Yudhvir Rana, TNN | Jan 16, 2012, 02.55PM IST
AMRITSAR: A large number of Indians residing in UK , Canada and US are now fast moving towards kitchen medicines to cure lifestyle diseases and are seeking expert opinion for various ailments including diabetes, hypertension, mood and eating disorders, mental illness largely caused due to work stress, dietary patterns and weakening family bonds.

“Stress and stress induced disorders coupled with poor dietary habits were like a slow poison spreading among Indians who have settled in these countries” said AS Mahal, a herbalist while talking to TOI upon return from UK where he had gone to deliver a talk on healthy eating habits and curing common ailments with the use of kitchen medicines. Mahal is well known name among Indians living abroad for his radio talks on healthy dietary habits and use of kitchen medicines to ward off diseases.

“I don’t prescribe medicines but simply advise people to change their eating habits and use the traditional condiments for healing common ailments rather than rushing to doctors for quick relief” he said.

Harpreet Gill, a UK resident told TOI over the phone from London that most Indians become victim to various disorders due to sudden climatic changes and dietary habits and start taking symptomatic treatment but with their prolonged use they develop resistance to these medicines and continue to suffer.

“So, now we look back to our roots and simple treatments with the help of stuff in the kitchen, and it is doing wonders,” said Gill.

Mahal said that kitchen herbs were not only important in cuisine but for healing purpose also. Their aromas regulate the flow of vital energies throughout the body, many of them help to improve digestion, others have antiseptic values.

He said if wisely used common kitchen spices could keep majority diseases at bay.

“There are large number of Indians who want to take the herbal route to health even knowing that it could take some time to cure but still they want to know how turmeric, ginger, cinnamon , black pepper, clove , nutmeg could help them keep healthy ” said Mahal.

Shelza Malhotra, another UK resident said she imports herbs from India for her store in London. “Recently the demand for Indian spices and herbs have increased due to their therapeutic use” she said.

By: Saurabh Katkurwar Date: 2012-01-15 Place: Mumbai

The Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) market received its first yield of Alphonso mangoes last week. Each carton was sold for a whopping Rs 10,000 each — 10 times the price a carton fetches in peak season (March to June).

Sakharam Pansare, a trader at APMC market said, “We received two cartons of the first yield of Alphonso mangoes from a farmer in the Konkan belt on Thursday which were bought by a retailer. Last year we sold the first yield carton for Rs 8,000.”

This doesn’t imply that you will spend an exorbitant amount to eat Alphonso mangoes this year. “The first yield of mangoes costs a lot because gifting Alphonso mangoes, especially when there is no supply in the market, is a trend. The rates will go down in February as the supply becomes regular,” said Vijay Dhobale, a mango grower.

“Last year, mangoes were priced between Rs1,000 to 1,500 per carton in May. This year, mangoes will cost between Rs 900 to 1,200 per carton,” Dhobale said. Experts believe that the nip in the air will lead to a good yeild, but warn against a drop in quality if the temperature does not rise in the next few days.

By ANGHARAD LLEWELLYN

IT’S a long way to go in search of Indian grub.

But I’ve flown to Goa with 15 mates to indulge in a week-long curry-a-thon as part of a surprise celebration for a friend’s 30th birthday.

He thought he was just going with his wife — it’s fair to say bumping into a load of your best mates when you’re halfway round the world is a bit of a surprise.

The plan is to spend the first week together in Patnem (and its surrounding beaches, including Agonda and Palolem) before splitting up and heading to Kerala for the second week.

Now, I have a confession. I have never actually liked Indian food, even though I live on the “curry mile” — Brick Lane in London, surrounded by Bangladeshi restaurants.

And as much as I love a red-hot chilli, I have never been able to work up an appetite for a Ruby Murray for dinner.

Curry

But the food is so incredible in Goa I find myself gorging on the stuff. Another naan? Yes please! More aloo gobi? Of course! And then there is the fresh fish — straight from the tandoor, delivered to the table.

Piping hot, full of flavour and tender and moist. Absolutely amazing.

As the Pound stretches so far here, we over-order (and therefore over-eat) at every opportunity.

On average, a main course will set you back the equivalent of two quid. Kingfisher beer is around a Pound.

And as the water in India is not safe to drink (to the point that you cannot even eat salad or fruit that have been washed in it), curry is a reliable choice of fodder.

But it’s an exercise in patience. After you order food, it can take up to an hour-and-a-half to be served.

And this doesn’t take into account the frequent power cuts we experience during our stay.

We take to ordering “tactical snacks” before every meal so that we aren’t gnawing our arms off by the time that the main course arrives.

But after seven days of non-stop kingfish, red snapper and pomfret, I have to admit I am craving a sneaky steak or fish-finger sarnie.

Food in India varies from region to region and when a smaller group of six of us fly down to Kerala for the next leg of our journey, we find ourselves testing out a very different palate.

The curries here are subtle and very sweet. In fact, all the food we try here is sugary — perhaps because coconut and coconut milk is widely used in Keralan cuisine.

Tikka your pick … try a curry or two in beach-side town Varkala
Tikka your pick … try a curry or two in beach-side town Varkala

We settle in the beach-side town of Varkala — a full-of-life, high-spirited hippy town built on the top of a cliff which has a sheer drop to the beach below.

There are no barriers so it’s advised to take extra caution, especially with children or after a few Kingfisher beers. For a taste of luxury, we stay in the Deshadan hotel. It is a set of clean, spacious hotel rooms surrounding a pool. And breakfast is included in the room rate.

Next door, at the Dhatri Treatment And Rejuvenation Centre I try an Ayurveda treatment — a holistic healing science made up of two words ayu (life) and veda (knowledge).

I select an Abhyangam Plus treatment which costs about £15.

Two female masseurs apply hot oil all over my skin and massage it along my “circulatory” channels for 60 minutes. It’s very relaxing and worth giving a go.

The hotel restaurant serves a variety of Indian and Western food and I choose a traditional Keralan chicken curry.

It is mild, subtle and full of flavour but a lot of the menu is very saccharine-sweet.

After two weeks of sun, sea and spicy food, it’s time to head home to the UK.

And guess what I do when I get back? Yes, call everyone to arrange to go for an Indian.

I’m a confirmed curry convert.

Geetika Jain, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 10, 2012

In Delhi, it is a relief to drive at a good pace in the night because the roads are deliciously empty. In North Goa, during the run up to the New Year, it is just the opposite. Partygoers cram the streets all night, and driving during the day is when you feel you are beating the system.

The innumerable clubs, beach parties, restaurants, shacks and hedonistic lifestyle begets a swarming of epic proportions around Christmas and the New Year. Sunburn, a music super fest, had the nights abuzz with young Indians who parachuted in from all over the country to the epicentre of fun.

There’s a lot that lures us to Goa, not least of all running into old friends unexpectedly. Then there are the favourite haunts the lively Mapusa market on Fridays, where the locals bring their produce from the hinterland the charming neighbourhoods of Fontainhas, Saligao and Asagao, and the small shacks and restaurants that serve the most compelling home-style Goan cuisine.

Soussegade
The Portuguese word, soussegade, is often used in Goa to depict the relaxed, chilled lifestyle enjoyed by the locals. Goa’s famous cartoonist and chronicler of the local landscape and lifestyle Mario Miranda’s cartoons portray scenes of fishermen sharing a bottle of feni at the end of a day, Romeos serenading girls with their guitars in hand, and afternoon naps in hammocks swaying in the breeze.

Goa truly must have been a paradise a decade or two ago, before the outsiders discovered it, enjoyed it and moved in. Conversation changed from village affairs and babinka pudding to how many lakhs per acre.

Tulsi shrines and coconut stalls were taken over by Kashmir emporiums and now there are road signs in Cyrillic to aid the Russians.

The endearing houses with permanent benches at the entrance porch welcoming visitors are being shredded fast to give way to numbingly generic high-rise flats, second homes for Dilliwalas and Mumbaikars.

Saudade
This time in Goa, while everything was in place for visitors catamaran rides sailed out to the Arabian Sea, jet skis and para sails zig-zagged on the beachside and hibiscus flowers decorated chilled coconut water there was a discernible sadness in the locals’ eyes.

These are folks who are particularly proud of their unique heritage and it pains them to see it dwindle and drain and alloy with unfamiliar elements. Nothing pains them more than the changing look and feel of their precious Goa.

A major highway is being resisted that could sear their heartland. Even the children, who traditionally make effigies of Old Man to be burnt on the last night of the year (symbolising the death of the old year and rebirth of the new), had painted tears and frowns on their old man’s face.

Saudade, another Portuguese word is understood well in Goa. It means nostalgia tinged with pain, and the pain is being felt deeply by the Goans. Miranda died recently in his sleep. He was 85. Perhaps it was best he went before the Goa he knew and loved changed beyond recognition.

Goa fact file

When to go: Goa is most comfortable in winter months. However, it is a year-round destination with special discounts during the Monsoon-viewing season.
North or South Goa?: North to party, South to relax.
Where to stay: Top end The Sol boutique hotel in Nerul, Seolim House, Poussada Tomas, Hermitage at the Taj Vivanta.
Affordable style: There are legions of small hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast locations near Candolim, Calangute, Baga and Anjuna beaches with easy access to restaurants and local transport.
Eat at: Fiesta for atmosphere and excellent Mediterranean cuisine, Café Vinit, Mum’s Kitchen and Panjim Inn for delicious Goan fare. Bomras has excellent Burmese cuisine.
Explore: Goan heritage in Old Goa, the neighbourhoods (Fontainhas in Panjim, Saligao and Asagao) and the local markets (Mapusa, Arpora and Anjuna).

Oheraldo by Federick Norohna

December and January are the months when expats visit Goa, and this gives us time to rethink Goa’s equation with its diaspora.

At one level, the expats are crucial to our society – even if only in selfish economic terms. Their remittances have been largely uncounted and not even adequately estimated.

At another level, Goa has a love- hate relationship with them. Sometimes we get cheesed off with their attitudes and expectations from a postcolonial Goa. Yet, seen differently, we are them! Many Goans based in Goa have had an expat experience themselves. We know what it means to come back, and find yourself a stranger in your own home.

We at least have relations who are expats. Or, if young, we dream of one day chasing the rainbow and our ambitions to end up in some lucrative part of the planet. The migration gene has been deeply encoded – like some virus – within the Goan DNA. This is especially true among the Catholic community, which probably has a larger section of its community outside Goa rather than with the State itself.

* * * So, how do we treat our diaspora? In other words, how do we treat ourselves? ( This might be a bit of an exaggeration, because in the pre- 1961 era, the ruling dispensation didn’t care much for this ‘ dispensable’ section of the population. After 1961, Liberation and all that, the political elite in Panjim also doesn’t care much for the diaspora.

In any case, its vote- banks are constituencies whose interests are more caught up with disempowering the diaspora.) Sometime back, the BJP government in Goa got an NRI Commission going. For quite a few years, it was a non- starter.

Under Eduardo Faleiro, things have improved, though in this networked world, a lot more could be done to reach out more effectively to the scattered and often forgotten Goan communities worldwide.

In the last few weeks, one’s own personal interactions with friends from the Goan diaspora made a thing or two very clear.

The biggest challenge facing the expats is their property. They have been treated very shabbily on this.

The 1960s saw rather lopsided ‘ land reforms’ squeezing middle- sized ( or even small) landholders, who happened to be out of Goa.

The 1970s saw a further state of flux over such issues. In the 1980s, expats got conned once again, by convincing them to go in for coastal ‘ rent- backs’, which raked in moolah for the politically well- connected here while giving the expats a raw deal in most cases. More recently, the diaspora population is being convinced to go in for the ugly concrete that is changing the very nature of their home State.

While the MGP regime has been unfriendly to hostile to the diaspora over their land and properties, the Congress has hardly done anything. On the contrary, as its prominent figures dabble in real estate and land big- time, this has meant that the expats have got squeezed further during Congress rule. Because of the demographic breakup of Goa’s international diaspora population – largely Catholic, and Old Conquest based – the BJP couldn’t care less for such issues, though an occasional comment has come up from leaders like Manohar Parrikar.

Today expats are caught in a Catch 22 situation. If they hold on to their properties, its security is always under doubt. If they sell, they get disinherited ( often for peanuts) from the land of their roots! Some have opted to donate their properties for charity, and a good cause.

But will the local partners keep to their side of the promise and make good use of what they get? There are stories of people who sold their ancestral properties, and whose children had to pay many times the same figure to get their properties back! All in all, this is an unhappy position. The faster we understand and seek to address such major irritants in Goa’s crucial relationship with its diaspora, the better chance of building a hopefully win- win situation for both.