Garbage mentality

Yes, that's what came into my mind when I came across an utterly idiotic bunch of Indian tourists at the Eravikulam National park. We had to wait in a queue to buy the tickets for the short bus ride that was to take us to a particular point at the hill-top from where one had to take a 2 km trek further uphill to spot the rare and endemic Nilgiri Tahrs. It was a long serpentine queue, it being the holiday season. There was a family of about 10- 5 rotund adults and 4-5 kids in their teens-in front of us. For the entire one and plus hour of waiting time, they ate sundry items- from fresh corn off the cob, to chocolates, to biscuits, to buying and eating many other items from the mobile hawkers around.

Well, what really got my goat was the complete lack of civic sense and disregard for public property. In spite of perfectly operational dustbins placed at regular intervals, the family chose to fling the waste papers, empty cobs and water bottles all around the place. Even worse was the nonchalant manner in which the adults threw the garbage from where they stood to the corner of the road without a care. It made me want to just shake them up by their collars and fling them to the ground.

My blood boiled at the sight, especially when the same energy that went into littering in the direction opposite to the dustbins could have gone into putting the waste into a bin that was right under their noses. They made a complete mockery of the many bill-boards that carried clear messages against littering and warnings of a fine and imprisonment for those who defied the rule. I'd have laughed at the irony if I were not so distressed with the whole thing.

But, I'm equally disappointed in myself for not airing my voice directly to the uncouth people instead of just fuming from within and making loud remarks in a feeble attempt to embarrass and shame them into propriety. I thought of different ways of confronting them but couldn't bring myself to directly question them. The ever practical husband too cautioned me against getting into pointless debates and fight. In his opinion, such people cannot be brought to senses by mere remarks and arguments since they have the capability to turn the situation to a disadvantage for even the one who is right and just. So, I just kept fuming and went away from the scene to make life simpler for myself.Sigh! :-(

These people were not poor from the obvious display of chunky jewellery and expensive gadgets they had on themselves. They also didn't seem deprived of formal education. Now, who needs foreign enemies to butcher the country's pride and economy when we have such gems within? On a different note, just wondering, how did the authorities plan to implement the punishment of a fine/imprisonment when all we had was a poor woman attendant, who was obviously ill-paid too, to pick up after these rouges for their cold-blooded crime.

Is there any hope at all?

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Person or procedure- who takes precedence?

I wanted to surrender an insurance policy taken years ago. I took it on a whim as soon as I began my first job and never really understood the benefits, if at all. Over the years, especially after changing cities, it became a pain to service it as the online payment rarely worked. To add to it, I no longer have a steady flow of income, so it didn't really make sense maintaining the policy. So, I decided to surrender it. Simple enough, right? Wrong! When you buy something, you don't need to move a finger, just work them enough to dole out the required cash and lo, behold, the world is placed at your feet. But when you want to get rid of the product, you are made to feel miserable in many ways.

Firstly, I realized that I had misplaced the policy bond. My fault. Totally, I agree. But, the procedure to get a duplicate one is like sentencing a person to life imprisonment and then hanging him at the end of it. That's not all. When you go to the office, you realize that complimentary punishments like a name correction, signature change and address correction are involved too. Producing the correct proofs is no cake walk either. Even after complying with all the necessary and unnecessary documentation, attestation and copies of various proofs, I hit a roadblock because the name on proof D does not match my current name. This, despite giving multiple proofs of documents bearing my current name. Proof D was simply given as an ID proof.

So, you have proof A, with current name and address, proof B to corroborate the name change and Proof C to corroborate address change, proof D is simply an ID proof but unfortunately the ID proof contains old name. Any one with good eyesight and plain logic will have no issues validating that the person on all the documents is the same. But, not our geniuses, who have developed the rigid procedures. It is like saying, "I know you are alive but the computer shows you are dead, so I have to believe that you are dead!" Finally, I was let off with a self-declaration letter that stated the obvious.

And, know what, I was under the wrong impression that recent bank transaction meant anywhere between last three months. I was wrong here too. Recent meant as recent as the current month. Only, because I cannot produce a government bill like the gas or electricity bill under my name, in which case, any time period is acceptable. Tell me, when scores of working professionals keep changing cities every two years, most live in rented apartments, where the heck will we get an government authorized proof of the address?

What gets my goat is that despite such multiple (and redundant) layers of locks, unscrupulous activities flourish and only the honest get more and more enmeshed in the quick sand of red tapism. I am assuming, all the documents are in place and there are no more surprises in store. I hope to find the money in my account shortly. Fingers crossed until then.

ETA: I got my refund and quite quickly too. Thought this needs a special mention since I crib so much, the good part gets marginalized many times.

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Having all the time in the world

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The other day I went to a doctor for a bad throat. After the usual examination and questions, he began writing the prescription and advised the usual saline water gargling. After which, he asked me a cursory question as to whether I'm a homemaker or a working woman. Then, he said," aah, then you have all the time in the world. You can gargle as many times you want in a day!"

Why o' why do people assume so many things about others. Especially about lives of people they have no inkling about. Even if the woman had been his mother, I'm sure the fellow would've had no idea the kind of work she did around the house so that he could stick his neck up in the world pooh-poohing homemakers of the world.

Is it no work to keep warm meals ready? Does the house miraculously change into a habitable place from a war-struck zone? Or perhaps entertaining and feeding a toddler is not a big deal. There are day cares around, right? Well, when you need the day cares and have enough respect for people who run it, can't you extend it to the mother, the housewife, who has chosen to remain at home to do it instead? A day without the housewife, even the maids cannot salvage the house. So, why do you imagine her to have truck loads of time to kill just because she is not going outside the house to work? And, even if she is having time on her hands, it does not warrant advice or comment from anybody else. Her life, her time. Period.

Now, I am in no way judging people who have outsourced the above activities. Every person has the right to live the life they want to/need to. My only grouse is the scorns and smirks that the title 'homemaker' elicits. The automatic perception of someone who has nothing better to do all day. I definitely hate these terms-homemaker, worse, housewife! Homemaker is just a sugar-coated term for housewife. Don't ask me what is the suitable word then. Why categorize at all? 

The husband has simple solutions. "The next time someone asks you, say you are a freelancer. You work from home", says he. Maybe that's best. Until time changes for the homemakers of the world.

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