<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5804ebc0dd089564488b45b7-1328/zopf bread.jpg" alt="Zopf Bread" data-mce-source="distelfliege / Flickr" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/distelfliege/26887245673/" /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/distelfliege/26887245673/">distelfliege / Flickr</a>Zopf is common in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.</div></div></div>Bread has been a staple food around the world for centuries.But the soft sandwich bread that's common in the US isn't what's served in many other countries.The infographic below, created by <a href="https://travelblog.expedia.ca/a-z-breads-around-world/">Expedia</a>, highlights breads from 27 different countries.There's chapati (similar to flatbread) in India, knackerbrod (a dry cracker) in Sweden, and soda bread in Ireland.Keep scrolling to see other forms of the carb.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5804ebc0dd089564488b45b8/breads around the world infographic.png" alt="Breads Around the World Infographic" data-mce-source="Expedia" data-link="https://travelblog.expedia.ca/a-z-breads-around-world/" /><a href="https://travelblog.expedia.ca/a-z-breads-around-world/">Expedia</a></div></div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/couple--practical-quitting-jobs-travel-2016-10">This couple takes a more practical approach to the "quit your job to travel" ethos</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="wzdmI5NjE6EoXdayLaQtDgn1Watzsw9X" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'wzdmI5NjE6EoXdayLaQtDgn1Watzsw9X',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

How bread is eaten in 27 countries around the world

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49154879.cms" /> If you are still reading the headline in shock, then get ready for another jolt. The net worth of <keyword id="45830" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bill-Gates">Bill Gates</keyword>, if distributed to the neediest, would only be enough to hand out one-off payment of $1,736 to 15% Americans. 
 
If you still think we are kidding around, then hang on! We have some more interesting and credible information to share with you. 
 
A <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-22/what-if-the-richest-person-in-every-country-gave-all-his-money-to-the-poor-" target="_BLANK￿￿￿￿">Bloomberg</a> report, titled What If the Richest Person in Every Country Gave All Their Money to the Poor?, shares that the world won’t become a much <keyword id="808955" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="better-place">better place</keyword> even if the wealthiest give their fortunes away to the bottom billion. And they haven’t come to this conclusion just like that. In fact, they took a spattering of 42 countries with radically different demographics and economies, compared the wealthiest individuals to the percentage of the populations living in poverty, and then created the <keyword id="3079655" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Robinhood-Index">Robinhood Index</keyword>, which shows how the net worth of each country's wealthiest person is compared to the livelihood of his fellow countrymen by calculating the lump sum in dollars each person living in poverty would get if the assets of the richest citizen were liquidated and redistributed. And see what they got: 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/49154743.cms" /> The Bloomberg report further shares that <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>'s $19.2 billion net worth will amount to the smallest payout to the poor of any other country analyzed. With 30% of the country destitute, his riches would result in each poor person getting $59, enough for 118 basic meals priced at Rs 35 (50 cents) and consisting of rice, dal, two vegetables, one pickle and three chapatis. 
	<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-22/what-if-the-richest-person-in-every-country-gave-all-his-money-to-the-poor-">Read the complete report here</a>. 
	 

	Image credits: Indiatimes &amp; Bloomberg.

Guess what? Indians won’t gain much even if Ambanis, Tatas and Birlas
would give away their fortunes

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/45855645.cms" /> New <keyword id="123401" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="ideas">Ideas</keyword> don’t come easy—especially when you are thinking of starting a new business. Ever thought what’s that you lack but other successful entrepreneurs have? Brains, tacts, willingness, luck…? Many people will claim it is all of the above, and some say it is the amount of efforts one puts in that decides if they would be the creator of the next winning business idea. But we think what really differentiates successful entrepreneurs from others, is the fact that they beautifully marry common sense with simplicity to create something unique. 
 Just think about these: An iPhone would have been just an ordinary phone if <keyword id="6357934" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Steve-Jobs">Steve Jobs</keyword> wouldn’t have added touch functionality to it. Rotimatic would have been another machine, if it wouldn’t have simplified the tedious “Chapati/parantha making” task to a one-minute job. And <keyword id="6354630" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mark-Zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</keyword>’s <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> wouldn’t have been such a big hit if it wouldn’t have given people, struggling to keep up pace with their fast-paced life, a chance to stay connected with their friends and family irrespective of their geographical boundaries. 
 
Were these ideas complex? No. Did they require an extraordinary brain? No again. All these ideas were nothing but a result of ideator’s wandering minds, keen observation skills, and passion to simplify people’s lives. 
 
So, the next time when you start thinking a new business idea, remember that simplicity and common sense is the key. And if you still find yourself struggling, the nine pointers mentioned in the infographic above would be of great help. Check it out! 
 
(Image credits: www.fundersandfounders.com)

Here Is Your Key To Creating Winning Business Ideas

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/51823994.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> What's going to make your day today is a sweet effort by three <keyword id="137562" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="IITians">IITians</keyword> in subtly reproaching the societal way of finding yourself the 'right' match. 
 In their video titled 'Be Our Pondati' (Pondati means wife in Tamil), parodying singer Carly Rae Jepsen’s song - ‘Call Me Maybe’, three final-year students (Asmita Ghosh, Anukripa Elango and Krupa Varghese) enact in a rather funny way the typical Indian <keyword id="1631836" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Matrimonial-ads">matrimonial ads</keyword>. Where tall, thin and light-skinned girls who makes round chapatis is the most desirable! 
 The video was originally intended as an campus entry piece for a Sir Mix-A-Lot <keyword id="42977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parody">parody</keyword> contest. However, the lyrics and stellar performance by Krupa Varghese - the actor in the video - has left social media abuzz about the honesty and simplicity with which she has delivered cultural stereotypes. Those expressions are to die for! 
 
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ARWwmOsGZGw" width="560"></iframe> 
 
If you are in the mood to sing along with the video, let's begin! 
 
I’ve waited so long for this 
My boy’s in need of a miss 
D’you think you have what it takes 
To be his pondati? 
 
Our family’s wealthy and large 
We own 2 Mercedes cars 
Kitchen that’s state of the art 
For his pondati 
 
M. B. A., really handsome 
Joint family, amma’s chellam 
6 feet, girls go crazy 
Shoe size 10, it matters baby! 
 
[Chorus:] 
 
Hey, tall thin fair girl 
We’re bride seeking 
So here’s our number 
Just send us pictures! 
 
In no time at all 
You’ll be making babies 
So here’s our number 
Just call me maybe! 
 
Hey tall thin fair girl 
Let’s be family 
So here’s our number 
Be our pondati! 
 
Submit samples of 
Your round chapathis 
So here’s our number 
Just call me maybe! 
 
In search of a homely girl 
Who will rock my son’s world 
No Facebook. Must not wear shorts. 
Be a good pondati. 
 
Pondati can work part-time 
But must be home before five 
To make sambhar vada 
For our darling son! 
 
M. B. A., really handsome 
Joint family, amma’s chellam 
6 feet, girls go crazy 
Shoe size 10, it matters baby! 
 
[Chorus:] 
 
Hey, tall thin fair girl 
We’re bride seeking 
So here’s our number 
Just send us pictures! 
 
In no time at all 
You’ll be making babies 
So here’s our number 
Just call me maybe! 
 
Hey tall thin fair girl 
Let’s be family 
So here’s our number 
Be our pondati! 
 
Submit samples of 
Your round chapathis 
So here’s our number 
Just call me maybe! 
 
Once you come into my house 
You will have no life 
‘Cause you’ll be a wife 
You will have no, no, life 
 
Once you come into my house 
You will have no life 
‘Cause you’ll be a wife 
You will have no, no, life 
 
In no time at all 
You’ll be making babies 
So here’s our number 
Just call me maybe! 
 
Hey tall thin fair girl 
Let’s be family 
So here’s our number 
Be our pondati! 
 
Submit samples of 
Your round chapathis 
So here’s our number 
Just call me maybe! 
 
Once you come into my house 
You will have no life 
‘Cause you’ll be a wife 
You will have no, no, life 
 
Once you come into my house 
You will have no life 
‘Cause you’ll be a wife 
 
Just call me, maybe!

This Hilarious Video by 3 IITians perfectly sums up The Biggest Problem with our Indian Matrimonial Ads

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375258.cms" /> India has emerged as the world’s fastest growing economy. However, Asia’s third largest economy just ranked 97th among 118 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) released by the <keyword id="108578" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Food-Policy-Research-Institute">International Food Policy Research Institute</keyword> (<keyword id="6557928" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ifpri">IFPRI</keyword>). This puts the country behind even <keyword id="6354759" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword>, <keyword id="41896" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iran">Iran</keyword>, <keyword id="6355112" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iraq">Iraq</keyword>, and <keyword id="6354767" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nigeria">Nigeria</keyword> in the hunger map. 
 
India’s policy addressing hunger and malnutrition in all age groups has a feast of questions and a famine of answers. India’s hunger, being worse than any sub-Saharan country, needs crisis management and a long term vision. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">ALSO READ: Excise duty in cigarette hiked. Tobacco farmers in India are struggling to make ends meet</a> 
 Be it <keyword id="4227644" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="manohar-das">Manohar Das</keyword> of <keyword id="4227647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tewri">Tewri</keyword> village in <keyword id="6360371" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jharkhand">Jharkhand</keyword>, who works in hundred days of wage-employment or <keyword id="4227646" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="shib-baksha">Shib Baksha</keyword> of <keyword id="4227645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="amlasol">Amlasol</keyword> village in <keyword id="61773" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Midnapore">West Midnapore</keyword> district of <keyword id="6357783" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Bengal">West Bengal</keyword>, who works as contract labour at nearby village, the thin line that connects them is the ignorance about ‘<keyword id="2209492" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi-Sarkar">Modi Sarkar</keyword>’. The only thing they understand by the government is getting staples at Rs 2/kg and free goodies. However, staples alone can’t fulfill nutritional needs, as a result they end up with stunted growth and other diseases. Not everyone is as lucky as them. Their neighbours, unable to procure <keyword id="49514" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bpl">BPL</keyword> (below poverty level) identity cards and Ration Cards aren’t entitled to these basic facilities and have to starve most of the days. Only feast they can think of is ant eggs roast during the scorching summer months. 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375262.cms" /> 
 
 
India’s overall GDP growth is expected to end at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">7.1% this financial year</a>, as compared to 4.6% two years back. While food still counts as the basic requirement of human existence, India is a country that not only produces enough, but ironically, there is never enough for its ever growing population to eat. Funnily, while millions go hungry, for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">India storage of surplus food</a> has always been a problem. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375282.cms" /> 
 
India’s hunger-management disaster 
While development in many sectors is acknowledged, what is lesser known is that India has also made considerable progress on many social fronts, such as fertility decline, expansion of schooling and bridging the gender gap in education, especially at the primary and lower secondary levels. However, there is one <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">area of human development</a>, where India has been a disaster: tackling hunger and malnutrition. 
 
Child malnutrition rates in India are extraordinarily high- among the highest in the world, with nearly one-half of all children under 3 years of age being either underweight or stunted. Indeed, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Excise-duty-in-cigarette-hiked-Tobacco-farmers-in-india-are-struggling-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/56872791.cms">child malnutrition rates </a>are higher in India than in many countries of sub-Saharan <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword>, even though income levels are significantly higher and levels of infant and child mortality are lower in India. 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375269.cms" /> 
 
 
Pediatric malnutrition Prevalence of child malnutrition in India has remained stubbornly high even after nearly a half-century of respectable agricultural productivity growth and two decades of post-reform economic growth and prosperity in the country. Adding more support to the view that child malnutrition is weakly correlated with income is the finding that among children of mothers with 10 or more years of schooling as well as mothers from the top income quintile, around one-quarter are underweight. Even in a relatively prosperous and dynamic state like <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, child malnutrition rates have been stagnant over the past decade. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">ALSO READ: HOW INDEPAY IS MAKING RURAL INDIA CASHLESS</a> 
 The <keyword id="121300" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Family-Health-Survey">National Family Health Survey</keyword> (NFHS) found that a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">significant number of adults</a> in India suffer from malnutrition. Almost 58 per cent of pregnant women aged 15-49 were found to be anaemic. The Global Food Security Index also revealed that Indians lack adequate quantities of iron, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">Vitamin A and protein in their diets</a>. 
 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375268.cms" /> 
“Half of the children who die before five years of age have malnutrion as a cause in their pathogenesis. If we look at proportion of weight at birth, 23 per cent of children weigh less than 2.5 kg, which is below normal. This low birth weight has its reason in the womb, which is where they are malnourished already before being born. Low birth weight increases over time and so by the time they are three-years-old, half the children are malnourished. Because of poor sanitation we have widespread <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-indepay-is-making-rural-india-cashless/articleshow/57232771.cms">faecal oral contamination</a>. Water and food sources have high degrees of contamination and it results in diarrhoea and other gastro intestinal illnesses, which increases the child mortality rate,” said renowned public health specialist and activist Dr <keyword id="43944" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binayak-Sen">Binayak Sen</keyword>. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375267.cms" /> 
 
State of famine 
In 1943, three million people died in the infamous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">Bengal famine</a>. There was no shortage of grain in <keyword id="6356978" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengal">Bengal</keyword> at that time, yet people had nothing to eat. Interpreting the Famine of 1943,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841"> Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen </a>suggested that the reason for it was the breakdown of the social arrangement in distributing food. To put the matter in a world context, every three seconds somewhere around the world, a child dies of causes related to avoidable malnutrition. "In those three seconds, the world armaments industry spends 120,000 USD in order to keep the system responsible safely in place,” Binayak Sen told <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375266.cms" /> 
 
Ignorant policies that do the most harm Skyrocketing prices of daily food items spell more woe for the people, who are already paying "too much" to survive. International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (<keyword id="1367836" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IFAD">IFAD</keyword>) Rural Poverty Report-2011 states, “While international food prices have declined since mid-2008, they are still substantially higher than prior to the price surge, and they are likely to remain at 2010 levels or higher for the next decade.” The report has suggested that about 100 million of world’s rural and urban people have to remain hungry. 
 “It will remain high, the era of cheap food is over," said <keyword id="669006" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Richard-Mahapatra">Richard Mahapatra</keyword>, managing editor of Down to <keyword id="6359982" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth">Earth</keyword>. "This is because productivity of agriculture is low and thus impacts production. This is the supply side issue. Also the rainfed areas that contribute a signifcant amount of foodgrain is not getting the policy focus. Even though the new second Green <keyword id="24385" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="revolution">Revolution</keyword> is aimed at that, it seems to be flawed. Now, the demand side. Demand is increasing but we don't have robust distribution mechanism. So, it creates further price rise. Also, there is huge diversion of agricultural lands to other uses. Combined with low productivity, less lands and absence of distribution mechanism, we are set for high price rise.” 
 Due to the PDS (<keyword id="89442" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Public-distribution-system">Public Distribution System</keyword>) and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">public wage programmes</a> starvation deaths have definitely come down, he contended. Often we call cheap food grain programmes as populist. They are indeed popular as poor find them useful and their starvation is avoided with this entitlement. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57375263.cms" /> 
 
Adult malnutrition 
“Roughly 33-35 per cent of the entire Indian population have a BMI below 18.5, which is indicative of calorie malnutrition. They aren't getting enough food to eat. More than one-third of India is on a chronic basis not getting proper food to eat. Low BMI is also restricting people’s immunity,” said Binayak Sen. 
 “Without addressing nutritional status, there can be no adequate development. Food Security Act does nothing for betterment of nutritional status of the poeple as such. <keyword id="250148" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Bill">The Bill</keyword> is like 'something is better than nothing'. Five kilos of wheat per person per month make two chapattis per day. With two chapatis the nutritional question isn’t answered. This terrible nutritional deficit is yielding polarization in society,” he added. 
 
Urban malnutrition 
In villages, people stay in close bond with each other, who can be approached for help in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">times of crisis</a>. Migrating people in cities start living in slums and ghettos, where they have to live with people unknown and untrustworthy. Moreover, people fight here to make ends meet, which actually leads to self-centric attitude. 
 
Red corridor hunger 
“People who are in chronic situation and stable famine are able to withstand only because of their access to natural resources like land, water and forest," opined Binayak Sen. "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841">Access to this resources was unrestricted</a>. Designating the common properties as commodities that can be owned by corporates is restricting poeple’s right to access and in a way right to live. Any form of resistance is labelled as insurgency. First they try civil ways and then take recourse in military measures. People have to confront. Application of eminent domain needs to be questioned. Under 5th schedule, govt has to ensure people’s access to natural resources but there is not a single instances of government intervening.” 
 
“They have mapped it as red corridor but poeple’s deprivation hasn't been mapped yet," said Sen. 
 
"We need to relook at the arm forces and UAPA laws. Whole discourse in election has become restricted to attitudes to development. Development is about accessing resources. Nobody is saying there are vital issues involved. What is going to happen to the poeple whose right has been denied? State will not be thwarted in its course. There needs to be a contestaion in the level of people. They need to raise the issue.” 
 
Business Insider’s Take 
Agriculture contributes around 16 per cent to<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/author_articles_all.cms?query=%22Suchayan%20Mandal%22&amp;author=Suchayan-Mandal-479239841"> India’s GDP</a>; it is coming down over the years. But still 60 per cent people depend on this. What does this mean? Is it that it is reliable as a source of livelihood or people don't have any other source thus depend on agriculture? In both the cases, shifting people out of agriculture is going to be a tough challenge. Industries or the service sectors have their own limitation and can't absorb such a huge number of people. Strategically, this will be a blunder as we kill out food self-sufficiency.

BI Investigation: India’s food nightmare is killing millions of
children across the country every day

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46440815.cms" /> There is variation, colour, and uniqueness in <keyword id="6355784" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="death">death</keyword> that indoor pollution brings with it. Things that you have fallen in love with and think you cannot live without can sometimes enter your <keyword id="6360041" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="life">life</keyword> to take it… and this isn’t a hyperbole. Look at perfumes, hair sprays, furniture polish, glues, air fresheners, moth repellents, wood preservatives synthetic materials for building and furnishing and you’ll know what I am talking about. Then there is use of chemical products, pesticides, and household care products that help you transform your home into a swachch home but certainly not a safe home. These are all modern day symbols of the immortal art of Da Vinci as our print and AV ads would want us to believe, but they inch us closer to death in more than one way. 
 You taste, touch, or inhale and you’ll know what I mean when I call them the <keyword id="2750177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Da-Vinci-of-death">Da Vinci of death</keyword>. Even the smoke from biofuels emits the four dreaded pollutants like the particulates, carbon monoxide, polycyclic organic matter, and formaldehyde… and these aren’t innocent spirals of smoke lending that unique flavour to chapatis and dal. With architects now recommending relatively airtight houses even in India (as we have begun to afford air conditioners and radiators etc) the pollutant level is bound to increase because of the resultant reduction in ventilation. 
 
As I sat mulling over these grim facts, my thoughts decided to play a little game on me and asked, ‘Any favourite pollutions that you think should be flogged?’ 
 
Without wasting a moment, I said, ‘Noise pollution. Political pollution. Indoor pollution.’ 
 
‘Aha!’ said my thoughts, ‘so you don’t think outdoor pollution is as bad as the three you’ve mentioned.’ 
 
‘I didn’t say that, did I?’ I said, ‘but I must admit that indoor pollution can induce infections, initiate lung cancer, and even pulmonary diseases like asthma.’ My thoughts then asked me to choose five Bollywood icons and guess how they would react to this simple question: ‘Do you fear indoor pollution?’ 
 
So, there I was sitting on an inexpensive chair in my sparsely decorated home and zipping over to people like Alia Bhatt, Amjad Khan or Gabbar, Sunny Leone, SRK, and Amitabh Bachchan to hear the famous actors say something in their own way. 
 
Well, Alia Bhatt asked me to repeat the question and then clapped her hands and said, ‘I don’t fear anything but do send me an invite for the event.’ 
 
‘Event?’ I asked, confused. 
 
‘Well yes, you did mention pollution and indoor… remember?’ said Alia, cocking her head, smiling, and adding, ‘I think you’re talking about an indoor event and if it is like that AIB Roast, it is going to be fun. Such events must be purified by smiles.’ Well, so that was a rather short interview with Alia and she wasn’t really wrong… we need to begin with a confident smile before we take any action against indoor pollution. Right? 
 
Gabbar was in his elements when I met and simply walked up and down the room before asking, ‘Kitne pollution hain?’ 
 
I said, ‘Sardar, ek… sirf indoor pollution hai.’ 
 
‘Toh fir darr kaisa?’ Gabbar roared, ‘mera naam le lo aur phir sau saal tak pollushun kuch nahin karega!’ 
 
I’m sure what Gabbar was really trying to tell me was that no pollutant ever exists without another killer instinct being born. Just search for this solution and indoor pollution will be easy to counter. 
 
I found myself with Sunny Leone and she just fluttered her eye-lids and coo-ed, ‘Well, lots of women call me an indoor pollution, and I know I’m deadly. Fear means nothing if you have your own action plan.’ 
 
That’s it… I murmured and thanked her because she had clearly told me that only a well-defined and technologically sound action plan would help. 
 
So, I then hopped over to SRK who just ‘humph-ed and hurr-ed! me aside and then taking off his shirt to show me some flabby abs, said, ‘I don’t fear no one. Indoor or outdoor. Poll or no poll. I shun them all. I have to rush to make another flop… bye!’ Well, I interpret this scurried answer as a warning that indoor pollution isn’t something that must be allowed to stay on and cause all those headaches, dry eyes, nasal congestion bouts, nausea, and fatigue… just act fast! Speed is of essence. Obviously then, indoor pollution must not be your guest for life… it could be devastating indeed! 
 
When I asked Sr Bachchan the same question, he replied, ‘Babu ji would have quoted these lines from one of his poems.’ And then he recited two lines before leaving me with my thoughts. 
 
ऐसा सुनता, उस पार, प्रिये, 
ये साधन भी छिन जाएँगे; 
तब मानव की चेतनता का 
आधार न जाने क्या होगा! 
इस पार, प्रिये मधु है तुम हो, 
उस पार न जाने क्या होगा! 
 
And Amitabh too had hit the nail in his own special way… and the lines did seem to talk so favourably about the unexpected losses on the other side, that is, if you crossed over to times of severe indoor pollution. The beauty of a great poem is that it interprets every situation the best way. 
 
So yes, indoor pollution is indeed something that even the Bollywood icons acknowledged in a different manner… and we ordinary mortals must not really overlook the hazards that it poses. 
 
We need to be aware of the issues surrounding indoor pollution… and even other forms of pollution, of course. I mention the indoor form because most of us tend to spend a lot of time indoors and so cannot afford to let it destroy our lives. And, by the way, did I mention that pollutants exist in micron sizes so you cannot actually pick them up and put them in a recycle bag. These micro-sized monsters need specialised busters… though you can reduce your exposure to pollutants if you know what to do in certain cases. 
 
It will be helpful to know that broken CFLs releases mercury, a neurotoxin in the air… so the best action is to simply open the windows and let fresh air come and clear the environment. 
 
Your gadgets have plastic parts… and plastics made with polyvinyl chloride emit phthalates that may lead to hormonal abnormalities and reproductive problems. Plastics also release polybrominated diphenyl ethers, which are flame-retardant chemicals known to cause neurobehavioral changes. So what does one do? Simple. Encourage adequate ventilation until the chemical odour goes away. Be regular in vacuuming around computers, printers, and televisions. 
 
Even glues and adhesives aren’t as virtuous as they seem with their relationship with acetone or methyl ethyl ketone that irritates eyes and affects the nervous system. Rubber cement has n-hexane, a neurotoxin and adhesives are known to have toxic formaldehyde. The secret of escaping these hazards is to encourage a fair degree of ventilation in the house. 
 
Kitchen with their platoon of stoves, heaters, and fireplaces can have an abundance of carbon monoxide that can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and even death in the absence of proper ventilation. Nitrogen dioxides and other particulates, doctors say, can cause respiratory disorders and inflammation of the eyes, nose, and throat. 
 
Isn’t all this serious enough? Isn’t it time to realise that pollution is much more than just exhaust fumes on busy traffic congested roads. It is right there inside a home that you have been thinking of as a safe haven all this while. Pollution isn’t just in the Ganges or existing only as garbage piles on the slopes of pristine mountains—it is right under your nose inside your house. Yes, pollution is surely transforming this world into a global garbage can, but if you do not allow your awareness instincts to act right, your home will be a stinking source of illness and disease even before any other form of pollution overwhelms existence. Therefore, it is time to sit up and say: indoor pollution is a reality and I want our think-tanks to serve us a solution. Prevent your home from becoming a Da Vinci of death!

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