Stuff you hate

[Sajainta]

Worst.Hangover.Ever.  -_______-

[Sajainta]

One of my good friends was just admitted to a psych ward because she tried to kill herself, and I'm two time zones away.

[tushantin]

One of our customers passed away. The old crow was retired Indian, although he had a US greencard, and gets his pension sent to him from there. Because of the currency value, he was as good as being rich here.

My parents run a home-catering, i.e. they offer food services to people (free delivery, no matter where they are in the city; dad's got a bicycle), and the guy was one of our customers. He was a regular customer with demands that were preposterous and unheard of, and often changed orders to something else at the last possible moment. His reason? "Restaurants can do it, so why can't you?"

Then a few months back he stopped receiving tiffins from us, preferring to go to a good restaurant not only because of the amazing taste of the food but also because it was convenient (price be damned, he was rich!). Funny thing to note was that no matter how clean and huge a certain restaurant is you can't guarantee that their kitchen and/or food was just as hygienic. The poor fellow died of jaundice.

Home-food may taste bland and simple, but is always prepared for the health of the family, because we eat whatever's left over of what's prepared for the customers. It's always healthy. So I guess this should be a lesson for most kids (and adults) in the world: Eat to live, not live to eat.

[Lord J Esq]

Eat to live, not live to eat.

That moral doesn't follow from your story, and it's lousy advice anyway--on par with saying that sex should only be for procreation.

[GenesisOne]

This is just me, tush, but judging from the outcome of your story, I'd have to say that the lesson here is...

No matter how powerful you are, you can always get too big for your britches.

[tushantin]

XD I guess I should have clarified my statement. Eating out once in a while is good, but doing so everyday is hazardous to your health. Most people here know this, but rich folks disregard the health talk, saying, "Fuck you! I got a gym!" What's worse, the old guy wasn't nearly as healthy to fight off diseases resulting from bad water and oil from most restaurants.

There's nothing wrong with indulging in temptations so long as they don't ruin you (I know how bad Pizza is, but I still feel like buying a small one since the last time I ate was two years ago), but indulging senselessly like you've got nothing to lose? Looks like you still own your life to the devil.

[alfadorredux]

I experienced a bit of a disconnect when reading your original posting myself...and then I remembered where you're posting from.

In Canada, the States, and I expect most of Europe as well, any place offering food to the public (whether they're selling it or just giving it away) has its kitchens inspected by the government and held to a standard of cleanliness; if people get ill from food served at a given place on more than one occasion, they're likely to get shut down. From what you're saying, I gather that where you are, either such inspection does not take place, or it isn't reliable.

In other words, eating out here is generally no more dangerous than eating in.

[tushantin]

I experienced a bit of a disconnect when reading your original posting myself...and then I remembered where you're posting from.

In Canada, the States, and I expect most of Europe as well, any place offering food to the public (whether they're selling it or just giving it away) has its kitchens inspected by the government and held to a standard of cleanliness; if people get ill from food served at a given place on more than one occasion, they're likely to get shut down. From what you're saying, I gather that where you are, either such inspection does not take place, or it isn't reliable.

In other words, eating out here is generally no more dangerous than eating in.

That's what I like about places like the States and Canada (but I did have doubts when a friend from the USA, working at McDonalds, ranted on how the chefs at work were irresponsible and unhygienic). Thing is, here in India there's no such thing as health inspection unless forced by the government. Most people HOPE the inspections never take place because each time it does, heavy bribery commences. Even those who fail the inspection tend to get an Okay from the inspector after they're given a few thousand bucks. Thus the inspection itself has little to no credibility here, because either the big guys convince the inspectors to eat some bribe, or the inspection himself/herself forces them to pay up if they wanna pass (even if there is nothing wrong with the restaurant).

What is even worse is that the fear of having a restaurant shut down is negligible. The Police won't bother inspecting if a person got ill, just because of their understanding, "If you don't want to get ill, don't eat out in the first place." They will only take action if someone big and influential gets ill, but the chances of that kind of a person coming to such a restaurant is unlikely; if they really wanna eat out, they'd prefer eating at REALLY exotic places like French Hotels (the guy who died was the rare "rich, but not that rich" type).

Consider our traditional Indian street foods which we were born to love: Wada Pav, Samosas, Dabheli, Bhel, Bhajia, Pani Puri, etc. They were so good nobody gave a second thought about hygiene. Even the foreigners love em when they visit. But all our opinions changed when we saw in the news the footage captured by an Indian girl: a Pani Puri hawker pissing on the same bowl he served people with. Let me be frank, I LOVE Dahi Puri (sweetened Pani Puri with some yogurt), but this footage killed my love for all street foods and fast foods.

[Sajainta]

That's what I like about places like the States and Canada (but I did have doubts when a friend from the USA, working at McDonalds, ranted on how the chefs at work were irresponsible and unhygienic). Thing is, here in India there's no such thing as health inspection unless forced by the government. Most people HOPE the inspections never take place because each time it does, heavy bribery commences. Even those who fail the inspection tend to get an Okay from the inspector after they're given a few thousand bucks. Thus the inspection itself has little to no credibility here, because either the big guys convince the inspectors to eat some bribe, or the inspection himself/herself forces them to pay up if they wanna pass (even if there is nothing wrong with the restaurant).

What is even worse is that the fear of having a restaurant shut down is negligible. The Police won't bother inspecting if a person got ill, just because of their understanding, "If you don't want to get ill, don't eat out in the first place." They will only take action if someone big and influential gets ill, but the chances of that kind of a person coming to such a restaurant is unlikely; if they really wanna eat out, they'd prefer eating at REALLY exotic places like French Hotels (the guy who died was the rare "rich, but not that rich" type).

Consider our traditional Indian street foods which we were born to love: Wada Pav, Samosas, Dabheli, Bhel, Bhajia, Pani Puri, etc. They were so good nobody gave a second thought about hygiene. Even the foreigners love em when they visit. But all our opinions changed when we saw in the news the footage captured by an Indian girl: a Pani Puri hawker pissing on the same bowl he served people with. Let me be frank, I LOVE Dahi Puri (sweetened Pani Puri with some yogurt), but this footage killed my love for all street foods and fast foods.

Sounds exactly like the Philippines.  -___-

[alfadorredux]

I won't say that the inspection systems are perfect here either (I also know of at least one McDonalds about which horrific things have been said), but the threat of being shut down is usually taken seriously, and we don't have a culture of ingrained bribery--if you're an official, and you get caught taking obvious bribes, you're in big trouble. Of course, that doesn't mean that non-obvious bribes (in the form of campaign contributions, non-monetary gifts, and certain kinds of kickbacks) don't happen under some circumstances, but if someone asks for a straightforward wad of cash to overlook a legal violation, it's more likely to be a sting than a bribe request.

One minor point is that food-related inspections are not the responsibility of the police here--they fall under a completely different section of government, usually the same one responsible for hospitals and clinics, since it is, after all, a health issue.

[CuyahogaRiver]

Sajainta
I will pray for your friend, I know what that is like. I hope she feels better soon!

[tushantin]

Alfy, your statements make me wanna move to US/Canada even more (and from Saj's statements, makes me wanna avoid Philippines). But if I do that, I'll morally consider myself a coward. I wish I could do something about this. I wish I had the power to change every rotten thing about this nation, but I'm just not cut out to be a politician...

[tushantin]

Enjoyed the new season of Doctor Who? Looks like Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) will neither appear in the new season nor will she be able to enjoy it. It's really sad; she passed away at 19th April, 2011.

R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen...

[tushantin]

The recent turn of events have saddened me. It's true that most of the terrorist attacks in India was from Pakistan, due to its ongoing war since the days of Independence, but I never discriminated against the nation as whole. Laden had been hiding at Islamabad, close to a military base, and yet their nation's leader kept saying he didn't know about Laden's presence. Then he probably also didn't know of the Pakistani military providing Laden sufficient resources and weapons, and hell probably even security. Obama knew this, and that's what made him keep Pakistan in the dark about the mission.

What saddens me is not the hypocrisy and lies of an allied nation. No, what saddens me is that Pakistan was once a part of the proud culture known as Bharata, of courage and patriotism, of dignity and humanity. The only thing that initially separated Pakistan from India was views motivated by caste, and the caste was influenced by a previous fallen empire of the Mughals. But at the heart of it all, they are still our brothers. Still Bharatiya.

It is sad. Imagine you, with all your patriotism, preach humanity, devote your life to peace and progress, always doing the good for the benefit of everyone you meet. And you have a brother, a dear brother you happily once embraced and had good times with, but now who has devoted his life to slaughtering millions.

Shall I blame Gandhi for this? Shall I blame the Mughals? Or shall I blame the same wrathful and proud culture of both our nations? I have no idea who to blame. I have no idea how to bring them close again.

[Licawolf]

 I hate traffic circles. I'm learning to drive, and traffic circles don't make it any easier <_<