Wednesday 5 January 2011

Double Whammy - Inflated Cold and Food Prices

(photo from The Hindu newspaper)

Gone are the warm sunny days of December, the cold has intensified in the past few days plummeting the mercury down to the 30s and 40F (10 below C)

8 people have died in my city. (According to the evening news 56 in our state of U.P.) Read a report from The Hindu newspaper HERE

Yesterday it was 1.5 C about 33 F. Brrr ...that 's freezing in an unheated house. Mama keeps in bed under quilts and blankets and when she emerges out of her warm 'cave ' I turn on the small blower heater to provide moderate succor.


I feel colder in the daytime when a chilly wind is blowing. I like reading in bed , but last night I couldn 't hold a book in my frozen hands ( have to hunt for my gloves). I don 't have woollen socks and was wearing cotton ones and Ma gave me her extra pair this morning. I also don 't have proper shoes fit for this weather - mine are too thin.LOL.
Everyone has to wear lots of woollen clothes to keep warm, even indoors. ( picture us like the cartoon above). Doing housework wearing all that armour is quite a task. Specially washing with icy water.

I like to drink lots of hot unsweetened tea and soup.

I made my veg soup with fresh spinach, and bottle gourd (lauki). Last night I made Borscht soup with beets, carrots and cabbage etc. Tried to follow the Russian version, but mine was quite Indianized - I have saved some to have for supper .

My Sheeba also feels very cold. I cover her up as much as possible - but the silly girl wriggles out of everything. She likes to sit on top of the sheets. She likes my old jacket.

Her hair is sticking to all our warm clothes and blankets. I brush them off with a clothes brush and a second later they come back on. I don 't have a solution. John the Baptizer (fore - runner of Christ) in the New Testament times used to wear clothes made of camel 's hair but I feel I am wearing clothes made with dog 's hair. LOL.
My very old vacuum cleaner is too heavy and unwieldy and I can 't use it anymore. I am dreaming of buying a light , small, user friendly one which is about Rupees 2000 ( $50).


But we praise God for all the comfort we have. The poor and homeless people, daily wage and migrant workers don 't have it so good.

Many of them camp out in the open on sidewalks and pavements, under trees or huts and tents made cardboard or plastic sheets. The district administration provides bon fires for warmth, but they are not enough, don 't last very much and not everyone can benefit from them.

The top 2 photos are from my city. The 2 below are from Delhi and Jammu. They were taken from the Times Of India website.
With falling temperature food prices have risen 14 -16% in the past one week. Its hard to put together a decent meal. The prices are pinching us very hard. Money disappears so fast, I feel I 've lost it or have been robbed.I try to use veggies from our garden. We give away lots. I also give away clothes fire wood etc - whatever I can spare. People are closer to the poverty line than ever before. Our poverty line is determined by a certain amount of calories one consumes per day. Millions are living below the poverty line.



On this evening 's news our Home minister P Chidambram said India cannot survive if inflation shoots up like this. I have developed a personal strategy to cope with the price inferno. I convert the prices into US $ and they appear much cheaper. For example if I say 1 doz eggs cost $1.50 its easier to accept it than saying Rupees 48. At least it doesn 't sound so expensive. LOL. So in my mind I keep converting. Indians living in the North America do the opposite and they can hardly take a bite out of a McDonald's burger. LOL.


But in everything we give thanks to God for taking care of us.The Bible says "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God".


I want to end this post with this MUST WATCH video - on a happier note

You must watch this amazing and incredible display of talent, ingenuity, expertize, innovation , imagination, story telling and artistry.
This is what the Internet was created for that we might see amazing things like this.



15 Fertilize my soul:

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Khyra sends some warm furry thoughts to Sheeba!

Of course, that is our temp right now and Khyra LOVES it!

As for the hair, it is a sign of affection!

Anonymous said...

so sorry about the cold weather..its harder especially as we age..so much for global warming....its been cold here in southern California too..but not as bad as many other places...
the video is very good and interesting...hugs and prayers to you and your mom

Nadwrażliwiec said...

It was difficult for me to believe that in India there are so low temperatures. I thought it is tropical country. But snow in India is only in the mountains, is it true? Now in Cracow we have -5 degrees C. In some Polish regions (in mountains or in the Northern-East) temperatures lower than -20 aren't anything odd. In every point of Earth winter is difficult time for poor and homeless people. Take care and warm!

JI said...

Hi Amrita,

I've heard it does get cold in North India. It seems this year is especially cold there. It must be quite hard as buildings are not designed for cold weather. Hopefully it won't last too long.

It's been a cold winter here in UK as you know. At least we have internal heating to keep us warm.

The video was very entertaining. That lady really has talent.

Best wishes,
JI.

Julie said...

The video was amazing. What a talent. I always feel so sorry for the homeless here when the temps are below freezing. I hope they all make into shelters and I donate to the food kitchens regularly. I hope things ease up for you soon and get warmer. I can picture all bundled up trying to read. When my furnace went out a couple of years ago I had every sweater and gloves and 3 pairs of socks on and slept with a hat. Warm wishes to you.

David C Brown said...

While it's colder here we are a bit more used to it!

Glad you are still giving thanks.

Saija said...

i didn't realize you were suffering with such cold weather ... the news here has been showing the flooding in australia and snows in europe and southern states ... our temps are in the -20C range, but we are used to that and our houses have furnaces and of course we all have heavy coats, etc. ...

praying for you and i'm so happy to hear that you are still praising the Lord for how He continues to care for you! (hugs)

Felisol said...

Dear Amrita,
I am shocked that you are having such cold weather. 10 below zero is freezing. As Saija says, our houses are clothing are prepared for these challenges, while yours is not.
Layers upon layers of wool, hot water bottles in bed (even filled empty Coca Cola bottles will do.
From my early childhood I remember our mothers would put layers of news papers between our long johns and the pants when we were out, playing in the snow.News paper is good insulators.
To get away hair from your jumper: Take some scotch tape and drag it over the fabric using the tape as a brush. You may have to change tape strips often.
Good luck.
Yours Felisol

David Edward said...

God will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Amrita said...

Thank you dear friend s thank you for your kind an d warm wishes , thoughts and prayers. It was 1.9C yesterday an d today iys still very chilly.

I found my mittens and thick socks which my sister had given me. I can 't wear them with shoes but they are warm.

I made spinach with lentits - called palak dal. The greens are from our garden.

Amrita said...

Dear Felisol, thank you for your tips on how to keep warm. I have a hot water bottle for Mom, but its leaking. I bought some MSeal - to block it up, lets see if it works.

The scotch tape idea is good.

And a s Khyra 's Mom says its a sign of affection, that really made me feel better about the hair.Sheeba is always at my side even when i am doing my devotions. Thank you for that lovely thought Khyra 's Mom.

Amrita said...

Dear Zim in India we have extreme temperatures

Pat said...

Oh, it's so hard not to be able to warm up. It is snowing here right now, but we are prepared for it and know it comes every winter. Yet there are many homeless in our country who also suffer.
I keep you in my prayers. Keep making hot soups and snuggle up with Sheeba! Sending a warm hug your way!

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

I commiserate with the people of India reeling from a double whammy of extreme cold and runaway inflation. We must all pray that India be converted to the Lord to spare them of more suffering. India and China are two of the most superstitious countries that cater to idolatry and polytheism. No wonder that they are suffering from their malpractices. I pray that you and your loved ones survived these double whammy violently tearing at India today. It is simply ironic that India has some of the wealthiest people in the world and many of the poorest of the poor as well. Praise the Lord that in spite of your meager resources, you still help others in whatever way you can. God bless you more for this. Thanks for the meaningful post. God bless you all always.

Unknown said...

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