From Promoter of Consumerism to Consumer Activist-Part-I ( R.Desikan)

R. Desikan is a highly respected consumer activist who is looked upon for advice on any consumer-related issue by both State and Central Governments. Scores of people approach him every week seeking redressal for their product or service-related problems. Though I have known Desikan for over 40 years, I saw his fiery passion and crusading spirit for consumer activism from close quarters only when he invited me to join the Consumer Association of India as a Trustee a couple of years ago.

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Desikan's fighting spirit can be traced back to his school days. What he lacked in terms of physical size in height and weight, he compensated with rustic intelligence and raw common sense.

When he was still in school, a diminutive young boy who showed no fear in dealing with any situation, he was challenged by a big bully in the class to a wrestling match. He accepted the challenge. With his clever mind he quickly identified the weak spot of the boy and managed to get hold of that part in a vice-like grip and would not let go until the boy, in sheer agony, surrendered. Desikan was to later adopt the same strategy in dealing with erring corporate goliaths as a consumer activist.

Born in Srirangam, he was brought up in a village called Desamanikam in Tirunelveli District. After schooling there, he joined Madras Christian College to pursue a course in Mathematics and Economics, subjects which he hated. He would often bunk class to watch English films – always first day-first show. Unfortunately, within six months of his joining college, his contractor father passed away, leaving the burden of bringing up the family on his eldest son. Desikan, the younger son, had to discontinue his college education as his brother found it difficult to pay the college fees. He now taught himself by becoming a voracious reader of books, often spending hours at the Connemara Library in Madras.

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Desikan's first job was as a special health worker, in which role he had to visit several villages assigned to him and examine people for ailments and report them to Government for action. However, impressed by his enterprise and passion for books, Dr. (Rev.) J.R. Macphail, the former Principal of Madras Christian College, persuaded Desikan to help import books and magazines for use in the libraries of Madras Christian College, Women's Christian College, and Christian Medical College, Vellore. This probably sowed the seeds of entrepreneurship in Desikan and the experience came in handy when he launched his own publishing house later in life.

While he continued importing books and magazines, G.R. Devarajan & Co., a well-known wholesale distributor of books and magazines in Madras, sought Desikan's help to appoint Distribution Agents for Reader's Digest and Life and Time magazines. This gave Desikan an opportunity to visit every important town in South India and he gained valuable insights into the distribution business. Impressed by his performance, the company made him a Director and its Company Secretary. That was in 1956 and Desikan was just 24.

Unfortunately, in 1958, Devarajan's business collapsed for various reasons and Desikan joined the Southern Languages Book Trust (SLBT) as its Development Officer. SLBT, at the time, was involved in the translation of World Classics . He remembers that Rajaji's Chakravarthi Thirumagan sold 1,00,000 copies in English and a book titled How to Repair a Motorcycle published by Higginbotham's sold 75,000 copies. Desikan helped SLBT open book outlets in Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Madras. In those days, Madras had only two established bookshops and 25 magazine outlets. Desikan's efforts helped create 150 bookshops and 1200 retail book outlets in Madras alone.

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Around this time his elder brother passed away and the responsibility of looking after his large family fell on Desikan's shoulders. He realised that he was now responsible for the education of his brother's four sons and a daughter as well. He decided to postpone his own marriage and look for a more lucrative job. Between 1961 and 1966, he was the representative of Imprint magazine in India. His success with Imprint made Reader's Digest offer Desikan the position of Regional Manager (South) based in Madras. In 1968, he was transferred as its Bombay representative and, within a year, was promoted as Advertisement Manager. In this role he pioneered the concept of the 'Advertiser's Supplement', the first of its kind in any magazine in the country. It was a 32-page insert on the topic 'Good Health', consisting of 65% editorial matter and 35% advertisements.

It was in Reader's Digest, that Desikan met his future wife Nirmala, who was the Executive Assistant to the MD. Having fulfilled his commitment to educate his brother's children and creating a future for them, Desikan decided to get married. He was 36. In spite of company rules prohibiting married couples working in the same organisation, Parameshwaran, the MD of the company, got special permission from headquarters to keep both Nirmala and Desikan with Reader's Digest, as he found them indispensable. Nirmala proved to be the greatest asset in Desikan's life. Coming from a large family, Nirmala was not only a great homemaker but also a great support to Desikan in all his, often adventurous, ideas! He was the ideas man and she was the executor of his ideas. A truly 'Made for a Each Other' couple!

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When his contract with Reader's Digest ended in 1973, he decided to move to Madras, for his family's sake. His good friend (Babu) Krishnaswamy had insisted that he join Krishnaswamy Associates, the documentary/ad film makers, as a Director. He accepted the offer and helped the firm quadruple its turnover in one year.

While still with Krishnaswamy, his love for the publishing business got the better of him and he decided to start a magazine called Indian Needlewoman under the banner of Speciality Publications with Nirmala as its Editor. It had the support of Madura Coats, the well-known textile company based in South India. Inspired by the success of the magazine, Desikan and Nirmala decided to launch a slew of magazines, all pioneering efforts at the time.

Indian Needlewoman was followed by Indian Cookery. Later, Mangayar Malar, the first ever Tamil magazine exclusively targeting women, was launched. Based on the success of Mangayar Malar, he combined the two English magazines to launch Indian Housewife, soon to be followed by the Hindi version, Grahani and Grahasthi.

Then, in 1977, Desikan thought of a local community newspaper to be distributed free, another first of its kind in the country. South Madras News, a weekly, was devoted to local news and promoted local talent which were not getting enough exposure in the major media. The magazine also paved the way for representing the problems of the South Madras community to the government in power. A natural corollary was the establishment of an NGO called SMN Consumer Protection Council in 1987. It was significant, because it followed close on the heels of the much-debated Indian Consumer Protection Act 1986 passed by Parliament the previous year. The Act was to help the much exploited Indian consumer, empowering him with rights and responsibilities. This was the beginning of Desikan's avatar as an aggressive consumer activist.

(To be concluded next fortnight)

To be contended and Happy

Every morning when I start for my walk, I see one of my neighbors, squatting on the floor in the front veranda of his house, busy writing something in a notebook, placed on the low desk in front of him. On one day I stopped and asked him what was he writing every day? He smiled back and said; “I invoke God by writing the word ‘Rama Jayam’ to fill at least 10 pages every day, and when I have collected enough of these notebooks, I send them to the Rama temple in the city”

This fifty plus gentleman is a brilliant chartered accountant who was heading the Finance Department of a large Chennai based industrial group with all the perks that go with the job, including a chauffeur driven car. One fine morning he gave up all these privileges by resigning from his job. He was just 40. He was fed up of compromising on his values to keep his corporate job. His conscience was against all that the management was asking him to do to produce a healthy picture of the company, when the facts were otherwise. Interestingly, he decided not to take up any other job because he knew that in any corporate job he would have to make compromises and he had also begun to hate the rat race. He decided to stay put at home doing what he enjoyed the most.

He has a small family of three including his wife and mother and obviously has enough savings to lead a decent life. He acquired a bicycle and uses it locally for doing errands for the family. When he has to go out of the locality to attend functions he uses the public transport. He has kept himself busy with assignments from a professional institute, which he can do sitting at home. He hardly watches TV nor reads any books but uses any spare time he has to write the word ‘Ramajayam’ in his notebook.

When he is around you will always find him laughing heartily, narrating some interesting story or the other. I have never seen a more cheerful and contended man.

Another friend who was a doctor gave up his successful practice in Mumbai to settle down in Chennai.
He decided to play the stock market sitting at home in front of his computer. Rest of the time he takes life easy looking after the interests of his family and generally leading a relaxed life. He also seems to be very contended with his life.

I also know of two other friends, both brilliant students, opting for careers, where they refused to push themselves. Both were reluctant to take promotions after a point in life because of the stress and strain that would involve. One took to religion in a big way – a pious man who performed the ritual Sandya Vandanam three times a day. With no specific ambitions in life, except for performing his family duties he was a contended man who spent every spare moment invoking the name of his favorite, Lord Krishna.

The other friend reached a reasonably good stature in the corporate world. A practical, no-nonsense guy, he is the coolest person I have known in life. Nothing ruffles him, nor does he get excited over any event in his life. Though an atheist right from the beginning, he has been reading scriptures of all religions to find out the answer to the eternal question ‘Who am I?”. I don’t know whether he has found the answer yet but I know that as a person with no great ambition, no big targets in life but with a very positive attitude he has been leading a much contended life.

If contentment leads to happiness you can say that all the above people are a happy lot.

Unlike these friends, right from childhood I have been a very ambitious man. Always trying to take on challenges and converting them into opportunities. A born dreamer I am forever pursuing small targets often leading to bigger goals. I am aware that I give the impression of being an impatient man who cannot tolerate slow coaches leading to my being tense most of the time. Does it mean that I am not content? Am I an unhappy man? Certainly not! I have thoroughly enjoyed the seven decades of my hectic life and continue to find new challenges which will keep the adrenalin flowing in my veins all the time. That is what makes me feel contended and happy.

Happiness is a state of mind. So also is contentment. Obviously what leads to contentment and happiness varies from person to person

Embarassing moments

We all face embarrassing moments in life, when we wish the ground below would open up and swallow us! Let me share with you a few such moments from my life.


One of the first instances relates to my son when he was still in school. A boy who was very fussy when it came to eating – like most children are, he hated the sight of many items, particularly Upma. Once on a visit to a friend’s place, it was tiffin time and my friend had prepared upma for everyone. Looking at the item, I confidently told her, “My son does not like upma, so don’t give it to him, he will only waste it.”

Before she could revert with an alternative, my son shot back, “No aunty, I like this type of upma very much”. He literally grabbed the plate from her. Not only did he eat the upma in a jiffy, but also asked for a second helping. I did not know where to hide my face. My friend consoled me by saying, “Don’t worry, my children also do this to me”. It is some consolation to know that all children are the same when it comes to embarrassing their parents!

I generally have a policy of not lying. That is mainly because I have found that to cover up one lie you have to tell many more lies to justify the first lie. With a poor memory like mine, I find myself caught with my ‘pants down’ on the rare occasion when I have been forced to tell a lie; as it happened the other day…

A person, whom I consider a pest, wanted to meet me on some matter. I was not very keen on meeting him, so when he called to ask if he could meet me on a particular evening, I told him that I have an appointment with a doctor on that day and he will have to excuse me. I completely forgot the talk with him and happily landed at another friend’s place for dinner at the same time. Much to my embarrassment I found that ‘pest’ also at the party. Naturally, I had to tell another lie to cover up my first lie, but I know I was not very convincing!

The most common disease that all of us suffer; leading to embarrassment almost on a daily basis, is the temporary lapse of memory in relation to names of friends. Engrossed in an interesting conversation with a friend when another friend suddenly slaps your back to draw your attention and you have to introduce the two friends – and then you realise that you have forgotten the names of both of them! I get out of such embarrassing situations by requesting both the friends to introduce themselves or asking for their latest visiting cards for updating my mailing list!

I will never forget an embarrassing experience I had on a train journey from Chennai to Bangalore. I had booked my travel ticket on my favourite Brindavan Express on a particular day. As is my practice I reached the station 45 minutes early and after double checking my coach and seat number, I got into the train. I was comfortably settled in my seat reading the morning newspaper when suddenly I realized that another passenger was tapping my shoulder to draw my attention. “Sorry sir, the seat you are occupying is my seat” he said. I pulled out my ticket, looked at the coach and seat number and told him confidently, “This is my seat as per the reserved ticket I have” and without even looking at the passenger’s reaction I went back to reading my paper.

A few minutes later the passenger was back .He was now beaming and told me, “I have checked the reservation chart on the coach and I find that my name is appearing against this seat number. Let me see your ticket sir?” Before I could look at my ticket, he grabbed it from my hand and when his expression changed to that of a winner in a contest I knew I was in trouble. “Sorry sir, you are late for this train only by 24 hours. Your ticket is for yesterday’s Brindavan Express!”

When I sheepishly got up to retrieve my baggage I could feel the pitying looks I received from my fellow passengers who were watching the fun. I have never felt as embarrassed and humiliated as I felt that day!!

These days, however, as a senior citizen I seem to be causing embarrassment to my children very often, with my behaviour in public. When they stiffen and their faces become red I know I have performed some indiscrete act or said something which I should not have!

The pleasure of walking at Elliot`s Beach

A morning walk has become an integral part of my life so much so that if I miss walking even for a day I feel miserable – as miserable as when I don't get my mandatory morning coffee or am unable to get rid of the garbage of the previous day from my belly!

The morning walks are all the more pleasurable as I get to see the rising sun every morning (except when the Sun God decides to hide behind clouds) and breathe in fresh sea air as I walk on the beautiful Elliots Beach Road, which is just a 10-minute walk from my house. Oh, yes, I go for a walk in my car! Don't mistake me, I take the car up to the beach road, park it at an allotted space and then go for a walk! The thirty-minute walk is a daily invigorating experience.

An interesting aspect of the morning walks is the very sight of the hundreds of people who walk on the Beach Road. They come from all strata and age groups, a melting pot of religions, regions, castes and communities. There are single men and women or groups of them taking a brisk walk, many of them listening to music on their I-pods. Some of them carry their mobiles, speaking in a loud voice with their spouses, children, friends or business contacts, letting the whole world listen to their problems. A few of them appear to be talking loudly to themselves while walking – you think they are crazy but then you realise that they are operating a hands-free mobile and are actually talking to someone!

There are a few who believe that they must stop and not only say 'Hi' to their friends but also discuss the day's politics or weather, thus defeating the very purpose of having a brisk 30 minutes' walk every day! I know of a friend who has learnt to tackle such unwanted intruders. If any one stops him on the way to say 'Hi', he continues to jump or jog on the spot until the conversation is over and then continues to walk!

Another acquaintance walks with his palms together forming a 'namaste' behind his back. According to him it is a healthy practice which he has perfected over the years; I tried it and failed. Beyond taking my hands behind my back, I just could not bring the palms together to the 'namaste' position! There is a man who has a habit of walking with his left arm firmly in place on the side and the right arm swinging up and down during his really brisk walk. There are a few who specialise in walking backwards, and others who practise yoga, meditation, pranayamam and Surya Namaskar while sitting on the parapet wall bordering the walker's footpath.

During the walks you cannot miss the group of senior citizens, both male and female, sitting on the same parapet wall having heated discussions. The women are invariably talking about the problems with their daughters-in-law or maid servants and the men talk only about politics or cricket.

What is very funny is the sight of some women in outlandish or ill-fitting clothes! Like the other day, my wife and I came across an old lady – she must be over 80 years old – who was wearing loose fitting jeans, a T-shirt, a 'red' pottu on her forehead and hair in plaits like a typical South Indian woman. Obviously she is the mother of an NRI who has converted her from nine-yard sarees to jeans and T-shirts! Equally funny is a fat old man walking with a quarter (not half) pant (proper shorts, if I may say so) with a T-shirt of some US University, probably gifted by his NRI son, and wearing a splash of vibhoothi and a pottu on his forehead!

The most beautiful thing about these morning walks is that nobody really bothers about your clothes or your peculiar walking habits. Most people walk totally lost in their thoughts, like I do most of the time; sometimes I don't even notice friends who pass by wishing me.

Then there are the vendors selling fresh vegetables, flowers, tender coconuts, and a variety of herbal juices targeting the fitness freaks. Not to mention the organisations which offer a guaranteed programme to reduce weight and a group of people of all shapes and sizes and ages waiting to get advice from these experts. Over the weekends, you cannot miss the many sales representatives of companies trying to promote products, ranging from a loan to a four-wheeler for a largely upper middle class target audience.

I do feel sorry for those fitness freaks from Adyar who are content with having their daily dose of exercise on the treadmills at homes or in nearby gyms. They are missing the real fun and joy of an energising walk on beautiful Elliot's Beach Road, especially in the morning when the air is not yet polluted by exhaust from four-wheelers which line up both sides of the road in the evening.

Procrastination

There is an old saying in Hindi, which translated into English means, if you can do something tomorrow do it today, if it is today, do it now (kal Karen so aaj kar: aaj Karen so ab) emphasising the importance of prompt action from everyone.

But in reality there is a tendency among people to procrastinate. If something can wait till tomorrow, why do it today? This attitude is most evident among children and the youth of today. I remember a friend always complaining about his children not listening to him. Whenever he asked them to do something they would reply, ‘we will do it tomorrow’ and the tomorrow would never come.

Procrastination may cause one to lose a good opportunity. Sometimes procrastination can also cost a person very dearly. Most common situation relates to health . If you have a medical condition prevailing for a couple of days, instead of procrastinating a visit to the doctor, it is better to see him immediately. You may be able to detect a critical ailment early and thus save yourself from serious problems later

Another situation that is very common is related to travel. If you know you are going to travel a couple of months later and have the dates firmed up, book your travel tickets immediately. Even if you have to cancel the tickets later, for some reason or the other, the cancellation charge you pay is negligible. Whereas, if you keep booking tickets using the Tatkal scheme of the Railways, you pay an extra amount which is sizeable compared to the cost of the ticket. Besides there is the uncertainty of getting such tickets. Similarly, if it is air travel, with a no. of low cost carriers (LCCs) you get much cheaper rates if you book early. Closer to the date air tickets cost a bomb. Procrastination invariably leads to wasteful expenditures!

Another area where procrastination can cause untold damage is in terms of relationships. If you are seriously in love with somebody, better to express it early to the opposite sex, so that you know where the other person stands vis-à-vis your love. If you don’t act early, you may lose out!

Similarly, it is equally important to express your love to your near and dear ones or appreciation to any service provider as soon as you are in receipt of a kind act or efficient service. If you wait for an opportune moment to express your thanks later, sometimes it might be too late, making you feel miserable! Do not forget that all of us suffer from a syndrome called `Out of sight, out of mind`.A long time ago a good friend had helped me out of a crisis and I wanted to thank him by presenting him with a small gift. While I was procrastinating because of job pressures, the friend suddenly died in an accident. I lost my opportunity to thank him for ever. The memory makes me feel miserable, even today!

When it comes to service providers, we are generally prompt in complaining about poor services. But how many of us take the trouble of expressing a word of thanks orally or in writing to the person concerned, immediately. From experience I have learnt that such acts generate enormous good will which helps you get, out of turn services, later!

Another area where we practice procrastination and suffer immensely , relates to our jobs. Though we are given sufficient time to do a job by our boss ( atleast some of them do ), we tend to keep postponing the job until it becomes a crisis leading to avoidable stress and health problems.

Even on the home front if you do not attend to repairs of small gadgets and equipment immediately, it can lead to major breakdowns. A quick fix solution for just Rs.5/- offered by FEVIQUICK may be cheaper than trying to replace a whole section of a furniture item or a gadget.

Since the potential negative effects of Procrastination are great, youngsters must learn to get out of this disease early in life., Later, It becomes difficult to cure!

Feedback welcome on 9840392082 or rvrajan42@gmail.com

Breaking Rules

All of us break rules, sometime or the other, almost on a daily basis. The most common being the breaking of traffic rules. Like parking in a ‘No Parking’ zone or driving through a street with `No Entry` sign or driving without helmets. Like jumping the red signal - an offence committed by even well-educated people; like you and me! Even if you are a law abiding citizen who stops at a red signal, the impatient driver behind you who wants to jump the signal will keep honking, cursing you for blocking his way. Forcing you to break the rule!

Then there are drivers of two wheelers and auto rickshaws who keep overtaking you suddenly from the left, especially when you are turning into a road on the left. The other day a young boy on his two-wheeler, trying to negotiate the narrow gap between my car and the edge of the road on the left, hit my car and fell down. Instead of accepting and apologizing for his mistake, he started abusing me for not looking at my left rear view mirror before turning! He did not know the basic rule that he is not supposed to overtake a vehicle from the left, leave alone overtaking on a turn.

The worst culprits are drivers on highways who drive without dimming the lights blinding drivers of vehicles coming from opposite direction, endangering the lives of people who may be crossing the roads or hitting vehicles without parking lights – emphasizing the need for medians on all the highways.

One of the basic lessons in traffic rules taught to the children when they are still in school is on crossing roads- ` look to the right first and then left and cross’. Obviously an old lady did not know the rule when she was almost hit by my car, as she suddenly crossed the road looking to her left for ongoing vehicles, ignoring my car coming from the right!

Another common mistake people make is switching lanes indiscriminately, without giving any indication of their intention or suddenly opening the front side door after parking on a main road, again endangering the lives of vehicles that may be overtaking their car at that precise moment. The rule says look into the rear view mirror for any vehicles behind you before you open the door, but who cares!

The latest traffic hazard is caused by the ubiquitous mobile- people talking on their mobiles while crossing a road or while driving on a road with heavy traffic. Recently a relative lost his teenage son when he was hit by a speeding two wheeler while crossing the road right infront of his home- because he was busy talking on his mobile oblivious of passing vehicles!

Most of the accidents on the roads occur because the majority of drivers are not even aware of the traffic rules. Anyone in India can get a driving license for any vehicle by paying a bribe to the road inspectors. They can also get away by bribing the traffic cops any time they are caught breaking a rule.

I remember an incident during one of my trips to USA. My cousin and I were returning home in his car after attending an evening programme. It was 11 pm. There was absolutely no traffic on the side road leading to his house. But still he stopped at the red signal. When I asked him why he did not jump the signal, as there was no traffic, his reply was ‘This is USA and not India. There might be a hidden camera somewhere and if I am caught jumping the red signal; I might have to pay a stiff fine!’

In another instance I met a journalist friend who had moved to Singapore, at his office during one of my trips to that very `fine` city. He boasted to me that he had jumped a red signal on Orchard Road that day but no policeman had stopped him. His happiness was short-lived because three days later he got a challan from the Singapore Traffic police asking him to pay a fine of a few hundred Singapore dollars. He had been caught on camera breaking a traffic rule.

I don’t think the effort of the Government to install hidden cameras at major signals is going to help improve the situation in our country. Our denizens will continue to break rules because they know law takes its own sweet time to reach the defaulters and even when it reaches them, they can get away by greasing the palms of the government agents responsible for implementing the rules!

This is the bane of our society!

A House `Husband`

The other day I met an old friend after a long time. He asked me ‘So what do you do these days?’

With a sheepish grin I said, ‘Oh, I have become a full time House Husband’.

He was intrigued. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked me.

‘You see my wife has not been keeping well and since she needs complete rest, I am doing her job in the house. ‘

My friend wished me good luck and a speedy recovery to my wife and moved on to meet another friend.

I believe I am not an MCP (must check with my wife on what she thinks about that) and have always tried to help around the house in whatever way I can. During the last two months I have realised that there is a world of difference between a part time helper and taking charge of running the household.

Since I enjoy cooking, the first thing I did was to ban my wife from entering the kitchen and promised her that I will take care of the food needs of everyone in the house – that is my wife & I apart from my son and daughter-in-law who join us over the weekends. Besides that, as we live in a house complex with my siblings and my son`s family staying nearby, there is always a variety of food items available during any meal.


But I have realised that the toughest part is what happens before and after each meal. Though there is a part time maid servant who helps in cleaning after the cooking, the need to keep washing the small plates, drinking glasses and other miscellaneous items which constantly appear, is a demanding chore. And so is the effort to keep the kitchen clean, regularly wiping the granite slabs and kitchen sink and the dining table after every big and small meal!


The pressure starts from the morning, when I have to plan the menu for the day – not just the meals but also the variety of fruit juices and soups to give to my ailing wife at periodic intervals. Even that is not as difficult as the effort needed to keep the whole house neat and clean as per the high benchmarks established by my better half. I can no more throw away used clothes in the corner nor can I scatter the books and the papers I read all over the house. Now I have to keep them in their rightful places. I have to ensure that the clothes for washing are sorted out into colour and white , the collars and other soiled areas brushed before they are loaded into the washing machine. And also ensure that the dried clothes are collected in the evening, folded neatly, placed in their designated compartments in the cupboard!


I have to worry and attend to every little plumbing, electrical or the maintenance problem that a housewife faces every day and see that the difficult-to-get plumber, electrician, etc. do their jobs properly and attend to callers, who keep ringing the doorbell constantly ( It is another irritant to be put up with ), Most annoying are the courier guys who make it a point to disturb you when you are trying to have a well-deserved afternoon siesta to recharge your batteries.


Then, there are visitors calling to enquire about my wife’s health and offering useful and sometimes not so useful suggestions. I have to offer them a cup of tea or coffee. When relatives visit from far off places then I have to offer them atleast a simple meal.


I have to also cope up with outstation house guests- brothers, assorted cousins , uncles, aunts and in-laws visiting us for a couple of days. You have to worry about looking after their timely requirements in addition to the needs of a patient at home, in terms of giving her timely medicines.


There is so much pressure at home that I have no time to think of anything else. So much so I have lost count of the days and dates. The other day I got confused about the day of the week. I thought it was Tuesday when it was already Wednesday. There are days when I find that I have had no time to go out, except for my mandatory morning walks!


If you are finding yourself short of breath just reading this piece, as I did, imagine the mindboggling stress and strain that housewives, especially women with school going children go through every day.


The job of a house ‘husband’, as I am finding it the hard way, is very tough! Fortunately, as a retired man with all the time available, I am enjoying the 24 x 7 project that God has forced on me! To be of service to my better half, who has slogged all her life to provide me a beautiful home and a wonderful family, is a privilege indeed!