Nutrition From Chile To India!

A country of Latin American origin spanning three continents - South America, Oceania, and Antarctica - phytosanitary island, protected by natural barriers - the Pacific Ocean, the Andes Mountains and the Atacama desert - and a global leader in exports - CHILE has come to India with the proposition to enhance exports of kiwifruit native to Chile to various marketplaces in the India.

Chile has a distinction of being the longest country in the world and also the southern hemisphere's largest exporter of fresh fruits because as many as hundred countries receive thirty different species of Chilean fruit grown across a variety of climates and regions.

Apples, berries, citrus fruits, peaches, plums, and grapes are cultivated across the varied demographic of Chile all year round. During the last season Chile exported close to thirty thousand tonnes of fresh fruit to India, thus positioning it among the Top 5 countries in Asia for Chilean exports.

India's growing love for fruits like Kiwi stems from the fact that we've developed a liking towards tropical produce that enables us to savor the best from the global platter whilst keeping our health in check.

To facilitate the presence of Chilean Kiwi in India, the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association has joined hands with the Chilean Fruit Growers Federation (FEDEFRUTA) further cemented by the the financing by Ministry of Agriculture of Chile and support from the commercial trade wing - ProChile.

Apart from dignitaries representing the above alliance, also present at the occasion were Padma Shri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and nutritionist Kavita Devgan who were quick to point out that fruit can be equated to snack, and a healthy one at that.

Kavita also added that kiwifruit is a berry good fruit for us, as it is a powerhouse of essential vitamins, anti-oxidants, and folate, added to the fact that as a fruit, kiwi is alkaline in nature, thus balancing our intestinal pH.

Additionally, Chef Sanjeev also took to whipping up a refreshing concoction of kiwi, mango and honey - a kiwi fruit smoothie - to exhibit the culinary versatility of the fruit.

On the whole, the Chile-India association is a pleasant one and shall be a well-received one too.

An Upward Trend For Deadly Chikungunya...

The year 2017 was worst for Karnataka state as far as Chikungunya cases are concerned. The state reported the highest percentage of clinically suspected cases. That was more than 50 percent, worse in comparison to any other state in the country. Next to it were not far behind Gujarat and Maharashtra at 12 per cent each. It is there important for the relevant agencies to find out what was the reason for that exorbitant per cent in Karnataka. But that is not the beginning of the story. We will have to go a few years back to see if there was a rise or decline in such cases in those years. As a matter of fact, if you see, the period during 2013 and 2017 was not good for the country as a whole as there was a sharp increase witnessed in the number of Chikungunya cases in the whole country.

These figures come from the National Health Profile (NHP) 2017. This is a national agency that keeps all the statistics and figures of related to health of the country at a micro level. Thus it keeps a track whether the overall health of the country is improving or deteriorating year by year. The same it does for the states of the country going further down to district level. As per the figures presented by NHP the number of clinically suspected Chikungunya cases, there was a tremendous increase from 2013 to 2017. The figures that were 18,840 in 2013 rose up to 63,679 by 2017. That was a whooping jump of 70 per cent in the country. There were many states contributing to this stupendous rise in the cases of this vector borne disease.

For instance, Haryana was on the top of the list contributing a rise of 99 per cent. There was only 1 case of clinically suspected Chikungunya case in the state as per records in 2013. And that rose to 240 in 2017. Delhi, in fact, was not far behind in the race. The number of cases in Delhi increased by 51 times. In Rajasthan, there was an increase by 20 times during the same period.

As we all know  Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It is important to understand that Chikungunya fever symptoms include fever, severe joint pain, headache, nausea, muscle pain, rashes, and fatigue. The disease results from a bite of an infected female mosquito that is known as Aedes aegypti in medical terms. Our environment contributes a lot to our health and hygiene.

The more we care about our environment, the better it is for us in order to stay healthy and active. Chikungunya spreads faster through the open grounds and still water in potholes, clay pots, flowerpots, open vessels and containers, and open sewers. It is very essential to curb spread of this disease by curbing and checking these open areas and ensuring that water doesn’t stagnate in these areas for more than twenty four hours to provide these mosquitoes a favorable environment to breed.

After all, a small amount of awareness and proactive action are important to stay healthy and strong. There is no harm in paying attention to these activities despite however busy a life we may be leading. :)

Food Review: Dubliin Square

Dubliin Square is a classy, unexplored gem in the heart of North West Delhi i.e. Rohini. Located in the Mangalam Paradise Mall in Sector 3, it is a restaurant that has a diverse food and brewery section incorporated into it on two separate floors of the mall.

While the brewery also houses a DJ for those dance-it-away nights, the food place is essentially a fine-dine concept for calmer, food-centric evenings. Finely done ambiance with spacious seating and well-lit interiors is what scores a point in their tally.

They have a vast and varied menu spanning across a spiral-binded booklet of about 30 pages or so, it was overwhelming at first sight to realize that Dubliin Square boasts of three kitchens and a team of ten chefs each catering to Indian, Chinese and Italian cuisines.

The fact that the owners and managing directors here have a food industry and business-oriented acumen to their credit works in their favor. The stewards are well versed with the nuances of the dishes and most of them are flavorful and presented nicely.

I would be listing my favorites from each course of the three-course meal I relished at a Blogger's Table held here last week.

From the appetizers, loved the start and the end in particular - namely the Paneer Multani Tikka (Chef's Special) - huge cottage cheese chunks marinated in hung curd, and Bhuttey De Kebab - shaped like corn on the cob - sweet corn and potato mash fried to perfection.

Apart from these, do try their Chicken White Sauce - not Fish, mind you, and it is a pleasant changeover from the classic - and Vegetable Spring Roll - crispy and flavorful.

In the Main Course, liked their Subz Biryani that was plated quite aesthetically and the Murgh Methi Malai that was a thick, creamy gravy with large chicken pieces.

You could also opt for their Chinese Fried Rice, though the Mushroom and Thai Green Curries are a bit high on their spice.

Also loved the presentation of their Fruit Punch with a lime slice on top in a thick, shake-like mocktail.

The dessert namely Shahi Tukda and Moong Dal Halwa were to die for! Not your usual heavily oiled preparation but very light and smooth on the palate.

Wishing the Team luck with their venture to impress patrons at Dubliin Square in the future as it is a relatively newer kid on the block. 

Catch Up, Buddy!

Growth, be it personal or professional, is an individual's sole motive. On the personal front, it may be about maintaining amicable relations with near and dear ones, while on the professional front, it may be about realizing that we do not lead our lives as a black box, that we have to keep others in our tow and proceed towards the pinnacle of success - be it psychologically, emotionally, or even financially.

When it comes to one's bodily growth, it is not the unprecedented growth left, right and center, which concerns parents of adolescent or pre-pubertal kids who have turned couch potatoes, but it is the genuine scaling on the growth chart as per the standardized norms propagated by doctors worldwide, that causes anxiety to the parents of such kids.

While there may be many reasons to such a barrier uprooting a child's self-esteem, the most important and the one most overlooked, happens to be carelessness towards what's on a kid's plate conjunct with limited physical activity.

When I was a kid, we had ample green spaces to run around and play, oblivious to first-world issues but that isn't the case now. Today's kids have increasingly become lovers of gadgets of all kind and form, thus restricting their physical energies to one or the other smartphone or tablet, most often.

Not eating right - be it eating excessively or eating the least - affects the bodily rhyme and rhythm to growth and adversely alters the natural patterns to growing right. A balanced meal consisting of the right quantities of the six nutritional elements to the food pyramid - namely proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre, carbohydrates, and fat - would contribute to the happy and healthy growth of a child, stage-wise, that is right as per the time duration attributed to each stage.

If all these growth patterns are thrown off their set rhythm it detrimentally impacts the child, not only physically, as is evident on the outset of it, but also emotionally, throwing their self-confidence and sense of self-worth off-track big time.

Hence, it is of utmost importance that a child does not lose out on, or imbalance his/her growth patterns, be it due to any reason whatsoever, as this issue would then, not remain confided only to the child themselves, but also reach out to their peers. Then, would be unleashed the real demon, as peer pressure would cave into the child, to upset him making him hollow from the inside.
This demon can then never be driven away, as it chooses to reside inside the child, developing in him, an inferiority complex forever.

Fortunately, I had attended the product launch of Horlicks Growth+ in May, this year, which helped me to realize that this issue impacts children all over the nation, and is very much prevalent.

Horlicks Growth+ as a product, was then suggested as a clinically tested solution to this problem, in the form of a flavored health supplement which was suited to help kids aged 3-9 years who were below tenth percentile as per the growth chart and standardized norms.

It also made me thank God that I was born and brought up in an environment which enabled me to keep the issue of catching up on lost growth at bay.

Driving Diaries With Datsun!

Driving a car on urban roads, especially on Indian roads requires extraordinary skills - skills beyond what are known as driving skills. There are people found in vehicles on roads that intend to turn right while occupying the left-most lane. They dare to turn when the traffic signal turns green without bothering the extremity of the lane they are in, and that their indicator is next to non-existent. Definitely, whilst observing others practicing this kind of jugglery on roads while driving a car, you need to tune yourself to either become a perfect anti-juggler or a better juggler.

I am sure the new, unique, and innovative Datsun redi-GO is there to help you in beating your urban driving blues. I've seen that some of the features are fantastic and have emerged as a boon after extensive R&D at Datsun's end. Some of the features, though present in other cars, make for a unique combination with the majority features in Datsun's latest offering to make redi-GO one of the most sought-after cars in the market.

If I get a chance to explore a new Datsun redi-GO on urban roads, I would prefer to drive it in Kanpur where the roads are equipped to provide you with all kinds of permutations and combinations that will help you to understand the power, strength, technical innovations, and quality of the vehicle. And of course, I would like to drive from Delhi to Kanpur first, before starting my urban trial at Kanpur itself.

It will be difficult to choose the best three features of Datsun redi-GO that make me want to take this beautiful car out for a spin because there is a lot more in the car than just those three features. But still if it is to be, then those three features will be as below. 

Best-In-Class Ground Clearance: The urban road scenario is not very good especially during and after monsoon, which remains in a desolate state, even moths after that. On top of it, the material used to make the roads in India doesn't last long as the larger chunk of the budget goes into contributing to the bank balance of concerned corrupt people involved in the task rather than constructing perfect roads. This feature will help you overcome such broken roads. It deals with low obstacles that are encountered on the road. The ground clearance is 185 mm. The approach angle is 26.8 degrees and the departure angle is 58.6 degrees to handle any kind of situation with perfection. With such ground clearance, you can handle various kinds of speed-breakers on urban roads. 

Head Lamps: Datsun redi-GO provides head lamps with an iconic design, which is differentiated from the ones that all other cars have, in the market. These are dramatically elongated projector head lamps that stretch virtually from the grille to the fender evenly. The perfectly designed head lamps throw light that spreads faster and wider thus enhances safety and confidence of the one behind the wheel. 

Drive Computer: Instantaneous and average mileage (time and fuel), fuel remaining, distance to empty, gear status, speed, and a lot more is there on the display screen right in front of your eyes thus helping you to take better decisions on the road. It also displays Shift Indicator that helps knowing the ideal time to shift for getting maximum performance and efficiency accordingly. 

Fun. Freedom. Confidence. The ultimate Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO - the capability of a crossover with the convenience of a hatchback. That's the Urban Cross for us, and it is my dream vehicle without a doubt. :) 

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P.S.: All images attributed to Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO.