The Paint Job

The walls have been painted. Now we are working on the iron frames or grille. The can of aquamarine color got over very quickly 2 liters of it. When I sent the man to fetch some more from the paint shop, he returned with paint from another company. We are using Nerolac and he got Asian Paint. The can also looked old and rusted. He tried to convince me otherwise but I did not listen to him.
He returned empty handed saying they would get the paint the day after tomorrow. Whew, this guy is a major dealer and he doesn' t have enough stock!

Anyway I asked Pradeep ( the head painter who was the only man to show up today) to paint the kitchen and bathroom doors with the chocolate brown color we had. He did that and my kitchen cupboards too.

Tomorrow he will do the Ivory doors and windows.
After 28 years of pale colors , its taking some time getting used to the dark color. In the dark it appears as if the door is open, specially the kitchen back door.

This is Pradeep. He is a nice guy. His mother lives with his family (wife and 3 daughters).

He is concerned about his mother and treats her very well. I told him him to send all his 3 daughters to school an d educate them at least till Class 10 - Junior High. He agreed with me. Literacy is very important to survive in the the modern world, we have to spread this message specially girl child.

Its sad to see these men painting and beautifying other people' s homes while they live in very humble and ramshackle abodes. But at least they have a good means of livelihood. I gave away lots of old clothes to these men.

A Facebook friend from Kerala told me that the wages for daily labourers is very high in that South Indian state.The 100 per cent literacy, affluence and Communist government has contributed to it. If I was living in Kerala I wouldn 't be able to afford house painting at all. I would have to do it myself LOL.

Pradeep brought us these bottle gourds from his neighbour' s garden.The neighbour has an abundance and he gives them away free. We were so blessed we gave away lots of gourd pieces and I made veg soup with gourd, spinach, carrots with onion and garlic and a little seasoning. I also made dal (lentils ) with gourd and today a gourd stir fry (sabzi) I like it , its low cal. You can make a yogurt salad (raita) with it.

Sheeba likes to sun herself on the porch.

Today the neighbour' s wandering dog Naughty attacked her and pulled out a tuft of fur from her neck. . thank goodness I saved her in time. He is jealous of her. Poor gentle Sheeba she was so shocked she did not want to go out of the house for some time.

On Dec 2nd World Disabled Day was observed all over the world and in India. The plight of 70 million disabled people in India is pathetic. 2 % are educated and only 1% find employment. The government and social groups are slowly trying to empower physically challenged people but its just a drop in the ocean. Here are some statistics of which I am also a part.

NUMBER CRUNCH

70 million disabled people in India

95% of the disabled have no access to education, health care and employment

150,000 are disabled due to injury to the spinal cord

10,000 spinal injury cases are reported every year due to road accidents. 82% are men between the ages of 18 -30 years.