some lame-ass excuse that I concocted specially for her. Where exercise is concerned, I’m a procrastinator too. I practice it like an art form. It takes a lot of ingenuity to rationalize delays & actually feel good about it.
<!– D([“mb”,”Then, something happened: Retail Therapy back-fired. What started out as a routine shopping trip for clothes, goaded me to act. In plain English, I was 9 pounds heavier. I shuddered when I looked at my butt in the fitting room mirrors – it looked like a pumpkin in full bloom (or whatever it is pumpkins do – I\\\’m no botanist).\n
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Vanity gets you when reality doesn\\\’t. So, I\\\’ve started working out these days. But what about eating healthy?
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I\\\’ve decided to cut down on junk food: easier said than done. India is the diabetes capital of the world – get this: All the assorted sweet shops & bakeries in \nIndia contribute a whopping 50% of the retail sector. Or so I read.
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India feels a lot like the US of the 1950s. The newly affluent middle class is focused on living as well as possible within their means. So, \nIndia is the land of hedonistic pleasures now & gourmandizing is a star attraction. Adi Shankara & all other sages who preached contentment would be stirring in their graves. Well, Hindus are cremated, so they probably don\\\’t have a grave – but you get my point. \n
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Not that I blame my fellow Indians. Poor blokes never had money till now & most people don\\\’t care terribly for contentment. Let\\\’s be Dionysian for a change: Enough of namby-pamby Apollonian tastes & traits. Nietzsche used the phrases "Dionysian" & "Apollonian" to describe artistic impulses, but I think it also holds well to describe one\\\’s attitude to life.\n”,1] ); //–>Then, something happened: Retail Therapy back-fired. What started out as a routine shopping trip for clothes, goaded me to act. In plain English, I was 9 pounds heavier. I shuddered when I looked at my butt in the fitting room mirrors – it looked like a pumpkin in full bloom (or whatever it is pumpkins do – I’m no botanist).
Vanity gets you when reality doesn’t. So, I’ve started working out these days. But what about eating healthy?
I’ve decided to cut down on junk food: easier said than done. India is the diabetes capital of the world – get this: All the assorted sweet shops & bakeries in India contribute a whopping 50% of the retail sector. Or so I read.
India feels a lot like the US of the 1950s. The newly affluent middle class is focused on living as well as possible within their means. So, India is the land of hedonistic pleasures now & gourmandizing is a star attraction. Adi Shankara & all other sages who preached contentment would be stirring in their graves. Well, Hindus are cremated, so they probably don’t have a grave – but you get my point.
Not that I blame my fellow Indians. Poor blokes never had money till now & most people don’t care terribly for contentment. Let’s be Dionysian for a change: Enough of namby-pamby Apollonian tastes & traits. Nietzsche used the phrases “Dionysian” & “Apollonian” to describe artistic impulses, but I think it also holds well to describe one’s attitude to life. <!– D([“mb”,”
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Coming back to my point – I want to eat healthy stuff, but that\\\’s not easy. I\\\’d really like to stay away from trans-fat laden, instant artery hardeners that are – sadly these days – the only items that taste good in \nIndia. Most restaurants just don\\\’t have healthy & edible stuff on their menus.
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An example – I took the tremendous risk of ordering Minestrone soup in a local restaurant. My advice: Press it on someone you want to murder – buying soup for somebody you hate is not illegal & you get the job done in under $2. I was served an orange colored goop on which mystery vegetables had been cruelly mutilated. I chickened out & ordered some fried heart-choker. \n
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All I\\\’m saying is, it won\\\’t be easy to work out regularly & eat healthy. But, I\\\’m going to try.
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\n\n”,0] ); //–>
Coming back to my point – I want to eat healthy stuff, but that’s not easy. I’d really like to stay away from trans-fat laden, instant artery hardeners that are – sadly these days – the only items that taste good in India. Most restaurants just don’t have healthy & edible stuff on their menus.
An example – I took the tremendous risk of ordering Minestrone soup in a local restaurant. My advice: Press it on someone you want to murder – buying soup for somebody you hate is not illegal & you get the job done in under $2. I was served an orange colored goop on which mystery vegetables had been cruelly mutilated. I chickened out & ordered some fried heart-choker.
All I’m saying is, it won’t be easy to work out regularly & eat healthy. But, I’m going to try.
FTOTW ending Dec 16 (#11) – 3 stories, QWERTY Myth, Hindu Temples, Skanda=Alexander?
Filed in General Interest, December 17, 2006, 1:24 am by Sukumar TweetUpdated Dec 18, 2006 – Santhi fails gender test. V.V. sad.
1. 3 amazing stories of (wo)men epitomizing courage, commitment and indefatigability – Jack Feld, S. Santhi (Doha Asian Games Silver Medalist from Tamilnadu, India rises from abject poverty. She fails the gender test and her medal was stripped.), Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla goes down with his ship INS Khukri struck by a Pakistani submarine. For the longtest time, this was thought to be the captain’s error but now it appears there were lot of contributing factors except the captain’s error. Going down with the ship is a Naval tradition and Captain Mulla stuck to it heroically. 2. If you had bought into the QWERTY myth and have always been wondering how easy life at the keyboard would have been if the Dvorak keyboard had won, despair not. The QWERTY Myth has been exploded. <Via Vulturo> 3. Kesava Mallela asks the thought provoking question, why should modern day Hindu temples look like they have been built in the 10th Century AD. This story has hit the Desi podcasting circuit as well. 4. Uptill now, Alzheimer’s disease can be detected only at autopsy. Now scientists have figured out a way to detect it using some bio-markers in the spinal fluid. <Via Priya Raju> 5. In Hinduism, Indra and Agni were the original gods of war. At some point later (exact time is not known accurately), Skanda had become the God of War. Most people believe that the Dravidian God of War Muruga was co-opted by Hinduism and tied to Skanda, the son of Shiva. Priya Raju was thinking out aloud last week asking if Skanda is tied somehow to Alexander the Great because she had heard that Iskandar is Alexander in Islam. Well, someone called Gopala Pillai has been researching into this and has published a paper trying to prove that Skanda is Alexander. I read the paper. Not sure i agree with many of the inferences he has drawn, but he does make some important and probably accurate inferences that could put this in the realm of possibility. 6. We watched the George Clooney directed Good Night, and Good Luck that covers the war between Ed Murrow of CBS News and Senator McCarthy. David Strathairn as Ed Murrow has turned in a brilliant performance with a ensemble star cast supporting him – Robert Downey Jr., George Clooney himself, Frank Langella, Patricia Clarkson and others. We both liked it a lot. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.
Back to India: Clothes Make the Woman, Somewhat
Filed in General Interest, December 12, 2006, 10:22 am by Priya Raju TweetYou may have been following my Back to India series. To give you all a different perspective, i had requested Priya Raju to give her views and she turned this in one written in her inimitable style. Check it out.
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Whenever I buy “Western” clothes in India, I’m chagrined by this: There are only 5 sizes of clothes: XS (US 0), S (US 2, UK 10), M (US 4, UK 12), L (US 6, UK 14) & XL (US 8, UK 16). Many shops don’t carry XS & XL, narrowing their customer base further down. If you are not any of these sizes: you can run around naked for all they care.
In the US, for e.g. the “Juniors” section (teenagers) is never mixed-up with the “Miss” (adults) & “Women” (larger women) sections. The cut is different for each of these categories. It makes sense, since each of these represent different size ranges, styles & different body shapes.
Not so in India. It felt absurd buying a blouse that a 13 year old was eyeing lustily. Perhaps this is why most women in India – especially the South – stick to traditional gear.
I have nothing against the Salwar or a Saree – in fact, a woman can look smart, glamorous, sophisticated, refined, professional in either of them. Or not: just like any other raiment, you say. Not quiet. Here is my pet peeve. Ok, yet another peeve of mine. Stay with me, I make some important inferences at the end. <!– D([“mb”,”
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Why is it that my native South India has the frumpiest women in the world? Any fool will tell you that looks have nothing to do with it. If anyone says any different, why then s/he is a bloody racist, that\\\’s all. The trouble is: a significant portion of the women are guilty of having no taste at all. Forget coolness, style, attitude, élan & all that stuff.\n
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I\\\’m not asking women to be connoisseurs. I\\\’m just expecting a smidgen of taste, so that the person is reasonably well turned out. I\\\’m not asking women to dress like Daria Werbowy or Beyonce Knowles. Just don\\\’t look like a bag lady, or a throwback to your mom\\\’s generation.\n
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You know the kind I\\\’m talking about. If you want some help in identifying them, here are some markers. If anyone scores "Yes" on all the bullet points, you know I\\\’m talking about them.\n
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- They only wear very badly fitting salwars, or at times, sarees. Either the color, pattern or embroidery on these said apparels will be ghastly. \n
- They generously oil their hair & wear it in a single braid. Their hair is not thick & the ends are not trimmed. They adorn it with strings of flowers. (Braids look beastly if you have thin hair)\n
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Why is it that my native South India has the frumpiest women in the world? Any fool will tell you that looks have nothing to do with it. If anyone says any different, why then s/he is a bloody racist, that’s all. The trouble is: a significant portion of the women are guilty of having no taste at all. Forget coolness, style, attitude, élan & all that stuff.
I’m not asking women to be connoisseurs. I’m just expecting a smidgen of taste, so that the person is reasonably well turned out. I’m not asking women to dress like Daria Werbowy or Beyonce Knowles. Just don’t look like a bag lady, or a throwback to your mom’s generation.
You know the kind I’m talking about. If you want some help in identifying them, here are some markers. If anyone scores “Yes” on all the bullet points, you know I’m talking about them.
- They only wear very badly fitting salwars, or at times, sarees. Either the color, pattern or embroidery on these said apparels will be ghastly.
- They generously oil their hair & wear it in a single braid. Their hair is not thick & the ends are not trimmed. They adorn it with strings of flowers. (Braids look beastly if you have thin hair)
- <!– D([“mb”,”You can see a thick once-yellow thread on their neck – the most orthodox version of the Mangal Sutra. They will also wear ugly toe-rings (never the dainty, pretty kind) as further proof of their marital status.\n
- They think that a deodorant is something that you keep in the bathroom. They never use the arm-pit variety. \n
- They unerringly choose sensible (read plug-ugly) footwear.
- Any jewels they wear will be the staid, old fashioned kind that was all the rage 30 years ago & isn\\\’t the coolest retro bling-bling now.\n
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I know I\\\’ve been cruel & catty in my description. Why should it upset me so much?
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To have a taste, you should be capable of forming opinions & drawing inferences. You should know that you have the freedom to dress well. You should find it important enough to look attractive & you should have some idea of what is considered fashionable. For that, you need a broad enough perspective of life. All these are the hallmarks of individuality. \n
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And unless these women get enough individuality, equality is just a pipe dream. And that bothers me terribly.
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\n\n”,0] ); //–>You can see a thick once-yellow thread on their neck – the most orthodox version of the Mangal Sutra. They will also wear ugly toe-rings (never the dainty, pretty kind) as further proof of their marital status.
I know I’ve been cruel & catty in my description. Why should it upset me so much?
To have a taste, you should be capable of forming opinions & drawing inferences. You should know that you have the freedom to dress well. You should find it important enough to look attractive & you should have some idea of what is considered fashionable. For that, you need a broad enough perspective of life. All these are the hallmarks of individuality.
And unless these women get enough individuality, equality is just a pipe dream. And that bothers me terribly.
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