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Love takes time, and a good coach – Indian Express 8.March.2018
Indian Express – 21st Feb 2018
BENGALURU: Politics is not an easy game, and now you need to play it well-dressed and groomed. Image consultants in the city say that they are getting leaders and workers approaching them for tips and classes on what to wear and how to carry themselves.Makeovers are mostly requested by people in their early forties and into their fifties, and the aim is usually to appeal to a younger voter group. The consultancies charge anywhere between Rs 1.5 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs, depending on the services, says Renju Joseph, who runs the high-end Ace Infiniti.
“I get roughly about three queries a week, especially now that this is election time,” he says. They approach consultancies as individuals and are not usually sent in by the parties.Another consultant Shreya Dhingra says that she has been working with politicians for many years. She says that they are mostly looking for ways to connect with their target audience with the right body language. This includes body language, voice and vocal projection. “A senior politician approached us recently because he wanted to reach out to a younger audience through his body behaviour”.
Babu Kumar, who is a BJP worker in CV Raman Nagar, is in his early fifties. He says that the biggest learning for him from this image consultant was that he had a poor dressing sense. “I thought I was good,” he says. “Also I thought I had a social-media following until I realised that it’s the same group of people who are engaging with me all the time. These guys changed my perspective”.He believes that dressing well is one of his responsibilities as a leader. “If, as a representative of my constituency, I am shabby, what message am I sending out about my people,” he asks.
Kumar’s receptiveness is a rare thing indeed, especially when it comes to clothes. According to consultant Dhingra, “Their dressing is a statement in itself and they are very sure of the understated look they want to work with. So, one thing they don’t want advice on is their dressing.”Renju says that they steer clear of “making a person look young”. He says that they groom and style them suited to their age, though the consultants do organise events with youthful themes for clients to participate in. “It is not that youngsters only connect to youth,” he says.
A Congress leader, also from CV Raman Nagar, consults Renju. “Best of intentions are lost in transit,” says George Satish, who is a Youth Congress member. He says that he no difference between an image consultant and a communications specialist. “Grooming oneself is also a form of communication,” he says.
(Inputs from Leah Thomas)
What wardrobe for what ward?
Renju Joseph, of Ace Infiniti, says that they analyse a ward’s economic mix before deciding on the dress code. “A ward like Defence Colony can be accessed only with edgy and sharp dressing, since people in the armed forces attach value to turning up well-dressed. On the other hand, right across the road, a ward like Halasuru deals with middle-class and lower middle-class families. Here, people would prefer dressing that resonates with them such as more whiter and crisper clothing. Another interesting behaviour is that economically weaker wards like their representatives flashy. The lower middle-class wards want their representatives flashier and want to look up to them, however the middle class want their representatives to look like them.”
Leaders bunk classes
Shreya Dhingra adds that while there is interest in self-improvement, the political workers are not consistent students. “They are pretty unsure and unclear about what they are looking for. They don’t attend sessions regularly, and this drags on for months”. Therefore, the consultancy has made a conscious effort to take fewer clients from this field. Another consultant Liji Thomas too says that coordinating with a political leader’s team is difficult, since it is difficult to squeeze in classes into their busy schedule.
Better halves are enrolled too
Shreya Dhingra says that few political leaders also come to consultants when they want to their spouses to step into this field. “A few months back, I met a certain politician who wanted to get his wife into the work he does. He wanted us to train her. The younger politicians, especially, want to involve their spouses with the interface like with reaching out to people, making calls, fixing appointments and doing other business-related work. They want their spouses to look better, talk better and connect with people better.”
Have we negotiated hunger with leisurely demise?
Let’s dream a date. There is a candle lighting the table or a part of the heart. There is wine, the elegance of the table setting, slow music, remarkable ambience, flawless food presentation, appetizing aroma, delectable tastes that liquefies down your gullet. But the chief component is love. If we yank away the key influence which is “love” the setting gets morbid also does the food and the ambience.
Food! ignites all our senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight but….
The underbelly of food after the green revolution was announced, has been meeting the demand of hunger. Yet what also transported were pesticides, fungicides, storage and ripening chemicals.
The agricultural industry is huge and very valued
During President Jimmy Carter’s time in office, the federal pesticide act went through further narrowing. Pesticide manufacturers and distributors were not glad about this; hence stock was traded off to other shores.
President Carter was against the export of banned pesticides from the US to third world countries. However he had a country to run and also was losing his popularity.
Invite change, small steps giant leap for mankind
Ace Infiniti along with agriculturist Anthony Singh and food evangelist Param Natarajan have done some extensive research to bring to our patrons the reality of what we consume.
Do we know what we are feeding ourselves with?
Have we negotiated hunger with leisurely demise?
Preserves
Vegetables and fruits cultivated for huge preserve companies are often are taken for production much later, subject to the availability of their processing facilities. Hence the produce is either intoxicated with storage agents or get inferior when it is ready to move to processing. The process of booking and shipment is delayed long enough to lead a stench.
Iodised salt causes an overdose in iodine leading to thyroid and uric acid issues.
He said it with arsenic – Ruskin Bond excerpts from Uncles and Aunts
Meat, Fish & Dairy
Chicken
Chicken is the most consumed and loved meat, its said to be safe for consumption since it is classified under white meat.
The caging system
The chicken farmers follow a battery cage system or multi peer cage system hence the birds are trained not to move. Water and feed are auto processed into the cage.
The cocktail
To increase body weight, the chicken is allowed to consume appetizer stimulants with components of arsenic and strychnine. These chemicals were also a part of the banned tonic in the 80s for kids to increase appetite by Bayer.
The broiler chicken goes through 3 cycles of induced chemicals. At the start, they are given antibiotics then a starter mash and a finisher mash. The finisher mash weans off the chemicals, however nobody certifies if the finisher mash has been administered.
With sparse resources the farmer is hardly educated on the usage, duration and measure of antibiotics specified to their livestock.
Fish
Fresh water fish are carnivorous, the ROHU and Cutela for example. They are fed with the waste of chicken or chicken scraps. They are also administered with growth stimulators and disease disruptors. This is done by adding them into the water, increasing the weight and faster growth in a shorter period of time.
Salt has been prescribed for preservation of fish through the centuries. Yet, today ammonia is a choice refrigerant for modern environmentally friendly refrigeration systems across the fishery cold chain. From catch to consumer, ammonia refrigeration is used in the production of ice, to refrigerate seawater, refrigerate compartments and to cool cold stores, ensuring food safety, shelf life and appearance.
Meat & Dairy
A common controversy in the dairy and meat processing industry has been the use of synthetic growth hormones to promote either higher milk production or bigger, faster-maturing animals for meat.
The economics of food is high but the education is nought
Vegetables and fruits are usually cold stored before it is out to the consumer.
Offseason fruits and vegetables usually arrive a month later from cold storage since they are stored at pre-ripened stage and ripened artificially.
Mangos are induced with calcium carbide. Calcium Carbide usually when exposed to moisture forms acetylene gas ripening them. These chemicals are cancer causing or knocks you cold before surgery.
Bananas are the most consumed and most economical fruit. It is gassed with ethylene for ripening. Ethylene is used for making one unconscious before a surgical procedure and also a cancer causing chemical.
Grapes is administered with Metacine, Copper Oxichloride, Copper Sulphate, Dythyne and N45 which is directly applied to the fruit.
Fungicides causes copper and sulphur poisoning,
Underground, Green house & Leafy Vegetables
Green house vegetables were found to have a difference in taste and texture when exposed to ultra violet rays than the natural habitat.
Underground vegetables use Benzene Hexachloride (BHC) which has replaced by the widely used Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). BHC is more volatile than DDT, BHC has a faster but less protracted action upon insects. BHC causes nervous and liver disorders.
Leafy vegetables are sprayed with chloro phosphorus again a health hazard.
Rice, Pulses & Wheat
Polished rice and pulses cause a dietary deficiency disease called Beriberi. Beriberi is caused due to the lack of thiamine or vitamin B.
Endosulphan is still used in paddy though a controversial pesticide. Though partially banned the use is wide in rice cultivation. Endosulphan is used to avert an bug called “paddy stem borer”. Endosulphan is an endocrine disruptor and a bioaccumulation.
The wheat in Punjab is sprayed with Chlorpyrifos, Carbonyl sulfide and Imidacloprid to ward away aphids (pests). The induced chemicals are the source for liver and thyroid concerns.
Electromagnetism
It’s long been disputed the effect of the Induction stove, Microwave oven and Cellular phones.
All run on electromagnetic force, when exposed to electromagnetic force the polarisation of the body is affected.
Polarity is the life energy within one’s self. Polarity also relates to the laws of nature, like attraction, union of the opposites through a balanced mid-point. The body is an energy system of positive, negative and neuter poles and currents of energy flow thru them. Life energy is also referred to as prana or chi.
What now?
Pesticide company usually recommend a last spray to consumption is usually 20 to 30 days. To detect this, one would see flies and insects around the fruit or vegetables. This usually means weaning of the strength of the pesticide has started.
Food is becoming more toxic and health hazardous in the country. Systematic education should be introduced to the farmers on the effects, hazards and measure on the usage of pesticides.
Monitoring agencies should become stronger and tests to determine “fitness to consume”.
Strike a happy medium or middle path. Be aware of the hazards.
We are what we eat, the food that we consume will decide our quality of life. So, start eating right today.