Lessons on economy in our everyday lives

Economy is not only for economists but it is a subject that everyone, from the school kid to the housewife, has to learn and practice. Economy is what drives the world and, at the ground level, our lives. We have to cut the coat according to the cloth.
Economy has many faces. To the general public, economy means buying the comparatively cheaper and better quality of product. When in the vegetable market, we glance through the products on display, zero in on what we want and check out the going rates. Those who carry out this activity regularly can gauge the quality of the item just by looking at it. Nowadays, fake items have flooded the markets. Different types of colors are used on the vegetables, fruits and even fish to impart a fresh look to the items.

Therefore, economy would not mean buying that which is the cheapest but, quality must also be woven into the specification. That is why many of the works carried out by the government does not live up to the mark – the tar on the roads do not stay intact for long because attention was given to lowest cost ignoring the aspect of quality.
As far as the housewife is concerned, she is, undoubtedly, the best manager and economist who knows the best inventory management. It is she who has to ensure that both ends of the canvas meet where desired and leaves nothing to chance.
She gets the money to run the household and has to plan on how best to utilize her resources – what she needs to buy immediately and, what she can postpone. She may be tempted to order her groceries online or rung up her grocer and ask him to send across her requirements – but, she would not get a chance to see what she is buying till it is delivered at her doorstep. And, many housewives do not like that.
Moreover, she has to also plan for future known arising like birthday of a friend’s or neighbor’s or relative’s son or daughter and, it is her method of handling the finances to meet all needs that make for a happy family.
Of course, the man of the house has his responsibilities – he brings in the money and his wife ensures that the machine of the family is always kept well-oiled and functions smoothly. (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimedacommons.org)
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No escape from the jaws of death

Retired men and their rocking chairs

Once a person retires from employment, he is worried about how to spend the day and his rocking chair takes him into flights of fancy that knows no boundaries.
As long as he was employed, he had a set routine and all his activities were on a graduated scale and, more or less, predictable. Most of these fell in the must-do category like get up from bed, travel to work, remain occupied in the office till pack-up time, and return home.
Then there were the activities that needed to be attended to but, could be delegated to the better half – like withdrawing money from the bank, going to the post office, meeting teacher in the school, buying groceries and vegetables.

However, once he reaches his sunset days, he is worried about how to spend the day with very little to do. And, it is then that, occupying the rocking chair, he retreats into a shell. He broods over the past and repents on his lost opportunities in every walk of life. These could relate to his childhood, his love life, his work life and, in order to justify his actions or inactions, he builds up cases in his mind and metes out punishment.
The idle mind is known as the Devil’s Workshop - and, he transforms into a Devil.
In between, his mind wanders to foods.
The in-charge of the kitchen is his wife and she is very strict about what he eats. No this and no that – the word ‘no’ is always on her lips because she does not want to see him suffer from ulcers or diabetes or indigestion. She does not realize that he is suffering from a longing of banned foods like deep fries and sweets and ice-creams.
Going back to this old man in his rocking chair – he gradually begins to forget names. He hates to admit it but, it is an undeniable fact of life that, as age creeps up on a person, he gradually loses out on his senses. He may put up a bold front but, he just cannot remember the name of someone very dear to him. He can recognize him but, the name evades him.
However, time and tide wait for no man and, in spite of restricted mobility, in spite of being dependent on others for small jobs, and in spite of losing control of some bodily functions, he grins and bears it all. In his mind he hears the message – you can never put a good man down. (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)
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School days – shopkeepers use paper bags to pack the groceries

Our school days were days of rupees, annas and paisa – 16 annas was equivalent to one rupee and four paisa was equivalent to one anna. It was in 1957 that decimal coinage (one rupee was made equivalent to 100 naya paise – this term naya paise was to differentiate it from the existing paisa. The ‘naya’ was later withdrawn and it became just paise.)
It took people some time to get gradually accustomed to the new system which embraced all measures including weights, volumes and even lengths.
Anyway, this is not a treatise on that subject but through this, I will try to highlight the cost of living in the 1950s – I still remember going with my father to the Shyambazar market for purchase of monthly provisions that ranged from rice and sugar to cooking oils, dals, maida and spices etcetera.

The measure of weights was in seers – one seer was nearly equivalent to one Kilogram or Kg and for two rupees, we would be able to buy five seers of good quality of sugar. The shopkeeper would weigh the sugar into a large paper bag. Paper bags were the order of the day – no plastics or polythene. In those days, no one had heard of environmental pollution.

Similarly, one tin of Milkmaid condensed milk would come for 14-annas – that was less than a rupee. And, for as little as two rupees per day, one could easily procure vegetables and fish for a family of six!! (to be continued…)