"India builds China's capability against US"

 the real challenge is not the appeasement of China but building capacities to deal with China on equal footing by taming nepotism, racism and corruption.

Source: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g7653j.ct001059

The recently concluded visit of Mr. Modi to China raised many expectations and was not missed by any media. Wall Street Journal tries to summarize Indo-China relationship as 5 gaps based on the economic difference and border disputes that mar the relationship of these Asian Giants. In this context, it is interesting to analyze if closing these gaps is in the interest of China and if any of Indian "concessions" are of significance in closing this gaps to ensure peace and prosperity. 

India and China seems to have coexisted in peace for quite a long time until the People Republic of China came to power in 1949 (PRC) overthrowing Republic of China (ROC). India was one of the first countries to recognize PRC and even passed the UN Security Council seat offered to it by US and USSR to China in 1955. Irrespective of these earlier rapprochements, India and China have had 3 major military conflicts in 1962, 1967 and 1987. India suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of China in 1962, after which both India and China with drew to their respective prewar positions. While, Nehru's 'forward policy' is blamed by many of the Western analysts, Indian analysts points out that the inept policy of Nehru was itself a response to Chinese preparation for war since 1959. However, in the later Chola Incident, it seems India was able to inflict over three times as much casualties as it had suffered on China. The later incident in 1987 was bloodless, thanks to some good diplomacy. Irrespective of that fact, and after having moved into the 21st century, the ghost of 1962 looms at large in the Indian mindset.  

Concluded visit and un-reciprocated Concessions

Mr. Modi was as usual more than life itself and the much hyped visit to China was more favorable to China than India. While Mr. Modi was direct in broaching up the subject of border dispute and the growing trade imbalance, nothing concrete was obtained from China. Instead, Mr. Modi ended up announcing e-visas to Chinese, which is not reciprocated as in the case of any previous concessions. Further, until now, China is issuing stapled visas to Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The e-visa is also a problem from a security perspective, given the Chinese penchant for spying. In addition to this it is understood that Chinese companies struck deals worth $22 billions, which would only widen the trade-deficit with China.  

However, the most important concession China got was before Mr. Modi reached China, which unfortunately didn't receive much media attention it should have. During the UPA regime, after the many cries of strategic analysts, the then Prime Minister of India approved the setting up of Indian Mountain Strike Force (IMSF). This IMSF was particularly raised to counter the Chinese Rapid Action Force (RAFs) stationed at the other side of the border. There is no announcement on China reducing its RAF or moving it away from its stations near the border. Shortly, before Mr. Modi's visit Mr. Parrikar announced the reduction the size of  IMSF, ostensibly under the guise of finance crunch.

In contrast to many expectations for Mr. Modi before he came to power and irrespective of his overwhelming majority, NDA Govt. is yet to re-initiate India's covert capabilities.

Source: UN COMTRADE

 India feeds China's Might

Mr. Modi may have been direct seeking clarification on Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Mr. Ajit Doval would may have been direct in saying that all bilateral relations are centered around the border issue, but India has been seeking the clarification for over 10 years now. And, China is definitely not inclined to provide that lest it would cool of the border issue. Many Indian analysts are of the view that China is particularly uncomfortable with the clause in 2005 agreement that explicitly states that no populated regions would be exchanged. Further, they are of the opinion that China is keeping up the ante over the border issue to pressure India to isolate Dalai Lama. 

However, I tend to disagree. For one reason, Chinese are pragmatists. They have no problem over Human Right excesses whether in their own land or in a foreign country. If all they wanted was to eliminate Dalai Lama, they could have resorted to a number of ways to that without upping the ante over the border issue. Their "all-weather friend" has sufficient influence and penetration and influence to see to that. China itself has sufficient level of penetration in India. Hence, I couldn't believe that Dalai Lama is the primary issue over which China is least inclined to solve the border dispute. 

In my perspective, the border issue is more to do with the China's global ambition to equal US in power terms. Dalai Lama and Tibet is a just an add-on.

In my perspective, the major reason for China to keep up the border issue is its to equal US in economic and power terms. For that China, which is largely dependent on its exports require markets. India, with its huge population and potential is a great market for its products, irrespective of the fact those products are defective or of the least quality. The bilateral relationships were ignited after 1987 and it is the hope of India that an increased economic relationship with China is likely to make China  more sympathetic to its cause, irrespective of many actions to the contrary by the latter. As long as the border issue is hot and as long as the 1962 ghost looms at large in the Indian mindset, China expects India to bend backwards to suits its interest. India, aptly does so. With India being the largest trading partner of China, it is not in the interest of China to settle the dispute now or in near future. If the border dispute is settled, there would be no incentive to India to keep up the yawning trade deficit and would be free to chose partners more amenable to its interest, which China cannot afford. Hence, China wants the border issue to burn hot as much as possible. The only time, when it may settle is when China equals US in power parity and have "settled" its disputes over South China Sea. India unwittingly aids in the rise of China's might through economic largess (trade deals that greatly benefit China). Such trade surplus on the Chinese part have enabled it to modernize its defence forces with a double digit raise in defence expenditure. This only draws India into a vicious cycle of appeasement and fear, yet no action is seen from the side of India. 

Challenge of India

It is difficult not to draw parallels between India 1962 and India in 2015. While it is true that India has developed military and economic capabilities, it is also true that China is ahead of India in all these sphere by at least a decade. Like then, infrastructure development is largely neglected at the best tardy. Like then, China is building infrastructure that could be used strategically but India stand as a mute spectator. India is even running short of ammunitions. Like then, if not more, nepotism, racism, casteism, and corruption is rampant in India. It is believed that the 1962 debacle was at least partially because of nepotism. In addition to all these, like then, India still believes in appeasement politics vis-a-vis China.

Currently, India is not China's target at least for now. Any war with India would mean a setback to China by at least decade, irrespective of the fact that India may lose. In a way, India's border dispute is a red-herring to keep people attention on one thing when the real fight is somewhere else. The West hardly misses it but try to use the situation to its advantage by proposing to sell its antiquated equipments to India. India is forced to consider those deals mainly because of its lack of capacity to produce those equipments indigenously. 

Hence, the continued appeasement by India to win China's sympathy could hardly be expected to work. If the border dispute is to be settled India has to deal with China at the same level. However, it is highly unlikely that the China would be least interested to settle the dispute before it becomes equal to US and have settled its territorial disputes in the South China Sea. In this context, it could said that India is building China's might against US, through its huge trade deficits vis-a-vis China (in the same vein, other trading partners who maintain a large trade deficit vis-a-vis China). 

Though Mr. Modi is a fan of China, he had hardly understood China. China came to this position most through its covert activities (Ex. US arrests of Chinese for economic espionage) and by reversing brain drain. On the other hand, India neither has covert abilities nor is keen on reversing brain drain. This is irrespective of the fact that many in the Indian diaspora is increasingly showing interest to come back for economic opportunities and resume family ties. The current economic crises and subsequent policies, many Indian students and researches were stranded abroad who would gladly return given an opportunity. Hence, if Mr. Modi sincerely longs to settle the border dispute, the real challenge is not the appeasement of China but building capacities to deal with China on equal footing by taming nepotism, racism and corruption. 

Why are people poor?

Poverty is a problem all over the world. Since recession the rich-poor gap has only widened. In this article, I share some of my observations and thoughts on why some stay poor. 

1. They are lazy: Some may take offence on this but if the truth be told, it is the poor who spend more time with their TV's (or any entertainment) than the rich (who delve more on self-improvement, management, etc.). For example, the grumpy cat pic (the owner became a millionaire what about those who got entertained?). How many times have you come across someone sharing items that makes or motivates someone to think/think differently? Further, if you give an idea to make money to a middle class or poor, he/she would immediately produce a deluge of ideas off-his-hat of why your idea won't work and why he/she would never do it (I'm sure many have many pics like Grumpy Cat pic but none even tried to think of something to use them). On the other hand, if you give that idea to a rich he/she would immediately try to analyze the potential of the idea and try to think of how he could make it work. While some may attribute this attitude of the poor to their disinclination to risk taking, I would only attribute it to their laziness to put even the smallest of effort to think it through.
2. They tend to blame everyone else but themselves: The first step to improvement is to acknowledge one's mistake. For example, many wouldn't know that Walt Disney was twice bankrupt before his current successful venture. Hollywood actor Will Smith went nearly broke in 1990 but now is considered among the money-wise. History is replete with people who have outgrown their initial failures. If you ask them why they failed the first time they'd tell you what they did wrong, how they should have done it and possibly why they were successful now. On the other hand, go to a poor and ask the reason for his plight, he/she would immediately blame everyone else (parents, teachers, politicians, economy, poverty, etc.) except themselves.  Personally, my parents never wanted me to do my Masters or PhD. I wanted to pursue higher studies, and I hid all my efforts through my elaborate schemes saving every penny that I could. They were taken off-guard when I went to them with my admission to my Masters. Hence, in my perspective, self-improvement could only begin with self-realization! So, not acknowledging one's own mistake or giving excuses for their lack of action is never going to help anyone.
3. They believe in everyone: The poor trusts everyone, astrologers, politicians, priests, etc, with no questions asked. On the other hand, rich tries to make use of these elements to their advantage. For example, royalties are portrayed by various religious entities throughout history as descendants of Gods or adorned by them to rule common men. Many people believe that and tend to live their life in poverty. While the rich(royalty), would use those religious elements to make the common men endorse their dominion and strengthen their power. Nazis were very adept at spreading rumours to win people's mind, the theory is now widely known as the "Goebbel's law". Now, this is one of the pillars of Psy-warfare (Chinese have a large number of people working on this). Even now, Mr. Modi's Govt. is trying to crack-down NGOs that are trying to protect environment. GoI's (Govt. of India) contention is that these NGOs are funded by foreign elements to prevent development in India. However, if those Nuclear plants come to existence, aren't these the foreign countries which are benefitting from it? Why none asked Mr. Modi's Govt., this question? However, Mr. Modi has no problem in NGOs working to destroy Indian culture or spread Western propaganda (Ex. The Hindu*). In either case, people believed the GoI and didn't even care to question the logic. In this context, I'm only remembered of the great sayings of Thiruvalluvar (sage poet who lived more than 2000 years ago), when I think about their state!
4. They follow the crowd: One of the most deplorable things among the poor is their tendency to follow the crowd. Aren't there any better options, no poor or middle class care to look or hardly do. On the other hand, rich tend to constantly look out for new opportunities. Steve Jobs, learnt calligraphy, which eventually motivated him invent the first Apple Computers. Hardly, a middle class or poor, tend to make the connection between calligraphy and computers. Basically, they do things because everyone does them. When we had our baby, some of our acquaintances/friends (Canada and its Govt. as such is promoting breast-feeding in a great way...) were "advising" us to use baby-formula instead mother's milk. I was both astounded and disappointed. Their reason, every other person they knew of used that brand of formula-milk. None, cared to look or analyze the benefits of one over  the other. 
5. Under or Over educated: Most of the poor either are less educated or overeducated. American Bureau of Labor statistics makes a direct connection between the level of education and the amount of money earned. Though this is an average, less education could be considered a cause for low income. However, what is not very apparent is, too much education also tends to make one poor. Statistics paint a grim picture of the student debt of graduates, every year. Consider also the plight of postdocs who have great ideas but not much opportunities. In Australia, one postdoc seemed to have worked as a forklift, before getting into some position. On the other hand, rich start to earn early. While education is in their interest, they would rather spend more time in learning their business and developing it. 
6. They are cowards: The poor are less inclined to take risk or to stand out from the crowd. Even when their property is acquired by their Govt.,  or forcefully abducted by some "mafia" the poor hardly put a brave fight, even when they might have an advantage of winning the fight. For example, take the case of Target which recently failed in Canada. The CEO went home with more money than the severance package of all the other Target employees' put together. Even though the leadership is responsible for the failure, it is employees who ended up paying the price. Yet, there has been no noticeable protest or anger about it. This is irrespective of the fact that Canada is in election mode now and no politician would risk antagonizing their electorate. 
7. They are not born rich: Being born to rich couple has its advantage. A recent study found the  richer twin to have better mental faculties than the poorer twin. Further, even when a poor has some idea, it is the rich who have the money to implement that and they usually hire the poor for their ideas. However, the good news is that around 50% of the new-billionaires are self-made (Ex. Sergey Brin).
8. Lack of sacrifice: Every achievement requires sacrifice (No pain, no gain). Many rich, would have almost sacrificed their entire youth to get to the point they are now. They would have traded their "popularity" in their schools for their current position even be ridiculed and bullied. Many wouldn't even have had an opportunity to have date, while working like a nerd (many are). While, I wonder how many of the poor had ever sacrificed their want for an ice-cream or the dinner to save that one buck for investing?!
9. Selflessness: One of the interesting things about rich, is that they are mean and tend to stretch every bit of their dollar. Warren Buffett, though is one among the top 10 billionaires consistently, who is well-known for his frugality.  However, he is not the only one. Think about the poor, they are usually over spending and more generous than these billionaires.

Please don't forget to share with us your thoughts on why you think poor are poor...

* It is my observation that 'The Hindu' publish mostly Western propaganda, when it comes to socio-economic issues and hardly prints a rational comment opposing that view. Please refer to my earlier post, for example.

Are Parents stupid?

At least thats what Tess and Lia along with Ms. Wynne think so, when Ms. Wynne accepted the mandate of 13-year olds from an online campaign.

• Only 33% of population in India is affected by Herpex Simplex but 89% of Ontarians are!

• Chalmydia infection among women from conservative region in India is only 0.1%

...these kids were indeed influenced...

Tessa and Lia’s school project garnered 40,000 signatures that eventually led to an audience with the premier of Ontario and inclusion of “consent” in the new sex-ed curriculum¹. While the effort is worthy of appreciation, using their ignorance to push a personally motivated agenda is not.

“parents should not use their children as political pawns” 

 “All the opposition is coming from uninformed perspective” 

“We knew we wanted to do the project on something surrounding feminism because that’s something we’re both really passionate about and we wanted to do something that really affects us as young people and as women”  

establishing a consent culture is the best way to stop rape culture 

“…People don't like to admit that sex is about pleasure and desire, not just reproductive stuff, and that teenagers are having sex as young as middle school,”

These are some of the responses of the kids during the interview. Their responses were replete with innocence and ignorance while scarce on critical thinking and immaturity. 

Coming from a family with good exposure of the to the internals of politics, I wouldn’t be surprised if these kids were indeed influenced by some proxies of Ms. Wynne. Unfortunately, it seems the girls have played right into the hands of politicians who couldn’t care less for their future. My suspicions are further strengthened by their claims that the opposition is ill-informed, which only could mean someone (teachers and parents, most likely) “well-informed” them. Further, they also seem to be seriously mis-informed of the socio-economic factors that drives the culture of rapes in that they believe this culture could be abolished by consent culture. The girls while further disparaging parents exposed the typical teenage prurience and immaturity in saying the sex is about pleasure and desire. While it is no doubt pleasurable, unintended teenage pregnancy, STIs, etc., are not. And sex due to love is more pleasurable than the raw gratification of animalistic instincts.

Though Ms. Wynne is a woman, a mother, has a master’s in education, and has served as a school council chair and minister of education⁶, she is apparently no specialist in Children’s psychology. The entire debate would have been healthier if the effects of the curriculum on the mental faculties of children are extensively/exhaustively studied by both Govt. and independent psychologist, which never happened.

Like Ms. Wynne I’m not a psychologist. Hence, I cannot comment on how this curriculum would affect the children in long term. However, I do have a PhD (in another field), and do research different information to identify patterns and anomalies. With that ability when I compare a conservative region in India, where sex education is mostly limited to knowing the names of reproductive system in biology (for high school students), with the West the following are conspicuous:

• HSV prevalence in India is only 33% while it is over 99% in the West (89% in Ontario)².
• Chlamydia infection is rare with increase in the conservativeness of the society. In a rural community only 0.1% of the women were found positive for Chlamydia infection. However, that’s not the case in the West³.
• While teenage pregnancy is intended (due to early marriage*) in India, it is mostly unintended in the West affecting the development of the children as well as the parents ^4-5.

I have intentionally stayed away from whether the contents are age-appropriate or not as it is subjective and usually changes with the region and demography. I believe parents are usually the better judge of what is better for their children. I would have admired the premier, had she shown the same determination in educating the parents instead of using children as her political game.

The only fault of the parents here is their failure to educate their children to try and understand the ulterior motives behind suggestions.

*I would like to reserve the discussions on early/child marriage for another post due to their irrelevance in this context.

References

¹http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/19/ontario-sex-ed-consent_n_7277456.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-parents

²https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_herpes_simplex

³http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0034794

⁴http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teenage_birth_rate_per_1000_women_15%E2%80%9319,_2000-09.svg

⁵http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy

⁶http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sex-ed-in-ontario-kathleen-wynne-fires-back-at-pc-critic-1.2970133

Harper’s Red-Herrings

Stephen Harper is now widely acclaimed as the master of “Fear Politics”. The twin pillars of his political strategy are the Islamophobia and Xenophobia, which I consider are red-herrings for the inadequacies of his economic policies. 

Islamophobia:

Bill C-51

The two terror attacks in Canada gave Mr. Harper sufficient political leverage to enact his controversial Bill C-51. However, what Mr. Harper failed to explain and what the public and opposition failed to ask is: How is the bill expected to bring down 'lone-wolf' attacks? Both of these attacks seemed to have been enacted by individuals whose emotional/mental state is questionable. One is a drug addict while the other dreamed of becoming a martyr when his attempt to start a business in Quebec failed. So, does Mr.Harper have methods to predict the acts of mentally/emotionally unstable individuals? With the provisions of the bill, even if the agencies manages to imprison each and everyone who has even accidentally come across ISIS propaganda, it is likely that these type of attackers would likely to take another cause. I believe, psychologically, they want to prove/feel important. If so, wouldn't it require a different approach?

Further, I really suspect, if the intention of the bill is solely to protect the Canadians against terror attacks. It can easily be misused to oppress opposition. I mean what would prevent Mr. Harper to classify Mr. Trudeau, for example,  as a "sympathizer" when Mr. Harper comes to power again?

Niqiab issue

Thankfully, the Federal Court of Canada struck down the ban on Niqiab during the public citizenship oath. This may look like an isolated incident. However, when taken together with the Quebec judge refusing to hear the case of a women wearing hijab, it seems likely a coordinated strategy to harass the Muslim community in Canada. The judge cited the regulation on wearing head coverings and shades in the courtroom. Would the judge apply the same rules to Nuns, who cover their heads? If not, aren't these discriminatory practices aimed at alienating and harassing a community? I also wonder, how are these Niqiab/Hijab bans likely to bring down terrorist incidents? Is this issue more important than the economy that is tanking?

What is more appalling is why no one asked these questions? These issues made the highlights in dailies but everyone seems to forget to ask these questions? And isn't denial of justice in the name of religion against Canadian Values?

Refugee prioritization

Another controversial issue, that should have awakened the conscience of Canadians is the Federal Governments move to prioritize refugee settlements based on religion. This goes against the accepted International norms in the issue. By such acts, the Federal Govt. is acting similar to ISIS and "Boko Haram", whom it claims to act against. Apart from setting a bad precedent in the International politics, these acts are likely to diminish the stature of Canadian values and Canada's role in International politics. I wonder, if the Canadians are aware and OK with this?

Further, what is the reasoning behind this? I wonder, what are the movies Mr. Harper and his MPs are watching before making up policies :)

Xenophobia:

Harper keep on harping how immigrants are drawn towards Canada for business prospects because of the stable economy while his MPs' were busy making racist comments, "Brownies stealing Canadian jobs". I'm not sure how far is this true or who is being compared to make these statements. But I do know that, from IMF's economic outlook, Western GDP is slowing down consistently for the past few years while the Asian economy is on the rise. In this case, if people are immigrating for economic reasons, they are most likely to immigrate to the Asian countries as many Indians and Chinese had done during recent times. Further, I wonder if the MP was insinuating that their immigration systems are broken. If so, whose responsibility is that?

I have not read any news where Harper or his minions trumping Canada's education prowess. In any case, many Asian countries fair much better than Canada in primary education (when accessible) and US fairs much better than Canada in higher-education and research  (when accessible) . So, if there is exodus for education, it should be towards these countries. Having said this, I believe the immigrants were mostly drawn towards Canada for her values (free thought, free speech, etc.), which Mr. Harper seem intent on destroying. 

Another of Harper's policies, could downright be construed as "cheating". According to his Express-Entry pool for Canadian residentship, applicants are required to have at least 5 years of stay in Canada to realize the category's full points. However, according to his Four-in-Four-Out policy, immigrants should leave Canada after 4 years, and is unlikely to get the full points required to get them an invitation for Canadian Resident status. It also fails to differentiate between the researchers who are exempt from LMO from the general general immigrant workers. Wouldn't this policy create brain drain? Wouldn't that likely to affect economy?

Red-herrings of Economic inadequacies:

Harper didn't stop/reprimand his MP  for his racial comment. He, however, is trying to alienate and harass communities by progressively enacting policies. Since, there were not consistent opposition, I wonder if the Canadians have finally abandoned their values they stood for over the years and were onboard with Mr. Harper. 

I would have at least been happy had some one asked, "Mr. Harper, Could you prove that your policies have worked rationally using data?" I also, believe these pillars of Mr. Harper's political strategy are designed to divert attention of the Canadian public from real issues - inadequacies of his economic policies

Frugal Living may cost your job!

In the last few years, there have been many pages cropping up with tips on frugal living. I have also shared my views and practices in my previous post, on frugal living. However, since every micro-economic decisions has its implications to macro-economy and vice versa, I’m trying to offer here a different perspective.

Frugal living is based on the concept of reducing expenditures while maximizing one’s health and economic benefits. It is based on identifying the necessary expenditures from unnecessary expenditures and to act smartly. However, such acts, is also likely to reduce demand for products, which are likely to result in increase in unemployment as the owners and CEOs try to max-out their profits at the cost of employees, curb innovation, etc. These consequences would likely reduce Governmental income, which would increase the debt-to-GDP ratio (as GDP would reduce due reduction in demand) leading the country into the vicious cycle of austerity. This is depicted in the following graphic. 

A Simple Case Study - eschewing smartphones:

In my perspective, avoiding smartphones (cell phones, if possible) is one of the easiest ways of saving money and probably have enough to invest. However, when the demand for smartphones reduce, first the low cost manufacturers followed by the premium phone manufacturers would see a reduction in demand. This will force them to optimize their investments in a such a way so as to maximize their profits. One of the easiest ways to do that is laying-off employees. They would save money from the salaries of the laid-off employees as well as the exploitation of current employees. When there is a fear for lay-off the current employees tend to cling to their jobs by putting on more hours and working during weekends/holidays. This increase in unemployment is likely to affect the country’s economy adversely (though not that of the CEOs’ or the boards’). Further, in their effort to prioritize investments, they would also cut funding to many research programs, resulting in unemployment and loss of innovation. Further, app manufacturers, game developers, etc. would lose their market, leading to further unemployment. This would have adverse effect on economy as unemployment and debt-to-GDP would rise. Thus saving some bucks by avoiding a product is likely to throw-up people in streets without jobs.

Finally, for people wondering where do I stand, I stand with frugal living. Why? I’m in search of a job and I simply cannot afford otherwise. On the other hand, I strongly believe that the rich should spend more (preferably proportional to their asset) but in general, it is the poor who is spending more all over the world!

Perversion as Parody?

The "A Bad Girl Poster" girl may be a fact!!!

Today I read this article in 'The Hindu'[1], which extolled a poster created by some student(!) from Bangalore. The article motivated me to create the following graphic with my response:

These are my responses. What are yours?!

References

http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/mag-columns/parodying-gender-cliches/article7209411.ece?homepage=true

Frugal living: Tips to live on a budget

Frugal living is not being mean and tightfisted but it is a principle/discipline aimed at understanding the difference between wants and needs and arriving at an optimal solution to maximize benefits! 

Now-a-days, there are many articles in the internet on frugal living. While, I take some hints from them, I do have my reservations. For one, these articles seems to propound tight-fisted approach bent on saving money, with no concern to health or other aspects. As a person, who has been successfully practicing frugal living since 1999, I share my thoughts in this article: 

1.       Differentiate between a ‘need’ and a ‘want’:

This is the primary key for frugal living. A cup of coffee, for many, is a need to get your horses kicking. However, a coffee from Tim Horton’s or Starbucks is more of a want than a need. The amount of caffeine that gets you started is also available in store bought instant coffees. I used to buy a pound of Nescafe from Walmart for ~10CAD; with 4 teaspoons per day the coffee lasted for over 5 months. In other words, the cost of my coffee/cup was ~7cents. While a cup of coffee from Tim Horton’s is ~ 3CAD!!!

Similarly, smokes and drinks are wants, not needs. Some wants can and will be deleterious to your health like smoking and drinking. There is a study that links ageing to alcohol consumption¹.

My strategy to identify want and need:

Need: “Could I survive without this?” if your reply is ‘no’, it is a need!
Want: “Could I survive without this?” if your reply is ‘yes’, it is a want!
Needs need to be fulfilled, but wants can wait!

2.       Health is your greatest asset:

While I buy coffee from Walmart, I never buy vegetables or fruits from Walmart. For one reason, they tend to go bad soon. Another reason, it is hard to find organic or non-GMO products there. While some may argue that an anti-GMO stance is Paleolithic, as a scientist, I’m personally not satisfied with assurances of the companies based on statistically insignificant study samples. Further, there seems to be direct correlation between the number of allergy and cancer cases and the amount of GMO products used by countries. The causality or mechanism has not yet been established behind the correlation, it also happens to be their defense.

I don’t consume alcohol or smoke for the same reason! - Health

While life is not that valuable, health is! Why take risk? (Ask a life insurance personal the value of your life…J)

3.       Babies:

Having babies is among the most difficult both emotionally and financially. It is a dilemma. Every parent is emotionally guided to buy beautiful clothes and toys for them, though we know that they’d out grow them quite fast. It is smart to use hand-me-downs for clothing. Similarly, it is smart to buy toys from second-hand stores (But don’t forget to sanitize before use!). Sometimes, we buy toys that we think the babies would like but we would only find them showing least interest in them. My baby is a great teacher for me in this regard. For babies, the most lovable toys are its parents, don’t ever forget that…!

4.       Set weekly budget targets:

We live on a 100CAD/week budget (for 3) on groceries with a 10% margin. While my wife is the implementation chief on that, I set the targets based on our consumption characteristics. Living with 100CAD is pretty tough, but not impossible. Such targets have also helped us to stay away from temptations, such as cookies or other snacks doused with cornstarch and corn-syrup, produced from GMO crops. Good for our health. In the last 2 years, we haven’t been to any restaurant but we buy only organic produce. If there was some amounts left due to some promotions are stuff, we would indulge ourselves with a cup of ice-cream shared between us. We share ice-creams more because of the health concerns than because of financial concerns.

5.       Source your supplies:

This is quite tricky and requires some knowledge of your locations. Some products are always cheaper in certain stores than in other. Before each week grocery shopping we try to compare prices of produce from different stores and then plan our trip so as to minimize our walking and cost of shopping. Networking is also a great idea to identify sources. My wife’s networking enabled us to find new sources, which we expect to reduce our costs further.

If interested in gardening, small vegetables grown at home are another good source of food practically free!!!

6.       Exploit coupons:

This is a key idea, if you’d like to save some money and most web sites would advise the same. However, sourcing the coupons and timing is the extremely important. For example, when we go for shopping at Bulk barn, we usually buy a pound of Almonds and if it costs less than 10 CAD, we would buy some other things until our bill amount is exactly or slightly over 10 CAD to take advantage of their coupons. We use 6 almonds per day (more almonds mean more fats), which would last until the next coupon is issued. Buying the same amount of almonds from any other shops in our locality is extremely expensive.

7.       Clothing- Trim your wardrobe:

Women would take particular exception at this. Anyway, I have exactly one boots, 1 pair of sneaker and 1 flip-flop. I have exactly 14 pairs of underwear. I don’t mind wearing the same clothes (but not underwearJ). It saves money not only in accessories but also in laundry. Technically, since we don’t have a washing machine in our apartment, my budget target for yearly laundry is 100CAD max. So far so good and I don’t smell like a fish.

8.       Take Transport, only if you have to:

We go by walk to all places within 5 Km radius. Advantage is that we walk at least an hour and it is the best exercise one could have with a baby, who is more than content to enjoy the view outside. Running may not be option to everyone. I damaged my ligaments by trying to run. So, if you have not been practicing sports, it is better you don’t take damaging sports but take mild ones. To save money, try to integrate them with your daily chores like shopping, etc. For me, I really don’t have the patience to wait for the bus, which works in my favor. By walking, you may end up saving over 9000$, an average annual cost to own a car².

9.       You are not cheap:

We don’t take bus, if we could. However, we don’t walk 5Km to an organic store if their sales for the weak doesn’t break-even our cost of time to walk to their store. Time is more valuable than money.

10.   Dump your gadgets:

This includes TV, Xbox, iPhone, etc. Having TV makes you pay more taxes in France. Xbox and iPhone are more likely to waste your most valuable asset – Time. Further, TV is not really good for babies/toddlers. It is better avoided altogether. Think about the amount of subscription charges you may save²!

I hardly have had any cell phone. In my perspective, the phone itself is cheaper in comparison to the amount we have to shell out every month for the data plans and services. I would happily invest that money in something, like I did it on my education and would do it on my children’s education. 

Remember, by throwing off your smartphone you might save around 1700$ per year³!

11.   Small is sweet:

When it comes to living, smaller apartments or homes are sweeter. For one, they keep the family closer. On the other hand, reduce you electricity and maintenance costs. Smaller living space also means kids have to go out to play, where there is no TV, which would greatly benefit their fitness and reduce your headache in cleaning their mess...!

The amount of savings that you could realize is directly proportional to your place of residence. However, these principles had never let me down since 1997, when I started to save money to buy books for engineering entrance exams! Hope, they help you too…J

References

¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_alcohol_on_aging

²https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/pr_120410/

³http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/16/aaa-car-ownership-costs/2070397/

Consent, not age is the problem in early and child marriage - Really?

Recently, I came across an article in ‘The Hindu’¹. The article is based on a report by Nirantar Trust, on child marriage. While child marriage is deplorable and is being increasingly shunned by communities, the study focuses on only 8 states (out of 36, incl. union territories). 

The highlight of the article is, “Based on research in eight States where early marriage is widespread, the report shows how in a system that wishes to control female sexuality, acknowledging that girls can have sexual agency and desires is a threat.” The article states that adolescents are actively discouraged from even conversations on contraception and safe sex to avoid giving them bad idea. Then, it talks of a newspaper baron, who was married at 14 but still pursued her interests.

Finally in the article, the director of Nirantar Trust, says that there exist a lot of funding for work on early and child marriage in India. Apparently, this study is funded by the American Jewish World Service.

Before getting into detail, my question is whether this study is peer-reviewed? If so, who are the reviewers? If not, how can it be trusted, even if any error/misrepresentation is not intentional. Given, the level of corruption in India, and the need of NGOs to competitively air Western ideologies, any error could well be intentional. 

The article created enough interest in me that I started to peruse the report. The report in its executive summary says that data are collected from 7 states: Rajasthan, Jharkand, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi. In its executive summary, the report gives the following as root causes of child/early marriage:

• Economics of marriage: Even though the study is skewed, as the data is only from 7 states of India, it argues that women in India are considered as “someone else’s wealth“. This type of inference couldn’t even pass the principles of induction. Had the report argued that, poverty is the main cause of child/early marriage, I would have agreed. But ascertaining intent, trying to tie it with a skewed sampling, makes one think of conspiracy or lobbyist mentality.
• Sexuality: 
• Based on the response of an adolescent girl, the article argues that the primary role of marriage in India is to sanctify sex. This is nothing but a defamation of the institution of marriage. It speaks low of a country that had queens ruling the nation when women in many Western countries thought to be incapable to do men’s job. 
• The report also argues, “In a system that wishes to control female sexuality, acknowledging that girls can have sexual agency and desires is a threat. The anxiety caused by this is so strong that even conversations around contraception and safe sex are shameful and actively discouraged, lest they give adolescents the “wrong ideas.”” In India, it is not just the girls’ but also boys’ sexuality is controlled. I have known students expelled from schools (boys) for errors as silly as trying to talk to a girl. I also like to draw attention to the numerous “rape” cases where boys are charged with “rape” charges for trying to marry the girl of their choice. While, I’m not particularly happy about the situation, now as a postdoctoral researcher, I believe that I wouldn’t have come this far had those conditions were not in place. Such conditions are mostly designed to provide the opportunity for youths to mature and achieve their goals. While some have succeeded after marriage, for many it is not possible. Regarding the “wrong idea”, a conversation with an adolescent “to have safe sex” would only translate to “have sex”. So, please don’t give a wrong idea to the audience. 
• The report quotes a female interview respondent, “A girl may wear 10 burkhas, but she will be violated and what happens in the bedroom one will never know until you put a camera there” – This statement is deplorable as it is intentionally designed to make the audience assume and make an impression that women are constantly being violated in their bedrooms. While, I may appreciate the craftiness of the statement, I deplore the intent. When no information is available from the bedroom, insinuating one on other is highly deplorable.

• Gender norms and masculinity: 
  The report states that “the perceived masculinity of a girl’s father lies in his ability to control her sexuality”. This is totally misrepresented; the perceived masculinity of a girl’s father lies in his ability to teach his daughter to control her sexuality and to protect her when required. The same goes in the case of boys too. If the parents fail to raise their sons to control their sexuality, or be “responsible”, the parents are equally shamed. So, the intended perception is misleading.
• Educational and Institutional gaps: 
  In this context, the report highlights that “the trade-off of being “allowed” higher education is a greater conformity to the norms of a “good-girl” who can be trusted to “do the right thing” and stay on the “right path”, which usually implies staying away from romantic relationships and ceding control over other parts of their lives”. By this does the report, and by extension the trust, encourages promiscuity and adultery?  
  What is wrong being expected to do the right thing? Every parents fear for the well-being of their children. So, what is problem? It is not always true that romantic relationships are discouraged. But in a country were caste and class exhibit extreme control, and where men can run away after impregnating a girl, these are precautionary measures. I believe the audience get an idea what the report is trying to imply!
• Centrality of marriage: 
  This is true as well as false at the same time. Same sex-relationships are legally still a grey-area. Are the authors of the report inciting potential-illegality?!
• Risk, vulnerability and uncertainty: 
  Here the report highlights, “Within a rapidly globalizing society risk and uncertainty create anxiety, reinforcing the perception that marriage is one of the only sources of security within a family and larger community”. The interesting thing is, the report say that early marriages are more likely in regions highly prone to disasters such as floods and riots. I’m not sure, how this observation match with the information conveyed from the highlight. From my perspective, this could well be an evolutionary approach to ensure the survival of species. What are the counter arguments?
• Age as axis of power: 
  While I agree with the authors, that not giving power of decisions to youths are making them vulnerable to societal norms and rules enforced by parents and other, I would like to ask if the author is ok, if the girl ended up as a prostitute or the boy ends up as a terrorist but flouting the societal norms and rules? Further, what scientific study could prove that children in their youths are capable of protecting themselves and taking right decisions without guidance? If so, why do we need juvenile law? Do the authors intend to undermine the activities of those against the recent modification to the juvenile law?

The rest of the report goes on to discuss the impact, strategies and their approaches, which are usual mumbo-jumbo. The central flaw in the study is that it fails to understand why child marriage is prevalent in certain states and not others? In fact, most of these states studied don’t have good social development index or prosperous (except for Maharashtra, even though its ranking is less other states). At the best, the conditions and causes, could be applied only to these regions and I believe that the report should not imply a nation-wide trend/cause.

References:

¹ http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/consent-not-age-is-real-issue-in-early-marriage-says-report/article7182448.ece