Kermit Life

Business gymnasts tell us that things containing palm oil are all bad. ICMR and medical experts rubbish this and call it vilification. What really is God's truth?

- RAJEEV NARAYAN

"There are moments in life you miss some things so much you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them." - Anonymous

I might as well be a hermit. Or a Kermit. For what's life without its little pleasures to make this wicked existence worthwhile? Me, I may soon be without my Britannia bread, a loaf that has pampered my taste-buds from infancy to childhood to adolescence to youth to middle age and to near Senior Citizen status. What's wrong with Britannia bread? Nothing. It is still right as rain and full of goodness-moist, tender, light, soft, springy and bursting with fiber. But it is now missing one intrinsic ingredient that could decrease its shelf-life and make it a mite dearer. Price hikes and pensioners don't get along. And anything that says 'perishable' is not welcome in my senior years.

By the way, I may soon also smell different, after my bar of bath soap dissolves and disappears down the shower drain with one final burst of froth, along with all my 'paap' (sins). I may then switch to more pocket-friendly brands like Lifebuoy, Hamam or Santoor. That's because soaps and detergents may also cost more if the same intrinsic ingredient found in bread and much else-palm oil-is removed from their genetic makeup.

What's cooking? Well, business gymnasts tell us things containing this oil are all bad. But ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and NIN (National Institute of Nutrition) rubbish these statements, calling them part of a carefully orchestrated vilification campaign. What is God's truth; what is happening? After all, a majority of us have lived on slopes made slippery by this same oil, and growing up was fun, thanks to all the eating, bathing, washing and skating. This is a counter-intuitive agenda that has left many wondering just what forces are at play.

Business-Tickling Truths