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Carrots for Health!
Aug 27, 2004
Why should you eat carrots? I learnt a lot at a small seminar about why we should follow Bugs Bunny’s example.
Carrots are tasty with a mild, pleasant flavor that is wonderful to eat raw or blended with other foods. They are low in calories but high in nutrients such as Vitamin A. An item high on the list of all those beauties India keeps producing. It is vital for a smooth, radiant complexion, for the eyes, for luxurious and great hair, for body development and growth, and for fighting infection. Scientific studies have shown that Beta-Carotene, a product of Vitamin A in the body, is one of nature’s great boons in battling chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
So, how does one eat carrot? They are best eaten raw. However, well known combos include plain carrot salad, apple and carrot salad, carrot and green lettuce salad.
Raw carrots are a wonderful and convenient snack. Include it in the lunch pack. Or cart them on your outing. Take some to munch in the car on your commutes.
It’s healthier than sweets and namkeen.
Carrot magic
Cut carrots in long strips and place them in a glass of slightly salted water. Leave the glass on the dining table or near the children’s study desk or have it near your workplace. Watch the carrots disappear. Sheer magic! And what a wonderful and healthy snack.
Cocktail snack
Instead of oily taste bud dampening hors d'oeuvres, pass around strips of carrot along with white radish, celery sticks. You can make the snack interesting by making a dip out of curds.
The recipe for a healthy, non-fattening dip: Hang curds in cloth bag and when all water has run out, whisk it in a bowl adding a paste of garlic, salt and a dash of pepper
Carrot juice
Run fresh chopped carrots in a mixie with a little water or milk – and voila! The energy drink! If Aishwarya Rai has it everyday, there must be a good reason.
Carrot cake
Ingredients: 3 cups finely shredded carrots, 2 cups whole-wheat flour, 1/3-cup milk powder, 1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds, 4 large eggs, 1 cup sunflower oil or margarine, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon powder
Method: In a large bowl, blend oil and sugar until well mixed. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Stir together dry ingredients and add to egg mixture until well blended. Stir in the nuts and carrots by hand. Pour batter into well-greased and floured pan. Bake at 350f for 50-60 minutes.
Cool in pan, then top with powdered sugar or frosting of your choice.
Carrot & cabbage salad
Ingredients: 1 cup grated carrot, 1 cup shredded cabbage, 1 small lime, salt, sugar.
Method: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, to get a light and healthy salad.
You can use this salad as a filling for sandwiches. The curd dip suggested earlier, is a great spread too.
Make carrots a part and parcel of your every day diet. Get your friends and everyone around you to this idea. It’s another ammo for taking on the stresses and challenges of living in today's rushed world!
Indiranagar: Swampy area to a swanky one
Aug 23, 2004
As you approached it from Old Madras Road and Murphy Town, and past the graveyard to your right, Indiranagar opened up like a shimmering middle-eastern town - hazy, arid, stray white buildings here and there amidst palm trees. That’s how it was in the late ‘60s. The only motorable way get there was by cutting a right before the petrol bunk. An immediate left took you to today’s famed 100 Ft Road, except it wasn’t the posh boulevard of glitter and glamour then. Instead empty swampy fields met the eye and at dusk, the area became menacingly dark with swirling clouds of mosquitoes and the eerie symphony of cicadas, frogs and other creatures of the night.
Who would have thought then that this area would one day become one of the most sought-after and the most expensive locations of Bangalore city?
It was Mr. B S Hanuman, IAS (retd.) , the then chairman of the City Improvement Trust Board, who took the initiative to acquire this neglected land and form a layout. The area had ‘good lung space’ on NH4 with the Binnamangala village in the north, Ulsoor on the west, Domlur on the south and Isolation hospital on the east. After Mr. Hanuman, his successor Mr. M. Sankaranarayanan, IAS (retd.), further changed the boondocks-like landscape to a highly inhabitable locality.
“We planned a ‘cantonment type’ suburb where retired defence personnel could make homes”, remembers Mr. Sankaranarayanan, “In 1965, I invited Brigadier N C Mehta, then Commander, Mysore Sub-Area to consider the area for housing for the army. He did not warm up to the idea and had reservations about the location. So I asked him ‘ What do you consider the center of Bangalore? South Parade?’
”At that time, 3-Aces on South Parade was a good referral point. I took the Brigadier from there and reached Binnamnagala layout via Ulsoor, a distance less than 4 kms. I showed him around and gave an idea of prices - a 90’x120’ site was priced at Rs 10, 000. After the trip, the Brigadier said he would discuss the matter with his officers.”
At that time the Urban Land Ceilings Act specified the ratio of built area to land and effectively curbed the extra land in bungalows and set in motion the development of new areas. One such proposed layout was the one comprising the Binnamangala village in the north, Ulsoor on the west, Domalur on the south and Isolation hospital on the east.
Reluctantly, the officers came forward to buy sites. And in time, that’s how one of Bangalore’s most beautiful residential areas, Defence Colony came up.”
“It involved considerable effort, though,” says Maj. Gen. M K Paul, VSM (retd.), President, Defence Colony Residents’ Association (DECORA), “We realized that good governance including civic amenities cannot be ensured by authorities alone. It needs people’s participation. Our success came by collaborating with agencies responsible for providing the various facilities to any habitat.”
Civilians from all walks of life started acquiring sites. Because of the swampy conditions at the 100ft Road end, Dr N M Thimmarayapppa, the renowned pediatrician, built his home on stilts. For reasons like that 'architect-planned and designed' houses came into vogue.
“Other residents took an active interest too in developing Indiranagar”, says Mr. A.S. Vittal rao, “The Lions Club contributed significantly to the greening of the area by planting hundreds of trees where there were none.” As a result the desert-like look vanished. And today a beautifully verdant locality stands with wide avenues boasting of tall bushy trees such as the Delonix, honge, rain and the Flame of the Forest. On morning walks one can hear the delightful sweet sounds of birds and nature.
“But this state of affairs will not magically remain,” says a concerned and guarded Angela Shriani Roye, an educationist and environmentalist, “Already we are seeing the commercialization of once quite areas wuith its attendant desecration of greenery and degradation of the environment.”
As if to make the point, there are uniformed men from BESCOM going around hacking branches and whole trees as they make way for the overhead electric lines. “Surely there is a better way of pruning branches with some consideration for aesthetics and longevity of trees.”
Despite the callous hacker, Indiranagar is still considered by many Bangaloreans as a dream destination with its exquisitely designed houses, gardens blooming with exotic flowers and plants, parks for senior citizens and children, and even an auditorium, the Purandara Bhavan, for classic music.
Oldtimers however say things are taking a turn for the worse. A trend that started around the ‘90s, when the city turned into an IT and investment destination, and the influx of people grew uncontrollably. Property value is presently more than Rs 2500 per sq.ft. With the real estate boom has come 'unauthorised' shops and commercial activities, and apartments in one-family units. A number of shops and offices have sprung up in what was earlier a purely residential area.
The once quiet CMH Road today resembles Commercial Street - with the attendant parking hassles. The tree-lined 100Ft Road has many furniture shops, interior decorators, restaurants, and offices. Though the BDA Complex, a one-stop commercial center for the area, was in place, a number of shops of offices and shops are now everywhere!
The once peaceful Indiranagar is also witnessing unprecedented and unregulated growth. "This is not the quiet neighborhood we once knew," says S N S Murthy, IPS (retd). Many who had invested in homes are moving out. “When we got here in the ‘70s everything was lovely,” says Ajit and Ahalya Kumar, "Today with the heavy traffic-moving non-stop day and night we don’t get any peace or privacy. So we have relocated to Whitefield.”
In Bangalore, organisations such as BATF have shown that the co-operative effort of private and public enterprise can help in community matters. "What we have today is a model suburb, thanks to the foresight of the founding fathers. It is up to us concerned citizens to keep it that way," says Ms Neena Monapa, “By working closely with civic authorities, we too can enrich people’s life even as our community expands.
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