Tuesday 23 August 2011

Chocolates --a lure to the sweet tooth

Just think of the Birthday-party and that too without chocolates? No. Never. They would never allow us to celebrate any occasion without chocolates.
Today the  chocolates play a heart -warming role in our daily lives. The soft brown substance packed in  shiny golden ,silver or purple wrappers is always a lure to the children as well as the grown-ups. If I am not wrong, you must have  heard of the fictitious Chocolate CreamSoldier who used to carry chocolates  in stead of explosives. Did you? Well, this soldier knew  that it would be hard to get food in the battlefield .So , he hatched a plan and put lots of chocolates inside his boxes meant for cartridges.. These chocolates had been his  friends indeed as they helped him in need to survive during the war.
However ,in this age of globalisation ,chocolates have created an age-old relation with human beings. They are  produced from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree . This tree can be found in Mexico.  However ,you cannot eat them without processing. So, the people processed these seeds and used them for chocolate beverages. These people mostly belonged to central Mexico and Guatemala.
The process consists of different stages. First the beans  are fermented. Then they are dried. After drying ,they are cleaned and then roasted. The roasting makes the shells
loose and they are removed from the cacao seeds. Finally fat and sugar are mixed with nibs, the crashed cacao beans, and are put into the moulds.
Most of the youngsters ,  today , are chocoholics. It can be dark chocolate, it can be bitter -sweet chocolate  ,it can be milk chocolate or it can be white chocolate --- they would prefer anything.
Dark chocolate and semisweet chocolates are used in cooking too. Dark chocolate is used in decorating cakes which is known as icing and many other recipes are there in which various kinds of  chocolates are used as ingredients. Though authentic Indian cuisine has no room for chocolates, Western desserts are decked up ,most of the time, with chocolaty flavour.
Some  chocolates are rich in cocoa butter. Some are prepared with milk- powder. But  cocoa powder is unsweetened and compound chocolates are made of cocoa, peanuts , nuts or fruit caramel. The fabulous delicacy of chocolates can be a delight to all but it causes obesity and dental problems which should never be a welcome-note to the warriors of the present stressful world.

The Role of rag Pickers

The people in our society would always prefer the white-collared jobs .But they can   hardly lead a comfortable and smooth  life, without rag pickers.
Sameer is a rag picker. With his huge bag hanging on his shoulder, he searches for his fortune in the dump yard. Everyday at eight o, clock ,you can see him at this spot from your 2BHKbalcony, collecting garbage in search of recyclable items . These are sold to the scrap –merchants and Sameer fills   his pocket with the meagre sum .Thus he earns  his daily bread.
 His work is dirty but he enjoys his work. . Dressed in mussed – up  clothes ,he stinks and climbs  up the heap where we throw the waste materials.  It does not require any skill. It is only a source of earning for the poor, the people migrating to cities in search of work.
Earlier, Sameer’s mother used to come to this area and she searched in the street-bins. She also visited residential areas, but now she is suffering from a fatal disease. Sameer’s father was a peripatetic buyer. He bought scraps directly from households, shops or offices and did not have to search in the garbage like his son. He had managed to hoard a certain amount with which he could purchase scrap. He ,however, was not independent. He used to work for middlemen or contractors and sold rags which he had set apart from the garbage. The rate was always decided earlier.
Life had become a little bit easier for him but destiny played its role .He met with an accident and left this world for ever. Now Sameer the eldest one, has to look after all his siblings. As a dump picker ,he lives with his family but he has many friends who are street- pickers.  Poverty has led them to eat the filthy food remnants from the garbage and this  is a threat to their life.
Governments, in some places ,show their concern by issuing identity cards and offering them a limited health insurance plan .But Sameer lives in a State  where the poor like him, would look forward to grabbing the golden opportunity, never to be offerred to them. At the time of election,  the people who travel in big cars ,always promise special favours to these folks, but as soon as the election is over, they  forget their promises. But this time it seemed to be a little bit different. They  are trying to dismantle  the age-old corruption .However ,it is not as much easy as that;  you just press the button and ,hey presto ,a perfect corruption-free package, ready to be served at your doorstep. Never! But Sameer is totally ignorant about all this. He knows only about the bumpy grounds of the wasteland where he may find a pair of shoes without  straps. He  imagines the broad smile on the face of his only sister .He prays he could find something precious for the other two small kids too, who eagerly wait for his return. He walks through the cosy lanes which lead to the main roads. He does not visit  the street -bins as he knows that the garbage would  be collected by the lorries equipped with a device  to dump in and he is also not tall enough to take out the things which are inside the bins.
Rags ,generally, relate to torn pieces of clothes. But the rag-pickers like Sameer are always in quest of plastic bags or thermoplastics used for packaging. These plastic bags are very hazardous for the environment. Mostly these are eaten by the cows which is a health-hazard for them. So Sameer tries to find out as many of them as he can. He would get a little bit more money if he could sell them to the shops which sell the scraps.
Are we  conccerned about these rag -pickers who are very important in our lives or do we ever try to solve the problems of their spoilt chilhood?
The question is yet to be answered.



The Role Of Rag-pickers

The people in our society would always prefer the white-collared jobs .But they can   hardly lead a comfortable and smooth  life, without rag pickers.
Sameer is a rag picker. With his huge bag hanging down his shoulder, he searches for his fortune in the dump yard. Everyday at eight o, clock ,you can see him at this spot from your 2BHKbalcony, collecting garbage in search of recyclable items . These are sold to the scrap –merchants and Sameer fills   his pocket with the meagre sum .Thus he earns  his daily bread.
 His work is dirty but he enjoys his work. . Dressed in mussed – up  clothes ,he stinks and climbs  up the heap where we throw the waste materials.  It does not require any skill. It is only a source of earning for the poor, the people migrating to cities in search of work.
Earlier, Sameer’s mother used to come to this area and she searched in the street-bins. She also visited residential areas, but now she is suffering from a fatal disease. Sameer’s father was a peripatetic buyer. He bought scraps directly from households, shops or offices and did not have to search in the garbage like his son. He had managed to hoard a certain amount with which he could purchase scrap. He ,however, was not independent. He used to work for middlemen or contractors and sold rags which he had set apart from the garbage. The rate was always decided earlier.
Life had become a little bit easier for him but destiny played its role .He met with an accident and left this world for ever. Now Sameer the eldest one, has to look after all his siblings. As a dump picker ,he lives with his family but he has many friends who are street- pickers.  Poverty has led them to eat the filthy food remnants from the garbage and this  is a threat to their life.
Governments, in some places ,show their concern by issuing identity cards and offering them a limited health insurance plan .But Sameer lives in a State  where the poor like him, would look forward to grabbing the golden opportunity, never to be offerred to them. At the time of election,  the people who travel in big cars ,always promise special favours to these folks, but as soon as the election is over, they  forget their promises. But this time it seemed to be a little bit different. They  are trying to dismantle  the age-old corruption .However ,it is not as much easy as that;  you just press the button and ,hey presto ,a perfect corruption-free package, ready to be served at your doorstep. Never! But Sameer is totally ignorant about all this. He knows only about the bumpy grounds of the wasteland where he may find a pair of shoes without  straps. He  imagines the broad smile on the face of his only sister .He prays he could find something precious for the other two small kids too, who eagerly wait for his return. He walks through the cosy lanes which lead to the main roads. He does not visit  the street -bins as he knows that the garbage would  be collected by the lorries equipped with a device  to dump in and he is also not tall enough to take out the things which are inside the bins.
Rags ,generally, relate to torn pieces of clothes. But the rag-pickers like Sameer are always in quest of plastic bags or thermoplastics used for packaging. These plastic bags are very hazardous for the environment. Mostly these are eaten by the cows which is a health-hazard for them. So Sameer tries to find out as many of them as he can. He would get a little bit more money if he could sell them to the shops which sell the scraps.
Even if we know the importance of these rag-pickers in our life,how many of us can extend our hands to help them?Are we ready to give them a better life or are we concerned about their spoilt childhood?
The question is yet to be answered.






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A Treatise to My Son !
Every mother is proud of her child. So was I, when I used to look at his well-built body . ,But recently, I fret over the enormous bulk he has accumulated . My maternal instincts cast a shadow over his well-being and the eventuality which has resulted into his growing more and more lethargic and avoiding physical exercises, has made me numb. He cannot breathe easily and his protruding belly can match with any of the expecting mothers. Obesity has caused all these problems which he is facing at present and only strong determination and will power can be the remedy to cure him of all the diseases he would be prone to.
.His body -weight is far more higher than it should be. His Body Mass Index (BMI) has crossed the limit. For an average person, if it is between 25 to 30, he is considered overweight. And my son is not an exception to it . This BMI is not an indicator of the fat itself, rather it is a statistical measurement, derived from a person’s height and weight. However, even if I think he is a foodie ,it is I who has developed his food habits. I had been a working -mother and always tried to cut short the cooking schedule and opted for the tasty fast foods which my children used to gulp down .Thus these foods interfered with lipid metabolism and are responsible for molecular mechanism. This might have led to absorption of fructose (a type of sugar), found in beverages which may totally change lipid energy metabolism and the consequences are fatty liver and metabolic syndrome. In spite of several campaigns organized to create awareness among the public to restrain from fast food ,we people tend to increase our calorie- intake by eating these only. This is not the only cause behind my son’s obesity, the sedentary life-style has also added to his body weight. He moves very less and is always glued to his lap-top, the unique modern device to solve all the problems. But every coin has its other side and less physical activity has a large impact on burning calories and working of hormones. The insulin level in our body has a significant role to play.If we are physically active, our insulin level is stable. If we are not ,our insulin level is unstable. This is one of the vital causes of obesity. Another thing which I have detected about my son is that he is sleep –deprived .Being a work-aholic, he sleeps less than five hours which produces less Leptine. Because of the less production of this hormone , he does not feel hungry. They say that people who stop smoking gain a lot of weight. However ,my son does not smoke, but why does n’t he stop drinking all those fructose sweetened beverages which are spreading like poison in his body? Can’t he realize that all this obesity would lead to hypertension and diabetes-the root cause of all the fatal diseases ?Decreasing fat by changing food-habits and increasing physical activities can be far more profitable than spending hours on finding ways to achieve success in this corporate world .
O my son !please think it over and spare me from spending sleepless nights ,staring at the framed photograph of once the body-builder ,in front of my bed as “No greater grief than to remember days of joy when misery is at hand.”