Health vs Taste = David vs Goliath?

It was a sad commentary on the human nature at the Institute of Food Technologists' conference last week. I attended a networking meeting with free food. There were two tables, one with pizza and another with fruits and veggies. The pizza line had about 60 people while there was no line for the veggies. People were asking me why I was eating veggies - did I not know that there was free pizza?

This at a meeting of food technologists who know (and "educate" others) about the need to eat right. This just brings to the forefront a problem the food industry is well aware of - that people eat what tastes good irrespective of its effects on their health.

To change the way people eat, the industry has to make healthy foods taste just as good as fried foods. Thus, the goal is not for health to win over taste but for them to become friends - and that, my friends, is the true battle.

PS: I am not trying to justify what the industry has done or is doing - I'm just drawing conclusions from my observations. Please let me know if you have opposing views.

Burning car

Just saw a burning truck on the I-65. Hope noone was seriously injured. Below are some pics.

Zara hatke, zara bachke, ye hai Mumbai meri jaan

First of all I apologize to my blog followers (all two of them) for deserting you for so long. I get into the habit of writing blogs and then disappear as lethargy creeps in and inertial forces get higher. There have been several posts I have been contemplating but never got to writing. Today, however, is different. Today, I feel at home. I am in Mumbai all over again. Not physically there but the conditions remind me of home.

I woke up in the morning to a roar of thunder. A thunderstorm had been raging all night. I got ready and got breakfast. All of a sudden, water started gushing in through the window sill. I woke up my roommate (Yashwantrao, he of "Yashwantrao gele Americela" fame) and we started moving everything away from the water, wiping water off using towels and keeping a bucket where required.

Yash's mother told me to not go today but I told her that I would be disowned by my citypeople (Mumbaikars) if I stayed back. I prayed to Mumba devi (the goddess after whom Mumbai is named) and started for work. On the way, I passed Suman Nagar (the name I gave to the area that was flooded as Suman Nagar always is) and had to drive VERY slowly to avoid damage to the car. I encountered the same problem near the parking lot at work but drove around it.

So all in all, what problems do we encounter in Mumbai during the monsoon:
1) Stormy weather all the time....................check
2) Flooded roads..................................check
3) Dripping houses................................check

And yet, the Mumbaikar walks on. Hail Mumbai, Hail Mumbaikars and Jai MumbaDevi.