Camping at Arrowhead Provincial Park

We had a close encounter with nature at Arrowhead Provincial Park, Huntsville for four days. Arrowhead Provincial Park spreads to an area over 1,200 hectares in maple forest and has two beautiful lakes and rivers. We stayed at the park for from July 31st to Aug 3rd.

The site that we got at the park was large with huge trees all around. After reaching the site on 31st evening, Ankur and Anuj helped me to quickly setup two tents. Meanwhile, Savita (Ritu) warmed the food on a small electric hotplate that we ate before it became dark. One observation that fascinates me each time I go for camping is the experience or feeling of darkness that I can’t feel in the city. In the complete darkness, if one can manage to look at the sky through the trees, the stars look so beautiful.

Next day, our friends – Shirodker and Narayan families joined us at the camp. Their sites were next to ours. The kitchen was setup only at one site, so we used to cook and eat together. We also setup the badminton net at the site. Every night, we used to sit around a campfire, singing, talking and eating marshmallows heated on the fire. Daytime activities included hiking on trails through forest and along the lake, enjoying the sun on the beach and canoeing/kayaking in the lake and river. We also spent time at a beautiful waterfall on the East River. While we were leaving the waterfall area, we saw an accident where a canoe went down the waterfall. Fortunately, the occupants were able to get out safely and no one was hurt. I had my camera in my hand, and I was able to capture pictures of the canoe going down the fall.

We went to camping for the first time in 2000 at Lake Mara. This year is the 10th year of our camping, and to celebrate this occasion, we went for dinner to the East Side Mario restaurant, Huntsville.

We returned back to the city on August 3rd after enjoying a fun-filled vacation. To view pictures we took at the camp, click the following link.

My Writing Career and Mrs. Indira Gandhi

During the last 20 years, I have published several technical books in India. One person who really deserves a credit for my writing career is Mrs. Indira Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister. I never met her, though I did see her from distance during two public functions. I never liked her policies, and her policies indirectly pushed me into the writing career. In fact, it happened in steps – I started with drawing cartoons and then progressed to writing technical articles, and finally to books.


The story started in June 1975 when President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, declared a state of emergency upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. I was in high school at that time. We used to get the Indian Express, an anti Congress newspaper in our home. Because of its anti Congress and anti emergency writings, the publication of Indian Express was suspended during the emergency period. Since Indian Express was not available, my father switched to the Times of India newspaper.


One feature that was distinctly different in Times of India from Indian Express was the daily cartoon by R K Laxman. Though Indian Express also had a staff cartoonist Abu Abraham, his cartoons were more political in nature, where as Laxman’s cartoon were more geared toward common people’s life. I started liking Laxman’s cartoon, and soon developed an urge to draw cartoons.


In July 1976, after passing the school, I joined Pusa Polytechnic in the Electronics Engineering Diploma course. Though the Polytechnic was open to girls, in those days, they used to stay away from engineering courses. However, in Aug 1976, two girls joined our class. Both girls were the daughters of the staff working in Pusa Polytechnic. Because they were girls and daughters of the senior staff of the Polytechnic, they were given special treatment by lecturers as well as students. I noticed significant changes taking place in the class, which triggered my desire to express my views through cartoons. First I started drawing quick cartoons on my desk or the class blackboard during the gap between periods, and later moved to draw cartoons on paper and put those on the college notice board.

As you know, each cartoon has two components – the message and the characters. I used to get average marks in my drawing class in my school, so I had to struggle with drawing characters in my cartoons. For example, if I drew a dog in my cartoon, it looked like an animal from another planet. In fact, because of my poor drawing, once I was expelled from the Electrical Engineering class because the dog that I drew in my cartoon looked like buffalo. (I learnt later that students used to call that over-weight lecturer buffalo!) To improve my drawing skills, I bought a few cartoon books by R K Laxman and Sudhir Dhar, which used to give me idea about drawing characters in different moods. Slowly, my drawing capabilities improved and I got courage to approach newspapers and magazines with a request to have a look at my cartoons.



In 1978, I met Abu Abraham, Indian Express’ staff cartoonist in his office in New Delhi. I showed him a couple of cartoons. He gave me a few suggestions and kept a few cartoons for possible use in the newspaper. The newspaper editor found one of my cartoons on adult education suitable to go with an article on the adult education. So, that was my first cartoon published in the Sunday edition of a national newspaper. I was paid an honorarium of Rs. 50 (about 6 US$ at that time) for my cartoon, the highest so far all my published cartoons so far. Here is my first published cartoon.



After my first cartoon was published, a few more were published in Sarita and Women’s Era magazines.

This post is getting too long. I will write about the story of my articles and books some other day. I end this post by thanking Mrs. Indira Gandhi for pushing me into the wonderful world of writing.

CBS's 60 Minutes Program Features IITs

Just before the World War I, a person in USA decided to start a bank. He rented a small office and put the bank's sign on the outside wall. Next day, one customer came and deposited $100 in the bank. On the following day, another customer visited the bank and deposited $200. After two more customers deposited their money in the bank, the person who had started the bank thought that the bank was doing good business and decided to deposit his own $200 too in his bank! Many people feel good or secured when others express faith in them. On the same note, India's IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) are world class institutes for the study of engineering. However, we feel good when an outsider says so. Recently, IITs appeared on CBS Television's famous 60 Minutes program -- an interesting documentary worth watching. Here is the link to that program.  

Why dieting does not work?

On the New Year day, millions of people take a resolution to reduce weight and do dieting. Usually, the dieting resolution fizzles out before the first month of the year ends. And, countless people never bother to diet and continue to gain weight. I am confident that most people know that overeating and eating unhealthy food is bad for them and would lead to health problems sooner or later. Yet, most people don’t do anything to lose weight or not gain it in the first place. Let me rephrase the previous sentence – most people are helpless to do anything to keep their weight in check. And for the same matter, dieting programs too rarely have a lasting effect. Have you ever thought why we are unable to control what we eat? The reason – our brain has been conditioned to eat junk food!

 You would recall from your science books about the experiments Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, the Russian scientist, conducted on conditioned stimulus on a dog.  At the regular feeding time, Pavlov would ring a bell. After several repetitions, he observed that the sound of the bell alone, even without the food, was sufficient to stimulate the dog’s brain to release saliva from the salivary glands. In the same way, after watching advertisements for the junk food that is rich in fat, sugar and salt everywhere – on TV, magazines, billboards, grocery stores, restaurants – and watching others eating that unhealthy food all the time, our brain gets stimulated by not only the sight of the food, but even the thought of the food. The moment we see food, regardless of whether it is healthy or unhealthy, the first thought that comes to our mind is to move forward and taste it. The power of food comes from its feel, smell and image that activates the brain even before we taste the food. And, unhealthy food that is rich in fat, sugar and salt is usually tasty and therefore more powerful, and we continue to eat until the food is finished or we can’t eat any more. While eating the food, the question whether we are hungry or not does not come in our mind. And, even when we are not eating, we are continuously thinking about food – this is what I will eat in the evening, at night, tomorrow morning, and so on. Many Indian housewives spend most of the day cooking the food for the family.

 The power of food is so great, and our brain that has been conditioned for so many years is so week that our dieting resolutions rarely work. So, what can we do to conquer the power of food and to make our dieting plans work? Well, we have to recondition our brain! This is similar to an alcoholic or drug-addict person who is sent to a de-addiction centre for treatment, though we can win over the power of food while staying at home and without the need of any medication. From my experience, there are three steps involved in the process –

 

1. Truly accept that overweight/obesity is bad in the long run and will lead to bigger problems at the later stage.
2. Always remember and continuously remind your brain the kinds of food that are bad for the health. (Refer to good health book to know what kind of food is good for your health. In general, food stuffed with fat, sugar and salt is not good.)
3. Eat food at regular time and slowly decrease the amount you eat each time. (Don’t try to fool yourself by compensating reduced food intake by eating between meals!)

 The first step is very important. We can’t lose wait unless we really want to. The second step will help us to reinforce the first step. And, the last step will take us toward the goal. I will elaborate my experience with dieting using these steps. In 1980s when I started working, my mother used to pack my lunch box. Besides cooked vegetables and curd (yogurt), my lunch box was packed with 4 rotis (chapaties). One day I realised that I was gaining weight and concluded that this was not good for me. So, I decided to reduce the number of roties I used to eat during the lunch time. First, I reduced 4 roties to 3.5. After a few weeks, 3.5 roties were reduced to 3. After a few weeks, it changed to 2.5 and then to 2. During this process, I never felt that I was dieting or doing anything special. I have used the same technique again later in my lifetime with success.

 I would love to receive your views on this topic. Please feel free to post your comments. 

During the current time of financial meltdown, it is worthwhile to examine who the economy will flourish if people in different countries get two cows. I hope you would enjoy the following description.

TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies and the economy grows. You retire on the income.

SOCIALIST ECONOMICS

You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbour.

CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbour.

REPUBLICAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows. Your neighbour has none. So what?

COMMUNIST ECONOMICS

You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. 

AMERICAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You profess surprise when the cow drops dead. You put the blame on some nation with cows. And naturally that nation will be a danger to mankind. You wage a war to save the world and grab the cows.

FRENCH ECONOMICS

You have two cows. Half of you go on strike because you want three cows. The other half paint the cows on different landscapes

GERMAN ECONOMICS You have two cows. You reengineer them so that they live for 100 years, eat once a month and milk themselves.

BRITISH ECONOMICS

You have two cows. They are both mad cows. You wait for the Americans to go to war; you join them in saving the world and get two sane cows of your own

ITALIAN ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You don't know where they are. You break for lunch.

SWISS ECONOMICS

You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

ARAB ECONOMICS

You have 5000 cows, all of which belong to you. You call others to come and milk them You charge them for the permission to milk your cows and keep a portion of the milk You have a great economy Until the Americans decide to steal your cows to save the world.

INDIAN ECONOMICS

You have three cows. You are fiercely protective of the third cow which tends to walk over to your neighbour You think that the third is a gift from GOD But just in case you worship all three You do nothing with your cows but somehow the economy works. You thank the cows and continue to worship them.

PAKISTANI ECONOMICS

You have two cows. Your neighbour has three. You are sure that his third cow has wandered over from your side of the fence. You wage war for fifty years trying to recover it In the meantime your two cows die. Now you appeal to the UN for help to retrieve the cow

JAPANESE ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create cute cartoon cow images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.

RUSSIAN ECONOMICS 

You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 17 cows. You give up counting and open another bottle of vodka.

CHINESE ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity and arrest anyone reporting the actual numbers.

TERRORIST ECONOMICS

You have two cows. You don't know economy. Your two neighbours make money with their herds of cattle. All three of you started out with two cows. You tie a bomb round the neck of each of your cows and let them loose on the neighbours' herds. All is peaceful till the neighbours get prosperous again.

Why are we stressed?

After spending more than two weeks looking for a used car, finally we got a four year old Toyota Corolla. It is a clean car with no dents or scratches. Searching for a good used car was a frustrating experience for several reasons -- each member of the family had different preference for the make, model, age and colour of the car. It was like forming a collation government. Even after we have bought the car, we keep thinking about other choices we had, and whether we made the best choice. What is a best choice? A few hundred dollars cheaper or having a little more appealing interior/exterior or little more reliable? I am sure that with some patience, I could have found the so called better car for less price, however, is it worth getting the stress? One of the reason we are always stressed is that we always want to be best and want to have the best. And not only the best, it should be better than what my friends or relatives have. In 1980, I used to listen to an advertisement for Super Rin detergent cake on Indian radio -- भला उसकी कमीज़ मेरी कमीज़ से सफ़ेद कैसे है ? (Why is his shirt whiter than mine?)

A few days ago, I read another story that nicely explains why we get the stress unnecessarily.

A few young people went to visit their college lecturer. The conversation moved in all directions including stress in the daily life. After some time, the lecturer went to the kitchen and prepared tea for them. He brought the tea in a teapot and lot of cups on tray. The cups that the lecturer brought were of different kinds -- fine china, porcelain, plastic, glass, etc. After all students had picked up a cup and filled it with tea, the lecturer said, "If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of problems and stress. What we wanted was tea, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups."

The lecturer further said, "Good tea may taste better in a good cup but a good cup does not make the tea better. Similarly, if Life is Tea, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold/maintain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy the Tea in it."

If you have a dream, go after it

Recently, I was sent a link to a very inspiring video that I would like to share. This is a story of 30 years old D J Gregory who was born with a medical condition known as Cerebral Palsy. D J Gregory was born with underdeveloped lungs and entangled legs and his parents were told by Doctors that he would never walk and would be in wheel chair for the rest of his life. Initially, DJ could only crawl, however, after a few surgeries, he first started walking with the help of a four wheel walker, and then with two crutches, and with single crutch and finally with a cane. DJ liked sports and started playing Golf. One day in 2008, he decided that he would walk every hole of every round of every Golf tournament of USA in 2008, and he achieved his goal. D J Gregory says, "If you have a dream go after it. Don't let any one tell you that you can't do it."

Click this link to watch the video.

Sadhana Satsang at Shadow Lake

Our temple (Shri Ram Sharnam, Toronto) organised a four day Sadhana Satsang spiritual program during May 17 - 20, 2009 at the Shadow Lake Centre. The centre is located at the bank of a small but beautiful lake. The place is just 20 kilometres from our home, however, after reaching there people feel that they have left the busy and fast city life miles away.

The Shadow Lake Centre has a well-equipped community hall that can accommodate up to 300 people. It also has an attached modern kitchen with all equipments to cook and serve food.  The community hall is converted in the prayer hall where the satsang is help from 6 am until 8 pm with break time for breakfast, lunch, evening tea and dinner. The devotees are accommodated in small cottages that have got two-tier beds like a railway coach. The prayer sessions are conducted by Swami Shri Ek Naam Dev Ji Maharaj from Kurukhsetra, India. 

While most people attend all prayer sessions, others treat the stay at the Shadow Lake centre like a nice outing and social gathering. In any case, everyone feels refreshed after attending the satsand and look forward to visit again the next year. Shri Ram Sharnam has been organising the satsang at the Shadow Lake for the past 24 years. Here are two small videos from 2009 satsang. For additional pictures, click this link.

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala

I read Sant Kabir's following famous doha when I was in Grade 5 or 6 in school. 

बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, बुरा ना मिल्या कोए 

जो मन खोजा आपना, तो मुझसे बुरा ना कोए 

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye
Jo Munn Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye

I remember this doha almost every day when I read what is being reported in the media. Each political party is telling what is wrong with others. The same is true for politicians -- they are always eager to explain that other politicians are corrupt, bad, criminal, and so on. The same is also true for countries. Recently, India is getting a lot of coverage in Canadian print and TV media. Last week, I saw a full page article about slow justice system in Toronto Star, Canada's leading newspaper. Next day, it published an article about poverty in India. I don't understand in what way writing about India's justice system in Toronto is going  to help change the system in India, as if everyone in India reads the Toronto Start newspaper and will jump to change the system on seeing these articles. Why can't the same newspaper pinpoint that Canadian Justice system is so expensive that majority of Canadian can't even think of using the system. Why can't it write that to process a two page citizenship application, the Canadian Government takes nearly two years! We can always find problems with others. For a change, let us look at ourselves, and try to improve us. 

Who cares about inner beauty?

We sometimes say that the inner beauty is real. But, do we really mean it? 

I feel that we have all been brainwashed with what or who is considered beautiful. While there may be minor or sometimes significant differences between the definition of beauty among different regions of a country or among parts of the world, for an individual, it remains more or less rigid throughout life. We make the first impression about a person by his/her external appearance, and a person whom we feel is not beautiful initially gets the B grade, though, later on, we may change our opinion. It may be acceptable if I find a person not beautiful enough to be my life-partner, but do I have a right to give my opinion on other qualities of that person based on his/her physical appearance? For instance, if we find a person not beautiful, simultaneously we also make an opinion that that person also can't be a good singer, dancer, actor or professional. We see this all the time during singing competitions on TV programs/stage shows, where a singer must be beautiful and well dressed in order to be accepted. This is exactly what happened with Susan Boyle, when she appeared to sing on the TV Program, "Britain's Got Talent 2009" on April 11, 2009. When Susan, 47 year old, not a beautiful women from generally accepted standards appeared on the stage, everyone, including the judges starting laughing at her. The usual assumption -- an ugly women can't sing well. But, when she started singing, everyone was stunned. Her singing performance has already been watched by over 100 million viewers on the Internet. If you haven't watched singing her so far, here is the link.

 

We are bad listners

The usual weekend activity for most Immigrants in USA and Canada is to have a get together on the Saturday night with friends. Usually three or four families are invited for snacks and dinner at some body's house. The guests usually arrive around 7 pm and leave close to midnight.  Besides spending time eating and drinking, there is a lot talking (I won't call it a discussion) about various subjects, such as politics, movies, economy, Obama and taxes. However, the most of the time is spend on talking about India's problem -- corruption, adulteration, population, inefficient babus, crowded places, and so on. After the group has solved all the problems India is facing, it moves on to the problems of Canada and USA -- high income taxes, ever rising property taxes, too much wait time in hospitals, etc. Usually, somebody or the other does have a solution for almost everything. One topic that is talked about in all such parties is comparison between India and Canada/USA, and whether one made the right decision to immigrate to Canada/USA.

One thing that I have observed at these parties is that while a person is talking about something, others are impatiently waiting to say just something, which may not be even remotely related to what is being said. It appears that others are lot even listening -- they are just waiting for a chance to say something. Because of this behaviour, the topics keep changing, and when the new topic starts, no one feels sorry for the previous topic. Let us leave aside what happens at these weekend parties of immigrants because they just get together for a change and time pass, if you observe carefully, most people in general want to present their point of view, and not listen to others. And, if given a chance, people keep on talking for ever. Why is that we are bad listeners? Perhaps we feel that the other person does not have anything useful to tell, or may be we feel that we are more knowledgeable and intelligent that the other person, so why should I be listening, rather I should be talking... 

 

The Story of Stuff

I have come across an excellent material -- The Story of Stuff that encourages viewers to reduce consumption, preserve natural resources and reduce pollution. The story tells that USA, which has just 5% of world's population consumes about 30% of world's natural resources. If every one on the earth starts consuming at the rate of Americans, we would need more than 3 earths to get the natural resources. It also talks about commercial and Government interests that encourage people to keep buying stuff, which in-turn leads to the problem of too much exploitation of natural resources, creation of garbage and toxic waste, global warming and so on. The site, www.StoryOfStuff.com contains a lot of useful resources. Please visit the site for the benefit of the Earth.

Toronto High School Teachers' Strike Action

This week, over 80% members of the Toronto High School Teachers Union have endorsed a strike action plan. While their demands for wage increase and job security have already been accepted (in this environment of recession!) by the School Board, now these privileged members of the society are complaining that they are being asked to supervise school children when the students are not in classes, e.g during lunch period or in playground. This extra supervision duty will make a teacher work on an average an extra eight minutes per day! An extra eight minutes a day is a big deal for these teachers, and are willing to go on strike. They don't care if studies of thousands of students is affected by their strike, but why should they supervise children for extra eight minutes per day for the safety of the children, even when they are physically present in the school. The same teachers gladly wait for an hour or more for their own children when they drive them for an evening hockey or soccer game.

The Toronto High School teachers remind me Mr. Ayodhya Dass, my high school Principal. When I was in Grade 8 or 9, our Government School building was being reconstructed. Half the building was demolished and a new building was being build in its place. Due to the shortage of classrooms, the school was being run in two shifts. The morning shift was looked after by the Principal and the afternoon shift was run by the Vice Principal. One day, our Vice Principal was transferred to another school and due to some reason, the new Vice Principal who was supposed to join our school did not arrive. Then, Mr. Ayodhya Dass, whom I admire, started looking after both shifts. He used to arrive the school around 6.30 am and leave in the evening around 6.00 pm. He did not own a vehicle and used to commute by public bus. His house was located at least 10 KMs from the school, so I hope he was spending an hour of commute time each way. And, our great Principal did this not for a day or two but for more than a year! I am sure that he was not paid any money for all the extra hours he devoted for the students.

The purpose of living on the earth should be little more than always worrying about the money we get for what we do for others.

Nano -- Good or Bad?

Tata nano created a sensation not only in India, but throughout the world, when it was unveiled in Jan 2008 during Auto Expo in New Delhi by Ratan Tata, CEO and Chairman of Tata Motors. After initial delays due to agitation at the factory site in West Bengal, this Rs 100,000 (approximate US$ 2,000) car was commercially launched on March 23, 2009 in Mumbai.

Right from the day this car was unveiled, many people have been criticising this wonderful car on the pretext that it will increase congestion on the roads and increase air pollution. I have seen several such articles, even in the newspapers published in USA and Canada. There is no doubt that more cars on the road will lead to more air pollution, however, the western countries don't have the exclusive privilege to create air-pollution. Until recently, about 18 million new cars were being sold in USA every year. Other than the lip-service, there has been no serious effort to reduce the number of vehicles on the road or to introduce electric or natural-gas powered vehicles.

All people have a basic right to travel in reasonable comfort. If a reliable, comfortable, fast and reasonably priced public transit system is available, most people automatically get inclined to leave their cars at home. Singapore offers an excellent network of subway trains, buses and cheap taxis, and therefore people don't feel the need to own a car. A similar public transit system does not exist in any city of USA and Canada. In Toronto, though a good transit system is available, it discourages people to use it for short distance, as the ticket price is the same whether one travels two kilometres or thirty. Because of this reason, it is cheaper, convenient and saves me time to use a car to go to my office than going by bus.

Instead of criticising Nano, let us look at its great feature. Nano has an excellent fuel efficiency of over 23 KMs per litre. It is a matter of honour for the country that world's cheapest car has been designed in India, and Nano has potential to be exported in large numbers. Besides, Nano may replace highly polluting two-stroke scooters and auto-rickshaws from Indian roads. Three cheers to Nano!

Earth Hour 2009

The Earth Hour 2009 starts at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, 2009. The organisers (www.earthhour.org) want people around the world to switch off the lights at 8.30 p.m. for one hour to show support for action on climate change and reduce carbon emission. It's a very good idea. Will I switch off the lights in my house on March 28? Probably, no? Why? Rather than doing something good for one hour a day in a year, it is much better if we do it every day -- and I want to fall in the second category. We can play our part  in reducing our environment footprint by doing simple acts, such as switching off lights and fan when leaving the room, turning off the computer or/and monitor when not needed, using fan instead of air conditioner, walking instead of driving the car for short distance, etc. I am sure you can find many other ways to conserve energy. 

North American people consume a lot of energy to heat their homes in winter and cool during summer. To conserve energy, the building industry has been bringing out better building materials and the Governments at all levels are promoting the new building technologies. While this will definitely save some energy, but do you know that average size of a north American home has more  than doubled in the last 25 years! If a person can afford a big home he/she would gladly go for it. Sometimes two or three people live in homes as big as 5,000 sq. ft, 10,000 sq.ft. or even bigger. Former Vice President of USA, Al Gore, won the Nobel Peace prize in 2008 for his efforts in bringing the effects of the global warming to the attention of the world through his documentary film -- An Inconvenient Truth. But do you know that he lives in a big 10,000 square-foot mansion and consumes more than 10 times the electricity consumed by an average home in that area. 

Look at the mansion Al Gore's lives in. If USA consumes 25% of world's energy, Al Gore is doing more than his share. In Mumbai, Inda, Mukesh Ambani is making his contribution by building a 173 metres tall tower, equivalent to a 60 storeyed building for a family of six! 

Let us downsize our needs and do our part in saving the earth. 

Rickshaw Puller

Though I had seen rickshaw pullers in Hindi movies, my in person encounter with rickshaw pullers took place in 1981. It was my first visit to Kolkata (then called Calcutta). I still remember the scary taxi ride I took from the Dum Dum airport to the hotel at 11 pm at night when my contact did not show up at the airport. Other than the name of the hotel (Hotel Tri Star -- no it was not a 3-star hotel!), I had no knowledge about Kolkata. The taxi ride appeared to be never ending, and a couple of times I though that today I am going to be robbed or in the worst case robbed and killed! Well, nothing of that sort happened, and my contact was waiting for me at the hotel -- there was a communication gap.

Next day, while going to an office, I saw rickshaw pullers on almost every road. I felt a little uneasy on seeing a human being pulling another human being. In the evening, I had to go somewhere, so I asked my host for directions, and he advised, "Take a rickshaw, and he would take you where you want to go." I told him that I could not imagine sitting in a rickshaw while another person, perhaps weaker than me, pulling me. My host did not buy my argument, but at last gave me direction, and I walked to my destination. I stayed in Kolkata for two weeks and later visited it again a few more times, but could never had a courage to ride a rickshaw.  

Many people feel that it is inhumane for a human being pulling another human being. Why? May be because we have seen animals pulling carts and when we see a human pulling a cart, we feel that we have degraded that person to an animal. I also used to think like that, however, now my thinking has changed a little bit. To survive, we all sell whatever we have -- physical power, brain power or intellectual power. A worker working in the blast furnace department of a steel mill works in very hot environment, even hotter than the hot summer period a rickshaw puller encounters on the road. However, the steel plant worker is suitably compensated and is a respected member of the society. On the other hand, a rickshaw puller and others doing similar low end jobs do not get any respect from the society or suitable compensation. Have a look at the following picture where a well-built person is being pulled through the flooded streets of Kolkata. Do you think that the rickshaw puller, who is selling his manual labour is being paid a reasonable fare?

In general, most people feel that rickshaw pulling presents a bad image of the Kolkata and this should be stopped. In fact, in 2006, the West Bengal passed a law to ban rickshaws on Kolkata streets. However, even after more than two years since that ban, nearly 5,000 licensed and 18,000 unlicensed rickshaw pullers continue to ply rickshaws on the Kolkata streets. In fact, many people oppose the ban on the ground that rickshaws provide environment-friendly mode of transport in very densely populated Kolkata city. Of course, the livelihood of 23,000 families too depend on rickshaws, whom the West Bengal Government has not been able to provide any alternate employment. Let us see what happens in the future.

Give Children a Chance

When I was in school, whenever a teacher used to see that a student has not done anything not to expectation, he/she used to get annoyed. In most cases, the end result was that the student used to get physical punishment, including slapping and spanking, even before being given a chance to explain. In those days, the situation was no different in homes -- if parents noticed a child doing anything they did not like, many times, they would first beat the child and later ask for explanation. Well, these days, children don't get much physical punishment at then hands of adults when they make a mistake (or the adults feel that the children have made a mistake), still many times, they are not given a chance to explain. I remember a few such incidents from my childhood.

In my primary school, the task of ringing the bell (in fact, banging a hammer on a hanging metal disc) was usually assigned to students. Our teacher used to ask any student to ring the bell, and students used to consider it a privilege and were always waiting for this opportunity. One day during the recess, I was standing near the bell and two teachers were passing by. I felt that one of teacher wanted me to ring the bell, so I ran as fast as I could and used all my power to ring the school bell for the first time in my life. The teachers got annoyed since he did not ask me to ring the bell, so he took me to the Principal's office, and I got severe beating from the school principal -- I was never given an opportunity to explain!

When I was 8 years old, my younger brother, Suresh fell sick, which made him cranky. At night, my mother brought some coins and gave it to him to play with, while I was watching. He kept playing with the coins for sometime. Out of curiosity, I picked up a twenty five paise coin. Next day, I took that coin to my school. During the recess, I showed that coin to my neighbour, Bharati, who was my classmate. Other that admiring the coin and showing it to my classmates, I had no plans for that coin. After the school, Bharati told my mother that I had a coin. On learning this, without asking for any explanation, my mother gave me a severe beating that I still remember. She thought that I had stolen that coin!

I remember another very interesting incident when I had just moved to Grade 6. It was a Sanskrit class and the teacher was a typical pundit who used to wear dhoti-kurta and had a long bodi (बोदी) on his head. So, Guruji was sitting on a chair in a relaxed mood and his bodi (बोदी) was hanging behind the chair. This scene fascinated me, so I told this to Prathivi, the student sitting next to me. Prathavi, instead of enjoying the scene went to Guruji and told what I had told him. However, Guruji thought that Prathivi was telling him that his bodi (बोदी) is hanging behind the chair. Guruji got very angry and started beating Prithivi so badly that the entire scene is still fresh in mind. Prathivi was spared only after Guruji was exhausted. I was lucky that Guruji never gave a chance to Prathivi to explain anything, otherwise I would have received that beating. Prathivi came back to the desk and warned me that he would see me after the school. Prathivi was much bigger and stronger than me, so I had no chance against him in the forthcoming fight. Fortunately, our class room was on the ground floor and the windows did not have any bars. I think you got it. Yes, as soon as the bell rang, while Prathivi was waiting at the door, I jumped out of the window and ran to my house.

Every day, so many incidents take place around us, but we see only what we want to see and listen only what we want to listen. We usually feel that what we see is true and the coin does not have the other side. The children are more vulnerable in this situation to present their point of view. Let us give them a chance. They need encouragement, not beating!

Even in 21st century, school students in many developing countries continue to get beatings from their school teachers for not studying up to their expectations. But, have you heard about a child who was not even a student, yet got beating for not studying! Jhanda Singh was grazing his buffalo near a school. The buffalo entered the school and hit the bicycles. Falling bicycles confused the nuffalo and it stated running all over the school ground and caused more damage. While Jhanda Singh was trying to control the animal, a teacher came out of the class and asked him, "Which class you study in?" Jhanda Singh replied, "Sir, I don't study in any class." Teacher was already angry and now got very mad, and gave Jhanda Singh a good beating. Well, that day, Jhanda Singh took a vow that whatever happens he would ..... If you think that he vowed to go to the school to study, you are wrong. He vowed that whatever happens, he would not let his animal enter the school area.

Chinese Krishna?

Look at the following picture published on a Chinese calendar. 

When I saw this picture a few days ago, the very first thought that struck my mind that this is Chinese Krishna. I remember having seen similar pictures of Krishna either sitting on a cow or standing near a cow playing flute. When I enquired about this picture with a Chinese, he told me that when shepherd boys in villages take the animals for grazing, they do play flute while riding or sitting on cows and other animals. What a similarity with India! Here is a beautiful picture of Lord Krishna. 

---

One day, a person's wife disappears. He waits for a few days, but when she does not return, he goes to Shri Ram Temple and starts praying, "Hey Ram! Please get my wife back." He keeps praying for hours and finally Shri Ram appears. While pointing towards Hanuman, Shri Ram says, "Please contact him. He helped me find even my wife."

We Celebrated Holi

Though, this year (2009), the Holi festival falls on March 11, we celebrated it yesterday at Vedic Cultural Centre, commonly known as Arya Samaj (आर्य समाज), Markham. In Canada, most festivals are celebrated on weekends, and the holi was exception. As compared to the holi celebrations I witnessed in New Delhi during the earlier part of my life, the celebration in Vedic Cultural Centre was quite formal. People come to the centre in the evening dressed in their nice colourful dresses, as they are not worried that someone may spoil their dresses with Gulal (गुलाल) or water balloons. We bought tickets were seated in the banquet hall like basement of the Vedic Cultural Centre.

Ritu (Savita) and Shalini at the Holi Dinner

After light snack consisting of Chaat Paapri (चाट पापडी) and Idli (इडली), the children presented very good live entrainment. Here is a small 29 second clip from the Kathak dance.

The children's program was followed by bolloywood songs and dance, enjoyed by young as well as old generation. Here is a small 22 seconds video of people dancing on the floor.

We were served delicious dinner prepared by volunteers of the Vedic Cultural Centre. The quality of the food was better than that served in several Indian restaurants I have visited recently. In all, it was an evening worth remembering.

We are responsible for the mess we are in

These days, Canadian and American news papers and financial forums/discussion groups are full of stories where people describe that they are in financial mess. Whether a person earns $30,000, $60,000, $100,000 or more, he/she is in financial trouble with zero savings and lots of debt. These people blame everyone but themselves for the situation they are in. Well, current economic downturn might have compounded their problems, however, I feel that these people are themselves to be blamed for the financial mess they are in. In my opinion, the basic reason for the north American people's problem is that they live beyond their means. They don't understand the difference between the desire (want) and need. They want to have everything -- a new car every three years, a new TV, luxury vacation at least once a year, eating out in restaurants every week, moving to a bigger house every couple of years, and so on. Somehow, they feel that their living standard must continue to improve and they must continue to acquire new luxuries. If they don't have money they will take expensive loans on credit cards, and then more loans, and so on, until everyone stops giving then loan.

In Canada and USA, most people want to have everything of their own -- their is no concept of sharing. For instance, most people living in the suburbs of Toronto want to have their own swimming outdoor pool, if they have space to build one. These people spend thousands of dollars to build and maintain these swimming pools that they can use only two-three months in summer, but would not like to use a nice indoor heated public summing pool for $2 per use. Similarly, each of their child must have a separate bedroom, separate computer, separate iPod, separate bike, separate sports equipment, and so on.

New car, new house, new clothes, and so on is fine if we have extra money. But, why should I get tempted to buy a new car when I see a new model, if my existing car is running fine. I think most people follow this typical behaviour because other are doing like that. I remember that my son, when he was in Grade 1 or 2 once drew Nike logo on his shoes, may be just to feel better that he too had Nike shoes. When I was in Grade 6, I created a homemade booklet to collect stamps because other students in my class used to collect stamps. This copycat behaviour may be acceptable in the early period of the life, but if continues in the adult life, it leads to problem. Why should I copy what others are doing? Why should I buy a new car because others are replacing their car every three years? I should do it only if I have ready cash and my current car is giving me trouble. In case, my car is running fine and I have a lots of extra cash and I want to get a new car, that may be acceptable but acquiring a new car on loan when the current one is fine is sure no-no.

I decided to write this blog after reading the story of Ana Tacan on the Internet. The family bought earning about $60,000 a year bought a house for $135,000 in 2001. And then continued to increase their expenses by taking loan agains the house and ultimately lost the house. You can read the full story by clicking here.

Fortunately, the first generation immigrants from Asia are financially better organised that an average north American. These people are a little conservative, do not generally acquire credit card debt, and try to payoff their home mortgage as soon as possible. However, the second generation immigrants almost follow the footsteps of average American!

Making Campsite Reservation

We go to camping every year during August for a few days. Last year we went to Awenda Provincial Park. (I have recently uploaded a few photographs from that camp.) Spending a few days with the nature in the camp is very refreshing. Ontario Government operates several provincial parks and some of these are so popular that these are always booked. The booking for the campsite opens five months in advance, and all popular camp grounds get completely booked within the first hour. Since our friends also go with us for camping, we need to book three adjacent or nearby sites, which causes further problems. For this year's camping, we had to book on March 1st. The booking opens at 7 am and one can book on phone or through the Ontario Parks' website. Since the booking opens for thousands of campsites at 7 am and everyone tries to make the booking at the same tine, getting the phone connection to the booking office is only by chance. To improve our chances, we decided that my friend, Narayanan, his wife Usha, me and my wife would try the number simultaneously from our land line and cell phones. That reminds me the movie Lage Rahoo Munna Bhai, where ten people were trying to get connection to the radio station to enable Munna Bhai to be the first to answer the quiz on Mahatma Gandhi. Well, ultimately, I got the connection at around 7.10 am and was able to book three campsites in the campground of our choice -- Arrowhead Provincial Park. I will write more about our stay there after I come back from Arrowhead Provincial Park in August. 

Booking a campsite also reminded me of my adventure in booking railway tickets during peak travel period in eighties and nineties. Indian Railways used to open bookings at 8 am, 90 days in advance. Thus, one had to carefully calculate back 90 days from the required date of travel taking into consideration the number of days in different months and lineup outside the booking office at least one hour before the booking starts. I used to go to the Sarojini Nagar booking office, and the Tea Stall outside the booking office used to do brisk business. The campsite booking experience was somewhat similar to the Railway ticket booking, except that we did not have to lineup and we were in the comfort of our home making bookings over the phone. 

Cheating is not allowed

Today, I saw an interesting photograph in a the Hindustan Times newspaper. The students of a school in Kohlapur, Maharashtra, India are being asked to leave their shoes outside the examination hall in an attempt to curb cheating. Obviously, students must be carrying tips/answers written on small slips (फररहा) of paper in their shoes.

When I was in school, I witnessed student as young as in Grade 2 cheating in examinations. The most common technique of taking tips/notes inside the examination hall was inside the pencil/geometry box. Students could easily look at the tips hidden in those boxes without being caught. Of course, people used to write answers on their hands and legs hidden under their clothes. Another popular technique was to hide pocket/guide books in toilets and go there to look for answers. Some students used to deploy their friends outside the school who would write down the answers, wrap it around a small stone and through it inside the examination hall. Well, now students have cell phones to communicate, as was shown in the Munna Bhai MBBS movie.

When I was in high school, there was a student in my class who had very long neck. His roll number was one less than mine, so he was always seated in front me. While facing forward, he could somehow bend his neck and read answers from my answer sheets! Surprisingly, he was never caught by teachers.

These days, so much of material is available on the Internet that it becomes very easy to pickup available material and present to the teacher as original. Sometimes students copy ideas and other times, they copy text word for word. This kind of cheating has a name -- plagiarism. For more information, visit http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Plagiarism_and_the_Internet. To counter plagiarism, commercial software are available that the school, university or student may use to check if the work is original.

Why do students cheat in exams and/or assignments? There are several reasons. Most students feel that is okay as almost everyone is doing it, and they will never be caught. May be, they have too much study load that they don't have enough time to do the original work, or the teachers expect exceptionally high quality work from students.

When I used to study in Pusa Polytechnic, we were asked to buy emgineering books that were written by the same lecturers who used to teach us. Those books were basically copy of classic books written by Frederick Emmonos Terman (1900 - 1982) and J D Ryder. Now, that's a different kind of plagiarism!

Positive Effects of Financial Slowdown

The financial slowdown, that started in USA and spread to the entire world is having some positive benefits for Americans. First, they now understand that their wealth cannot continue to grow for ever. Second, they need to save for the rainy days. Americans used to save close to none prior to 2008. The US personal saving rate that was 0% in 2007, improved to 1.7% in January - November 2008, and jumped to 3.6% in December 2008. This happened as more workers were laid off, house prices plunged and the stock market tanked. If Americans save some money, this will be good for them, but may not so good if the US Financial think tank wants people to spend more so that the economy may get out of recession.

I remember a story how USA got out of recession last time. Well, long long ago, USA was in deep depression. Almost all industries, including steel, automobiles and cement closed down. No factories were running. No one was buying cars. One day, one man named Peter goes to a car dealership and tells the manager that he wants to buy car. The manager jumped with joy, but there was no car in the dealer's showroom. So, the dealership's manager tells Peter that he would have to wait as he needs to place an order for the car with the car manufacturer. The manager takes down Peter's address and tells him that he would contact him as soon as the car becomes available.

The car dealership calls the car factory and places an order for 10 cars, hoping more orders would follow. However, the car factory does not have steel to make cars. So they order steel for 1000 cars from a Steel Mill. The Steel Mill needs coal. So they order coal, and so on. In the end, coal mills, steel mills, car factories -- every sector of the economy starts working and the country comes out of recession, and the car is delivered to the car dealership. The Car factory feels so happy that they decide to give the car to Peter, who placed the first car order and helped bring the country out of recession, as a gift for free.

The Manager of the car dealership goes to Peter's house. Peter's mother opens the door. When the manager asks for Peter, her mother gets a little worried. She tells the manager that her son is mentally retarded and does not know what he is doing, and requests to please excuse him if he has done anything wrong. When the Manager tells Peter's mother that her mentally retarded son has brought the country out of recession, she does not understand anything and continues to stare at the manager.

इंडिया India Rising

Everyone talks about the rise of India during the last few years. The rise is particularly visible in the middle class people living in the metro and large cities. However, like China, rising salaries, opportunities and improved standard of living is confined only to large cities, and has not trickled down to the smaller cities and rural areas, where the majority of India lives. After independence in 1947, when Nehru started building huge public-sector companies, he also though that the prosperity will trickle down to the entire country; however, it did not happen. Of course, one happy development that has spread to the entire country is reliable communication, which is perhaps the cheapest in the world. Even sadhus use cellphones these days!



Depending on whom you ask, you would get different views about the rise of India. BBC's "The Changing World" broadcasted a very interesting four-part detailed documentary about India's booming economy. This program, which was originally aired in February 2007 is available for listening. Each part is about 25 minutes long.

Part I : Changing Life in Large Cities

A new materialism and consumerism is an obvious sign of India ’s growing middle class -- Shopping Malls, Luxury Apartments, Cars, Hotels... Earlier India used to spiritually rich, but materially very poor. Now, it’s a very different story. Click to listen...

Part II: India that has been Left Out

This part focuses on the Indian state of Bihar, India's Heart of Darkness, left out of India ’s economic revolution. Click to listen...

Part III: India's Changing Entertainment Industry.

Click to listen...

Part IV: Environment and Social Cost of the Booming Economy

Click to listen...

Our Trip to Vrindavan and Agra

During my previous visit to New Delhi, India, my wife's cousin Vandana and her husband Sunil organised a two day trip to Vrindavan and Agra. In all, there were nine pople in the group, including my wife Ritu (Savita) and my sons Ankur and Anuj. We hired a van and started the trip around 10 am from Vandana and Sunil's residence in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi on a sunny winter day in December. At the border of Haryana and UP, we were held up for some time due to some confusion about the permit the driver of the van was carrying. While we were waiting for the permit issue to be resolved, a bandarwala (monkey performer) appeared and provided some entertainment. 

Vrindavan 

We reached the town of Vrindavan in the afternoon. Vrindavan is popular for old Hindu temples, the most famous being the Banke Bihari temple. The moment we entered Vrindavan, several tough looking young man moved in the front of our van and tried to force us to accept one of them as a guide. We had tough time telling them that we don't need their services. Vrindavan is an old town with narrow streets. While trying to reach the Ranganath temple, we ended up on a street that was so norrow that on several occasions, I had to get down to puch bicyles, rickshaws and even cows aside to let our van move forward. In the evening, we visited the famous Banke Bihari temple. 

The temple is sitauted in a narrow lane just three metres wide. The atmosphere in and around the temple was so different that we felt that we were in a different world. It appears that temple complex lives in the previous century. Before proceeding to Agra, we visited the ISKCON temple built by ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement. This beautiful temple made of white marble is loacted at the outskirts of Vrindavan. Don't forget to visit this temple if visit Vrindavan. 

Agra

We reached Agra at night and checked in a hotel. Next day, after having breakfast in the hotel we proceeded toward Taj Mahal around 10.30 am. To reduce the effect of vehicle pollution, carbon-dioxide emitting vehicles are not allowed to go near Taj Mahal. After parking our van about 1 kilometer from Taj Mahal, one person offered to take us to Taj Mahan in his battery-operated van for very reasonable price. We gladly hopped into his van. While taking us toward Taj Mahal, that person told us that the monument opens at 11 am, so instead of waiting at the gate, he would take us to a UP Government handicrafts shop for our benefit. We believed in what he told and did significant shopping at that shop. Later we learnt that Taj Mahal opens in the morning at sunrise and that shop, which did not not belong to the UP Government sold us stuff at nearly double the market rates. 

Well, after finishing the shopping, that battery van driver did take us to Taj Mahal. This was my third visit to Taj Mahal, but I felt am witnessing the world's wonder for the first time. We were lucky that it was a beautiful bright sunny day. We spent a few hours in the Taj Mahal complex and then proceeded toward Delhi. On the way back to New Delhi, we stopped briefly at Fatehpur Sikri, another historical city that has the famous Buland Darwala. We reached our past mid-night after having two fun-filled days. 

Note: Please see the photo album for a few photographs from our trip. 

I Saved $2.75

Today I saved $2.75.

I usually go to my office by car; however, today I gave the car to my son, Ankur, who had to reach his University at 8 a.m. The bus ride to his University is close to two hours, whereas, my office being just 8 kms away, it takes much less. Since the weather was quite cold (about -15 degrees Celsius), my wife asked me to give the car to Ankur, and instead go to office by bus. While going to her office, she dropped me at the bus stop. My office is about 5 KMs from that point. Instead of taking the bus, I decided to walk to my office.

The weather was cold, but it did not feel so cold as the sun was shining. I had some difficulty walking on the snow-covered, frozen sidewalks (footpaths), which were quite slippery. I had to walk a bit slow to avoid falling. After walking about two kilometres, the sidewalks became snow-cleared, and I could walk easily. The journey took about 50 minutes, and I saved $2.75, the cost of a bus ticket. Besides that, I got free exercise and lots of morning fresh air. Instead of feeling tired, I felt refreshed on reaching my office.

During lunch time, I usually walk to a shopping centre to do my banking or buy some grocery. The shopping centre is about a kilometre away. I am bit surprised to find an old lady, about 70 years old, walking the route every day, no matter whether it is raining or snowing. My uncle once told me that he walked a distance of about 8 kilometres every day for several years in hot as well as cold (and very cold) weather of Toronto. Regular walking made him strong. He is now 74 years old and in perfect health.

I remember another incident from 1980. I used to work in DCM Data Products in New Delhi, and my friend, Anil Kumar used to work close by. We were entitled to go by Taxi and claim the fare from the office when were asked to go for official work outside the office. Most employees used to go by TSR (Three-wheelers Scooter Rickshaw) and claim Taxi fare to make some pocket money. One day, Anil Kumar told me that when he is asked by his office to go to close by places on official duty, he walks and claims the Taxi fare!

Walking is good for health. Keep walking.

Bihar Driving License Application Form

There are not many Taxalis in the world. According to one estimate, they are probably just a few hundred left in world. Most of Taxalis are settled in India, USA and Canada. Though World Wildlife Fund has not declared them an endangered species, they are considering to take some concrete action in the near future. Well, one on my past time is to Google Taxalis on the web. And one day, I found an interesting post about Bihar Driving License Form by Megha Taxali (Full disclosure: I personally don't know Megha). Here is what Megha posted. (I hope it won't offend anybody.)

DRIVING LICENSE APPLIKASON PHOROM

NOTE: If you dot knows, please copy from another applikason phorom. For phurthar instructions, see bottom applikason.
Please do not soot the person at the applikason kounter. He will give you the licen.

1. Last name:
(_) Yadav
(_) Sinha
(_) Pandey
(_) Misra
(_) Dot no
(Check karet box)

2. Phrist name:
(_) Ramprasad
(_) Lakhan
(_) Sivprasad
(_) Jamnaprasad
(_) Dot no
(Check karet box)

3. Age:
(_) Less than phipty
(_) Greater than phipty
(_) Dot no
(Check karet box)

4. Sex:
____ (M)
____ (F)
____ not sure
____ not applicable

5. Chappal Size:
____ Lepht
____ Right

6. Occupason:
(_) Politison
(_) Doodhwala
(_) Pehelwaan
(_) Housewife
(_) Un-employed
(Check karet box)

7. Number of children libing in the household: ___

8. Number that are yours: ___

9. Mother name: _______________________

10. Phather Name: ____________________ (If not no, leave blank)

11. Ejjucason: 1 2 3 4 (Circle highest class attended)

12. Dental rekard:
(_) Ellow
(_) Berownish-ellow
(_) Berown
(_) Belack
(_) Others - Give egjhakt color
(Check karet box)

Your thumb imparesson (If you are copying from another applikason pharom, please do not copy thumb imparession also. Please provide your own thumb imparession.)

PELEASE DO NOT USE PHINGERS OF YOUR LEGS.

Use thumb on your lepht hand only. If you dont have lepht hand, use your thumb on right hand. If you do not have right hand, use thumb on lepht hand.

NOTE - IF YOU DONT HAVE BOTH HANDS, YOU CANNOT DRIVE. WE ARE VARY ISTRICT ABOUT THIS

Are Credit Cards Good or Bad?

It depends...

Whether a credit card is good or bad for you depends on your situation and how you handle the monthly credit card statement. Basically, there are two types of credit card customers – first those who payoff their entire monthly credit card statement balance every month, and second those who don’t pay the complete balance (and carry forward the balance to the next month).

You Payoff Your Entire Monthly Balance

If you payoff the entire balance on your credit card statement, the credit card should be good for you (though may not be good for the credit card company). You typically enjoy interest-free purchases during the month and get additional grace period of two-three weeks to payoff the balance after you receive the monthly statement. Depending on the type of credit card, you may get additional benefits, such as free airline tickets, discounts or even cash back. Just to give an example, during 1998-2003, TD GM Visa card gave me a credit equal to 5% of my total purchases towards purchase of a new GM vehicle. In 2003, when I purchased a GM car, I ended up getting a discount of about $1,800 due to purchases on my TD GM Visa card. Now I have a cash back card that gives me 1% of my net purchases on the card back to me at the end of the year. Besides, some credit card may provide additional benefits, such as free insurance on rental cars, extended warranties and common carrier accident insurance.

You Don’t Payoff the Complete Credit Card Balance

If you don’t payoff the complete credit card balance every month, you don’t get the privilege of interest-free purchases. The credit card company starts changing you interest from the day the transaction is posted to your account. Besides, you don’t get any interest-free grace period to make the payment after you receive your monthly statement. Now the interest the credit card company charges depends on various factors, such as the type of the card, issuing company, your credit history and past payment record. In any case, the interest rate you pay to the credit card company is huge, typically in the range of 18%-50% per annum or about 1.5% to 4% per month.

On your credit card statements, you see two numbers – balance due and minimum payment due. For example, the balance due could be $1000 and minimum payment due could be $20 or $30 (typically 2 to 3% of the balance or $10, whichever is more). As long as you continue to make the minimum payment, the credit card company will continue to allow you to make additional purchases on the credit card. But, do you have any idea how much time will it take to payoff the balance if you make just the minimum payments every month. Let us consider that you make a purchase of $1000 on your credit card that charges 30% interest per annum and the minimum payment is 3% of the outstanding balance or $10, whichever is more. If you just make the minimum payment every month, it will take 292 months (24 years and 4 months) to completely payoff the $1,000 purchase. In that time, you would also pay $3,726.01 in interest! Paying $3,726.01 in interest just for the convenience of buying something when you don’t have ready cash is huge price!

The moral of the story is that if you can’t payoff the complete balance at the end of the month, you should cut your credit cards in two. If you carry balance on your credit cards, you should try to payoff the balance as soon as possible (and don’t buy anything on that credit card until the balance is paid in full.) Any one, particularly students, who has no regular income, should never get a credit card. On the other hand, if you have regular income and are confident that you can completely payoff your credit card balance at the end of the month, it is okay to use credit card, however, you should always remember your limit.

It is not always possible to go completely credit card free. For instance, many hotels and rental car companies won’t make a booking or handover the keys of the car/hotel room without first having a valid credit card. To take care of such situations, or to make an online purchase, there is no harm to keep a low-limit credit card. But, always remember your limit!

Note: It is estimated that in USA, about 40% card holders carry balance. In 2008, the average credit card balance was $11,000, which was about $4,000 15 years ago. Figures for Canada are quite similar to those for USA.