Monday, October 12, 2015

Yippe ! Saw a deer in my backyard today!!!!

Today, at 7.30am, October 12th, 2015, Thanksgiving day, I took my cat to the backyard for it's daily walk. I was amazed  to see a magnificent brown deer with long antlers, walking slowly on the path, just behind my back fence!
I could not believe my eyes! I ran indoors to get my camera but it had gone when I returned. I hopped over my fence, walked in the ravine, hoping to find it but it was gone.
In the last 9 years that I have lived here, this is  the first time ever, that,I have seen a deer so close to my home. I live in East York, a pretty busy area, and to spot a deer here, was simply amazing! I carried a camera while walking the cat for a couple of days after this sighting and then stopped.

A couple of years ago, I had seen a flock of deer in the Don Valley ravine, from the Millwood bridge. Even that day, I din't have a camera!
This is one of the few times, I really regretted not owning a mobile phone!

I hope my  neighbours were as lucky as me and  saw this beautiful deer and felt the same joy as me, today ! But it's unlikely that any neighbour was up so early and out in the backyard, on a long weekend holiday, like me.

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October 20th 2015, between 8.15 and 8.30pm: Saw a deer again! Maybe same deer. Same backyard, but it was a  few feet off the path; it was on the slopey bit of the valley above the DVP. It's silhouette looked great in the dark! The antlers and profile of it's body  with head bent(grazing I suppose) in the dark looked amazing.
Once again, I dashed in for my camera and it was gone by the time I ran back! It was my cat which sensed it at first from a distance of almost 150 feet! I don't know if it heard it or smelt it but it stalked toward the deer and I saw it when I was about 50 feet from it! From now on, I am going to carry my camera all the time, as one does not know when the deer will come by again.
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December 2016: My neighbour saw in the trail behind our homes,  a family of four deer this winter i.e. December 2016! He has placed a bucket of corn and a salt lick for the deer and apparently the deer family visit his backyard for these treats!
Once gain, I cannot express how thrilled I am but these visits of the creatures of the wild to my home!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Uses of my cat

I saw a lovely book for kids called 41 uses of my cat when I visited the Cat hospital.
It inspired me to note down the uses of my cat here. Many of the uses of my cat mirror the uses of the cat in the book!


I love photographing my cat and get hours of joy, photographing it, loading it on FB and getting compliments from those who fall in love with my cat.


 I love the fact that my cat comes running down the stairs to greet me as I unlock and enter my home .


I love the way it follows me around, love the way it sits right in my path and I have to ask it to move or push it out of the way. I love that it rolls on it's back and looks up at me in cute positions!


I can spend hours watching it sleep, sprawled in various positions. I feel like photographing it's every single posture and position. The sound of it's eating, a gentle sound of crunching food pellets on the dish is musical. It's gentle snore is a joy and the sound of lapping up water is something I can listen to without ever getting bored. I like to hear the sound of it's steps on the creaky wood floors. I enjoy it's baby like mews when it's trying to get me to take it outside.


Other people talk to us about their kids and their kids achievements and doings. Since we don't have any,  our cat becomes 'the' topic of conversation, when we talk!

 I talk to it when my husband's out. Talking to it banishes any loneliness I may ever have had. I love shouting(pretend-angry only) at it each time it mews, asking me to take it out.
The conversation with my cat runs something like this
Mew
No. I am not taking you out.
Mew
No. It's cold outside.
Mew.
I told you . it's cold outside. I am NOT-TAKING-YOU-OUT.
Mew
How many times to tell you? I am not taking you out ma-ma. It's so cold., see. You will freeze.
Mew
Let me have my tea first. Then I will take you out.
Mew.
After 5 minutes I will take you OUT. WAITTTA!
pause.
Mew
Wait . I have to wear my shoes.
Mew.
Ok. come let's go.


I love it's mischievous look when I play with it. When it chases after the ball I throw, when it's playing with the small catnip sack it has, when it's running and I am chasing it.


I love it when it comes, sits on my tummy, kneads my neck. I love the fact that it's so 'particular'! By particular, I mean that it mews and does not jump on the bed unless I signal. It does not sit on me until I stroke it. It wants me to signal and stroke. Though it's feeling impatient, it waits until I signal and stroke!


I love the way it sits on the window and gazes at me when I am in the washroom. I love it's sitting outside the shower, waiting for me to come out or just looking in.
I love the way it mews and wakes me to take it out on days I wake late. I love it's persistence. I may not oblige a human, but I will certainly, see that all my cat's wishes come true!


I love when it sits on the table, waiting for me to finish my breakfast. It tries to get into my cereal and sometimes licks the bowl clean when I am done.
I adore it when it thinks it's smarter or faster than me and tries to escape from it's leash and into our neighbour's garden. I am tense but also enjoy the chase until I have found it and brought it back! It has hidden under my neighbour's deck and I have had to ask my neighbour to hose his deck, so that it comes out!


I enjoy watching it try to catch the butterflies and moths in the garden, chase the squirrels and birds. I love the way it lies on the grass and basks in the sunlight with eyes closed. I enjoy seeing it eat the grass.
I do feel a teeny bit tense when it's vomiting the grass it's eaten or the hairballs but I can deal with it.
Though I don't enjoy my cat biting me when I try to bring it back from the garden into the house, I do enjoy relating it to my friends!
I am not happy that it has scratched  my new sofa's upholstery  to get my attention; but I am not angry either.
I am not happy about the 200$ vet bill but I am not 'unhappy' either.
Animals are the only things which can get away by hurting me or costing me ! Animals just don't make me angry, whatever they do. But humans better watch out!

I have fantasized with the idea that I want to bring up someone, without that someone experiencing a single bit of unhappiness; someone's whose every single desire I want to fulfil; someone who will be happy every single moment of their life and someone who will never experience the slightest bit of distress for the smallest moment of life. But this is an impossible dream...as the Buddha's parents and all parents discovered. But I have come closest to reaching this fantasy of mine with my cat. It has had the least bits of distress in life; I try to fulfil every wish of it. I don't ever try to train it to do tricks as that means making it learn and learning is a bit painful(if we have to hold back the treats it wants until it does what it's supposed to)
We can never make our kids 100% happy as we need to discipline them and make them learn to accept the unpleasant realities of life. But I think, we can give 100% happiness to our pets, like my cat. By giving in to all their demands and not making any demand on them. I am able to fulfil my fantasy of trying to make one creature have all it's wishes come true in this world and not make any demands on it. I want this creature to not experience a single negative emotion such as fear, anxiety sadness, anger, etc. I want it to be happy and content and trusting of everyone all the time. I want it to experience all the joyful emotions of the world...joy, thrill of the chase, excitement, physical pleasures such as being stroked, play, etc. It gives me joy, that it is happy.









Sunday, October 4, 2015

Flea comb for children and people with lice problem

I have had my cat now for 5-6 years and for the first time he got fleas recently. I suppose he got it from the garden where I walk him on a leash(I never let him roam outside alone). The vet (from The cat hospital, at Willowdale and Steels, a lovely lady) said that, the fleas born of eggs  that have fallen off the other cats who roamed in our garden would have jumped on to mine as it walked. I was amazed that the baby fleas can remain alive and wait without food  aka cat-blood until by random chance a cat walks by and they jump on it!
At first, we  combed him with a flea comb loaned to us (by the lady who cuts his nails) and caught & killed many of them but he still continued to scratch. So we took him to the vet. She put a drop called Revolution on the top of it's head(Apparently, top of head is the only place, the cats cannot reach and so the fleas sit there) and said that it would be absorbed through the skin into the blood stream and the fleas would die when they sucked the blood. It worked! We still have to put the drops for two more months and in summer for three months to take care of the eggs which have fallen off the cat all over the house and will hatch over the next few months.

This is the first time I have seen this flea comb and I loved it! It's metal and the teeth are real close. I ran it over my own head and all my dandruff was removed! The fleas on my cat are as small or smaller than the lice on people's hair and so I recommend using this comb if you or your kids have a lice problem.  This flea comb's amazing for removing lice and dandruff!

In India, I have seen three combs for lice...one looks like a typical comb, made of plastic but the teeth are so close that it gets the lice out. The other too is plastic, short, has teeth on two sides. As it's the colour of ivory, it's easy to spot the lice. The brown, black and red combs need  sharper eyes to spot the lice. The third is similar to the second one except that it's made of wood! I appreciate the person who  worked on carving the wood but I find the length of the teeth to be less than one cm in length, so one cant reach the scalp if the hair is thick and you dont get the 'feeling of being combed'. The teeth dont touch your scalp at all and I dont like that. The  Canadian flea combs will last for years because they are made of metal; the Indian lice combs made of plastic or wood will not last long in Canada as the dryness in winter makes the wood brittle and the wooden comb's teeth  break off  after a few months or years. The plastic combs teeth break off with use as they are weak or the hair is too thick, etc.

So if you have lice or dandruff , go to your pet shop or walmart and get a flea comb. It works wonders! I got a Whal  company's flea comb and I was amazed that this company which produces hair products for people are making combs for pets too!
Today, October 5th, I saw online on Indian amazon that the metal flea combs sold in pet shops in Canada are sold as lice combs already in India! So I have said nothing new in this write-up but it was a discovery to me!

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Leaside Public Library...problems with the computer when checking out

This piece would be of interest only to people using the Leaside branch of the Toronto Public library in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I visited this library for the first time today (October 3rd 2015) and had  many problems checking the borrowed books out. I want to know if others had the same problem as me.
The first time I tried to self-check out 8 books, the computer screen showed 9 books! I had to wait for the librarian to help me out and was forced to keep other patrons waiting to check out, which was embarassing.
The librarian checked my 8 books out the second time and when I tried to exit the library there was a beep at the door, indicating that one or more books had not been properly checked out! Even though the printout said I had checked out all.
I went back a third time and another librarian checked out the same books again for me and I passed through the gates without any problem. But now, at home, when I was checking my account online, my account says I have borrowed 9 books out today, though I have checked out only 8!
Now I have to return to this library again to tell them I have not borrowed this 9th book which is showing up on my account ! I hope they are able to solve this issue.
My guess is that the sensors in the computers are supersensitive and scan books (and check out into the account of whoever is checking out at that point in time)  even if the books are at a distance. Or, there is something seriously wrong with their computers.

I hope they fix this glitch and I really hope they accept that I checked out 8 books and not 9.
I have sent an email reporting this problem, today October 4th.


Today, October 5th I checked online and the TPL has rectified the issue without me having to call them or follow up after my email. Thanks TPL staff! I am grateful. And I hope those darned computers are fixed! I understand it's not the librarian's error but the errors are caused by the errant sensors of the computers


Friday, October 2, 2015

Middle class parents of urban India

I am watching my peers, with children who are now young adults. Most of my peers are having fairly good relationships with their children. A few are struggling with various conflicts. Watching the birth and growth of these kids who are now adults, I am able to retrospectively see the good and bad parenting techniques of my friends and relatives.
Based on these observations, I am writing these tips below for parents, especially parents of children in urban middle class India .
 
 


Allow and encourage your children to do chores around the house. When the kids are 2-6 years of age, or even older, they love to help their parents by doing chores around the house. It's play for them or 'pretend play' and they enjoy it. I saw many folks in my circle, stop the kids form helping them with various comments. A lady from a village, would get annoyed when her granddaughter aged one or two, took the broom to sweep; this old lady would grab it from the infant and put it away. She simply did not recognize or appreciate the child's need for pretend play. Others, would laugh at the child, enjoy it's play but did not treat the sweeping(or whatever activity) with the grave respect the child might have rejoiced in. If these  adults  had responded to the child's pretend play with seriousness and thanked the child, the child would have been thrilled that it's 'help' was useful and appreciated by the adult.




Once the children start school, most of my folks, insisted that their children focus on studies. Many of them did not allow the child to do chores at home, even simple chores, which the child had the capacity to do, without risk. Asking a 7 year old to cut vegetables may be a risk as he  may cut himself; but the 7 year old can surely do a lot of other chores, which have many benefits, a few of which are: doing chores keeps the child engaged, makes the child proud to be able to contribute, increases the child's self-confidence  improves the child's skills such as fine and gross motor skills, planning ability, motor speed, gives the adult time to do other things, etc.

 Most of these middle class children i.e. my peers' children grew up, without doing any chores at home and now many don't even know how to do certain simple chores! I would call  them lazy as they expect their mother to do the chores, though they are adults now! The boys/men expect their moms to do their laundry and cooking till they get married and then expect their wives to do the same, after marriage. When I asked my friends to encourage their kids do the chores, the standard reply to me by their parents was, 'They know to do it;  they can do it later. Now let them study'. The reason why my peers  insisted to me that their kids know is to ensure that  I don't think their kids are stupid.  Some mothers said, "They have to do these chores  when they are married; let them enjoy now".


It saddens me to see my friends, whose kids take their mothers for granted, expect or even demand their mothers to do their cooking, laundry, clean their rooms or iron their clothes. Some even yell and scream at their mothers if the mothers don't do it.


I have also seen that parents in India (and Indian parents in USA & Canada) do all the household work themselves, including the ones like paying bills, buying groceries. They don't involve the children, even if they are now young adults or late teens. for example, I have a friend in India, whose son is 20 and studying his bachelors degree. My friend is busy yet he runs around doing things like banking, paying tax,  paying bills such as electricity bills or running to the company to ask them to fix something, placing order for cooking gas, etc. which his son could do. Yet, he never asks his son and sometimes insists his wife do it, though his son is free or watching TV or on his computer! I simply cannot understand this degree of over-protection or is it love? Why does he ask his busy wife to go to the shop or bank, instead of asking his 20 year old son who is watching TV? I have seen this in many households. I can sort of understand, not asking a young girl in Bangalore, as stepping out these days is such a pain, especially for young women. But not asking a young man, who is idling at home and asking a busy housewife to do these chores...it makes no sense to me!
Why should children of the house be involved in these chores from as early as possible?
 (1)They get to be contributing members of the family.
 (2)They learn about responsibility
(3)It makes them learn a lot...know where the money goes; budgeting; know the cost of things and understand inflation, economy, changing prices and why prices change(if they ever think),
 (4)they learn 'worldly' knowledge, which does not come from books but by experience. they learn where the shop/agency is; they learn the process; they learn how to do the paperwork; they learn the art of time management and planning; they learn social skills and people skills...for example, how to be assertive when someone jumps the queue, they learn the most efficient, cost-effective way to do something through practice.
(5)they learn about bureaucracy in India. They may even think of ways to do things better and who knows, if they ever reach a policy making level at work, they may make changes!
(6)doing these chores from young age gives them maturity. I  have seen 60 year old fathers doing the chores for their 30 year old sons who don't want to do these things as it's 'boring', 'they don't have time', 'they hate to deal with government office clerks', etc. Should their dads be doing these things until they die? When are they going to do things for themselves? When are they going to learn that doing things which are mundane, boring , painful, etc. are a part of life?


Parents in India rigidly  separate school education from daily life. They don't seem to think that their children, will understand and remember the stuff they study, if they are allowed or even made to do things daily at home and outside.
I believe that a child who does cooking and household chores and shopping and gardening and taking care of the family pet will understand the principles of biology, chemistry, physics, history and geography and everything else much better.
every task he or she does, involves science, geography, history, politics, economy or some science. Children will consolidate the information learnt in classroom much better if they have practical experience. for example, cooking involves measurement, water, boiling, cutting, use of vessels of different metals and densities. If the child is allowed to work in the kitchen, he will consolidate what he has learnt in class and the classroom learning becomes meaningful and exciting in the kitchen!
I beg my sister to allow her daughters to do some chores at home. But her argument to me is they have to study! her daughters are mid and late teen but they have not done any chores at home till now! It drives me insane, but what can I do? Apart from stop butting into her life!
Also how much can a child study without a break? doing a chore at home, would be a welcome break from mugging the notes non-stop for hours? even the neurons need a break ! they cant fire non-stop for hours! Doing chores would give the neurons time to recover!
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Teaching children manners and  smooth interpersonal interaction skills with adult relatives, friends of parents, strangers, the public.


Another thing which really bothers me is that the parents don't seem to make the necessary efforts to teach their children manners & social skills . I have observed that children, even teenagers do not say thanks, excuse me, please & sorry  in interactions. They may use these phrases with strangers or people outside the family to some extent, but never with their own parents and siblings. I am not basing this statement on one or two teenagers and children but based on my observations of many  middle-class, urban, English medium, school going children of literate parents in Bangalore. These are my speculations about the reasons:
I have noticed many are embarrassed about thanking close family or saying please and excuse me. Why should they be embarrassed to be polite is a puzzle to me! Secondly, the language may be a barrier I think. To say, thanks or excuse me or please in Kannada(or any Indian language) seems a bit more effortful than in English and people talking in local languages may feel awkward to use these phrases in English or the local language. Thirdly, many parents themselves don't use polite phrases when interacting with family. The interaction is casual and being rude or boorish is often considered 'natural' or 'funny' and even gets a few laughs .Fourthly,  I have also heard many friends say , "don't thank me' with such a vehemence, that it's really difficult to use these polite phrases with them. Fifth is the lack of use of polite phrases by rural, non-English speaking folks.  I can easily excuse the people from rural backgrounds, non-English backgrounds, lower-economic backgrounds, who don't often use these phrases. six. There is something so alien and strange about polite phrases for many Indians. I once heard an Indian who returned from  USA tell me this. "Don't you find the extreme politeness of the Americans artificial?" He is a very nice, simple, down-to-earth guy who went to USA for a couple of years from his work(he's a statistician). He simply could not be comfortable with  the American style of interaction! He found their please, sorry, excuse me, thanks, the smiling and politeness too excessive for him and he felt it was fake and not real! He believed that the rudeness and curtness of Indians genuine and the politeness of the Americans fake ;  he was at greater ease with the 'real rudeness' in India ; he felt uncomfortable with the   'fake politeness' of  Americans. Fake, by his perception at least.
I do expect, the modern school going generation, English speaking and exposed to so much of TV and movies and education to be more polite in their interactions.
 
Talking of interactions, I have observed many of my peers children, are not comfortable interacting with their grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, distant relatives, etc. The most common problems according to me are: (1)they refuse to visit their relatives houses with their parents(at time of visiting someone , they want to avoid, they say, they want to study for an exam!)(2)they greet briefly and often greet only after being prodded; they are unable to maintain a conversation or initiate a conversation with their relatives and stand around awkwardly or these days, they play with their mobiles instead of making an effort to talk to the relatives in frond of them.(3) they express no interest or curiosity, they  answer the relatives questions briefly and the conversation becomes slow, full of pauses or dead. I want parents to teach the following basic minimum to their children.
(a) Know  your relatives are on both sides of your family. Know their names, how they are related to you, what they are doing, what are their interests, when you saw them last, is there anything unique to them. (b) Be respectful when you meet, initiate greetings, initiate conversation, initiate interaction at least some of the time. Don't stand around awkwardly, responding to their talk instead of initiating.(c)Be proactive. Offer to help, ask if there is anything you can do for them, etc.(d)  A lot of families have family  politics and  family squabbles going on. Don't poison your kids against the relatives you dislike. I have seen women encouraging their children to be rude to their in-laws whom they dislike or men discouraging their children from interacting with their wife's relatives. This toxicity is unhealthy for the children. (e) Parents themselves,should make it a point, to regularly keep in touch with their close relatives and friends. I am so disappointed with one of my close relatives, who rarely visits her own parents and sister; she visits her uncles, aunts and cousins only on occasions like marriage, death, Gruhapravesha. Consequently, her children have no feelings of  affection or intimacy with anyone other than their nuclear family unit; they don't know how to or what to talk to their grandparents or aunt or cousin; they don't even know their relatives such as their parents' own uncles, aunts and cousins. They sit silently in the few functions they attend and don't mix with their age group. These kids are becoming so socially isolated and socially awkward, it's heartbreaking for me to think what their social skills and manners would be when they grow up and get into the adult world of colleges and career. This close relative's repertoire of excuses include: (1)'I am busy;(2) the kids have exams;(3) the traffic is too bad; (4)They don't come to my house, why should I go to theirs; They don't phone me, why should I phone them; (5) There is no time. What I think is that, for this relative, keeping touch with her relatives and friends is not a priority. If something is important, one can always make time; if something is not, then there is never any time.
In today's world, the number of people are more than ever before. It is so important, we all have the ability to get along with people, as people are in our faces all the time and in every place. We should learn to get along with people; be happy with them and enjoy their company. We should learn to live together in harmony as there is not enough space for each of us to live alone! If we don't have the opportunity to interact with a lot of people and a wide range of people from childhood, we don't develop the skills to deal well with people. We don't learn how to judge people accurately. We don't learn to be assertive. We don't learn to adapt to getting along with different types of people, with different types of behaviours.
I therefore urge, Indians of urban middle class, don't keep your children cocooned; get them out and they will learn to live well.
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It makes me mad to see teenagers demand so many things and tasks from their parents as if it's their right and  not say a word of thanks when their parents deliver!  I have seen Indian urban adult children demand their parents send them to expensive courses, demand expensive dresses and jewels, motorbikes and these adult 'children' sound so selfish and narcissistic to me with their demands. If this is the behaviour of  'good' children from 'decent' families, I shudder to think, how the 'bad' children from 'indecent' families would behave! Here are some real life examples. I know of a girl who scored poorly in her PUC (12th grade) and demanded to study medicine and as her marks were poor, her parents had to shell out a lot of money. She ruthlessly and relentlessly demanded they put her in medical school! Her parents took a huge loan and did put her in one and then she demanded they change her medical school ! I have seen many parents of Indian middleclass yield to their kids blackmail and demands and it's drives me crazy, that they don't put a limit to their kids behaviours and demands.
I want all parents I am referring to , to be assertive with their children and not yield to their unreasonable demands. They should clearly state to the child/adult child his or her responsibilities, tell them that they should be able to do things at their age and so do it instead of expecting them to do it for them. They should clearly state their budget and not go over the budget...whether for clothes, jewels, vehicles, college-courses, cellphones, etc. Parents should learn to draw the line. Remember, the happiness your child gets when you buy the latest cellphone he's demanding is only temporary; he has to learn to be happy without the new cellphone(or whatever); he has to learn to become happy to other means. possessing the latest cellphone would give him momentary happiness. Happiness is not a permanent state of mind and soon he will slip out of the state of happiness and want something else to propel him back to the state of happiness. Happiness does NOT come from having material goods but from an inner state of satisfaction.
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Another thing which I think Indian urban middle class parents should focus on is teaching the  children to learn about money.


 I am not really sure what is the right time to teach children about money and budgeting; I am not sure how much Indian urban parents should reveal about their income and expenses to the children, without making the children feel burdened with responsibility too much for their shoulders or making them feel guilty.
I am simply thinking aloud here.


HYPOTHETICAL FAMILY: Imagine a lecturer in a college and his wife who's also a lecturer in a college are earning a combined income  about one lakh rupees a month. They have two teenage children  in high school ; the couple  tally their expenses daily and share this information with the children .  The children get to see the expenses and have an idea of how much money is coming into the family monthly and where the money is going out. I believe this will give a lot of valuable information, knowledge to the high schoolers and they will also learn vicariously, the best ways of planning and budgeting.
I imagine these are the expenses in Bangalore
rent//food//waterbill/electricity bill/ gas bill/ petrol and bus pass/school fees/ phone bills for four//food//toileting materials//religious expenses//gifts to family members & friends for functions// savings such as life insurance,etc//loans and interest for vehicles, house building loans, etc// health expenses (now with dengue all over Bangalore, every house I know has been affected!)
If the family, is open about their income and expenses with their children and very meticulous about recording all the expenses, the children will automatically learn a lot, become more thoughtful and reasonable in their demands and WISE.


The peers I know are not open with their children about their income for many reasons such as
They never even thought of this; they never thought of the idea of sharing their income details with their children.
Or they don't want to share as they think the children are too young and then don't know when to draw the line and say, they are old enough now and I can share this information.
Or they don't want to tell the children as they don't think their kids can keep their mouths shut! They may worry the kids will blab to the relatives, etc.
Or they are ashamed they are not earning enough. I know of many women who have no idea about their husband's income!
Or they are taking bribes and  don't want to share this information openly with their kids. I know there are several government officials whose bribe is much greater than their salaries (not any of my relatives or friends!) and how will they explain to their kids?


I believe that writing out the income and expenses in detail and sharing with the immediate family members will help expose the errors in budgeting of the money manager in the family, usually men. If the expenses were made into a pie chart or percentage, the family would know immediately if some area was getting undue amount while another area was being neglected. I know a man who had  terrible money management skills and who was also, very autocratic and bossy that he had his way. He would spend more than 50% of the income on non-essentials such as books and grudge to give money to essentials such as food items and groceries.


I believe that every school in India should have classes for household budgeting and ask the students to come up with sensible budgets for various incomes and expenses for a variety of households. I believe this will help to avoid future mismanagement of money when these students become working adults.


Many families want to shield their children from money worries and other worries. But I strongly believe that this shielding causes more harm than good, in the long run. Once they are 16-18 years old, they should know the true money situation in the home; it will give them an opportunity to grow and become more mature; less demanding as they know the true monetary situation; they will make sensible and financially INFORMED choices.


Some of the stupid financial  things I have observed in my peers families are given below:
  • Pretending they have more money than they actually do.
  • Not telling  'no' to the children's unrelenting demands on money
  • Thinking that if they give all that the child asks,' the child will be happy', 'will study well', 'will 'behave', 'the child will obey', etc.
  • Borrowing money to buy  non-essential things.
  • Labelling luxuries as essentials and buying them
  • Buying to keep up with the jones, though, they don't have money
  • Borrowing without having any realistic plans regarding how they will repay. Not factoring in the interest when they plan to borrow.
  • Being unrealistically optimistic. Not having definite plans regarding repayment but thinking vague things like "I will somehow return": that word somehow drives me c-r-a-z-y!
  • Having poor money management skills themselves.
  • Poor relationship between parents and so :non-discussion of money matters; non-cooperation around money matters; active 'revenge-buying' things when angry with spouse!
  • Borrowing from parents (grandparents  of the children) or receiving financial and other expensive gifts from parents to maintain a life-style, they cannot earn-to-be-able-to-afford.
  • Expecting well-off relatives to take care of some of their needs
  • Expecting the dowry the son brings in to take solve their money problems.
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Another issue which I think middle class parents should change about is autonomy for their children.
 















I will never go to Bombey Bhel at Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada ever again! It's an expensive rip off, serving sub-par tasting food!

 Today, October 14, 2023 I got chicken vindaloo paying 22$...All I got was 2 small pieces of chicken, 3 pieces of potato....and. very averag...