What homemakers wish from the Budget

A letter from an Indian homemaker to the Finance Manager ahead of the budget!
Dear FM, I would like to introduce myself as the Finance Manager of my household. As I read the newspapers every day, I see so many expectations from so many segments. You must surely be overwhelmed.
As an FM I understand how it is to handle expectations and hence this letter is not my expectations but my advice to you on what you can do in the Budget.
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Income tax
I see so many articles talking about income tax and the expectations to raise the income tax slabs. I’d say, you know better and this expectation to hike the slabs is a perennial thing that crops up every budget, raises hopes so high and mostly ends up in disappointment. Some years it was Mr. Mukerjee and sometimes it’s been you – PC. I advice, do not hike the slabs, I doubt if any housewife really cares about taxation issues as what we are bothered is the cash flow to the house.

 

My advice – Please make the tax collection systems stronger and efficient so there is a bigger mop up and you do not have to depend on the revenue from common people like us along. Also show us projects which will ensure that the money my husband pays as tax is used to make life better for us.

 

Help me reduce my expenses
A penny saved is a penny earned is what I have taught my children. I am sure you have known it all your life. Housewives are called so because of our inability to ‘earn’ income. But no one credits us for the savings we make on expenses. We don’t mind that as long as we can save more. Today, the biggest expense for our household is the school fees and children’s education. I can compromise on our lifestyle but cannot do so with children’s education.

 

My advice – Please announce schemes which can result in a reduction in the cost of QUALITY education thus reducing my monthly outflow on fees. Please strengthen the Public Distribution System, so we are able to get quality food products at affordable prices. Please announce strong schemes for agriculture so we can better vegetables and grains at lower prices.

 

Salary for Housewife
There has been a lot of debate over husbands paying a salary to a housewife. It is a highly sensitive issue and hence I would not like to explore that. But, at the same time, I am sure you understand that a housewife is an employee who is paid only in love and affection. Why don’t you break that taboo and fix a monetary value to our services and make it an expense which is tax deductible for my husband. You could have a fixed component common for all housewives and a variable component based on number of married years – this will also help reduce the huge cost of divorces our country is facing right now.

 

Housewives as part of SME sector
Every budget has so much talk about SMEs and supporting them. But what about the informal SME sector that runs is so many households? Tailoring, Crafts, Tuitions etc. We contribute so much to the GDP but it is never accounted. Actually, we like it to stay that way. But, can you announce some schemes so that housewives get better financial opportunities to render their services without actually walking out of the house.

 

Gold and its irony
It’s funny that when I want to buy gold I want the prices to come crashing down, but the moment I have bought it, I want the prices to sky rocket. Today a lot of housewives invest in Gold as that is one of the few investments we easily understand.

 

Advice – can you announce simple yet effective financially effective investment schemes run by the government so we can have more liquidity? From an economics perspective too this will give cash flow for the government rather than all that money lying idle in the form of bangles and necklaces which I rarely wear –what with the law and order situation outside. Lower demand for gold will also help rationalize the prices in the gold market and help me buy better stuff at affordable prices. 

 

I wrote this with the best intentions in mind and also as I understand that you do not have a housewife (your wife is an earning member isn’t it) and hence do not have first hand experience of our wishes from the budget.

 

The bottom-line – Give us ways in which cost of Food, Education and Shelter come down. We don’t care if CTBT is imposed or some new form of taxation is scrapped. At the end of the day, can you help me put more money in the saving jar at home? If you can do that, you have my vote!

Regards
The aam aadmi ki gharelu biwi

Do you have an ex-box?

Are you secretly holding on to a photo of your ex after a bitter breakup? Fret not! Remembering the past can improve your mood. Study

If you're secretly holding on to a photo of an ex after a breakup, you're not alone. A recent survey by Friends Reunited in the UK found that over 43 percent of women keep hard copies of their ex's pictures. In fact, a majority of us have similar memories packed away in an 'ex box' at the bottom of the cupboard. And it isn't just photographs, it could be all sorts of memorabilia like cinema tickets, dead flowers, and teenage journals! Good thing, because studies have found that remembering the past helps improve moods and increases self-esteem, and as psychologist Clay Routledge suggests, nostalgia is a 'good psychological medicine'.

Shruti Bhardwaj, 21
"It doesn't mean I still have feelings for my ex...""I've got a plastic piggy bank that an ex gave me because I was bad at saving money, and he knew I wanted to, for a college trip. Then there are little knick knacks from all over the world, like bracelets and key chains-most of my exes travelled a lot. I've also have a journal I used to write in high school, chronicling my 'crushes'. These things are a big part of who I am today, and keeping them doesn't mean I'm still in love with the people who gave them to me."

Akriti Narula, 26
"I don't see why I should throw away some of my best memories."
"My friends have often asked me why I still keep that box filled with cards, bracelets, dried flowers, and an old-school camera, under lock and key at the back of my cupboard. I've asked myself the same thing and my logic is this: these were great memories created with someone I once cared for deeply. It's a part of who I am. We're still friends, and that hasn't stopped me for continuing my search for Prince Charming."

Swati Talwar, 23
"It helps me remember how far I've come, and how strong I am."
"I've got this box of stuff that's kept hidden and out-of-sight, under my bed. It's full of cards, love letters, and even some make-up, that I've held on to over the years. I was in a serious relationship for three years, and it was a painful break-up. I guess, holding on to these memories reminds me of what I've been through-and survived. I don't go through the contents often, but when I do, I just feel confident about the future...and finding my perfect match!"

Chromebook Pixel—Google’s groundbreaker laptop

Google has once again stunned the tech world. The new laptop they unveiled yesterday in San Francisco—the ‘Chromebook Pixel’— stands out for many things radically new.

Its specs compete with any of the existing Ultrabooks or Macbooks; its resolution outdoes the best existing ones by almost 100 percent. That’s as good as, if not better than, what Apple calls ‘retina display’. 

It has touchscreen, along with a keyboard and mousepad; the high-res touchscreen allows all the fancies and utilities like ‘tap’, ‘pinch to zoom’ and ‘swipe’.

Chromebook Pixel runs on Intel Core i5 processor and comes out in two models: 32 GB model with WiFi only, 64 GB model with WiFi and LTE.

Apart from the 32 GB or 64 GB built-in storage, Google offers 1TB free space on Google Drive for three years.

In addition to all regular Google apps and docs, Chrome Pixel buyers can enjoy seamless integration with Microsoft Office—to satisfy the MS Office fanatics Google is offering Quick Office for free.

Where to buy: The Chromebook Pixel is already available in Google Play, and shall soon be available on bestbuy.com.

The Price: The google blog says it has aimed the Chromebook Pixel for ‘especially for power users who have fully embraced the cloud’.  Hence, unlike the earlier Chromebooks from Google and its partner manufacturers like Samsung, Acer and HP, which are sold for as low as $199, the Chromebook Pixel targets an elite class of buyers who don’t bother about the price, but minds the performance; users who are happy working on the cloud across superfast connectivity. Hence the price is in the upper band: $ 1299 for 32 GB WiFi model; $ 1449 for the 64 GB LTE model.

More details (as touted by Google and gleaned from sneak previews)

Screen: 12.85-inch touch-sensitive Gorilla Glass screen. 2560 x 1700 pixels on 12.85 inch screen translate to 4.3 million pixels, i.e. 239 pixels per inch whereas the best current laptops give a resolution of 118 ppi according to Google.

OS: Chrome

Webcam: 720p

Audio: Powerful, full-range speakers tucked under the backlit keyboard. Three microphones designed and deployed in a manner that cancels all surrounding noise—two mics on either side of the cam, one laser mic under the keyboard. These ensure, Google claims, that the system cancels out even some keyboard tapping noises that you may make during videoconferences.

Look and feel: Anodized aluminium alloy body that is smooth and durable; vents and screws are hidden, ports are not marked.

Speed: Driven by Intel Core i5 processor and solid state flash memory architecture, it is quick and agile.

Security: built-in antivirus protection, regular updates every few weeks

5 things every woman gets wrong

From our body weight to our choice of literature, you may be surprised by all the things us ladies get wrong! Uncover some surprising female health mistakes and misconceptions with these 5 things every woman gets wrong.

Body weight

We have bad news, ladies – according to research studies, we’re all fatter than we think! A British Government survey found that we are all guilty of underestimating our size, with women misjudging their weight the most. The study found that the average woman is 5lbs heavier than she thinks she is, and for women in their late 30s this goes up to 8lbs. Furthermore, nearly half of all parents of obese children thought their child was the right weight.

These results corroborate findings by Columbia University researchers which showed that overweight mothers tend to underestimate their own and their children’s weight. Experts believe many of us underestimate our weight in a bid to convince ourselves we’re not too far off our ideal size, while the lead author of the study of Columbia University believes it may also be because perception of weight has become skewed as obesity and being overweight are becoming the norm.

Body shape

Not only do many of us believe we weigh less than we actually do, according to research we are also not quite as curvaceous as we think. A study of about 3000 women commissioned by the Vitality Show showed that 27 per cent of women believed they had an hourglass figure – one of the most sought after body shapes – while only 21 per cent believed they were the less coveted apple shaped. However, in reality more than half had an apple shaped figure and far fewer women were hourglass shaped than they thought.

In fact, experts believe that just 8 per cent of women have the coveted hourglass shape, which is not only thought to be desirable to the opposite sex but is also believed to have health benefits including increased fertility and intelligence levels. Experts believe that the lifestyle of modern working women is to blame for the decline in the hourglass shape as stress increases the distribution of fat around the abdomen.

Reading material

You might not think your choice of novel has any implications on your wellbeing, however research by Virginia Tech has found that reading chick lit could be bad for your health. It is well-documented that many modern women (and men) suffer from body image issues and feel under pressure to look a certain way. However, while many put this down to the influence of underweight celebrities and models, the study suggests that fictional icons could be just as bad for your self-esteem.

The study looked at the effect of chick lit protagonists with low self esteem on readers, and found that reading about characters with low body confidence made female readers more aware of their own size. The participants reported feeling significantly less attractive when they read about a slim character and significantly more worried about their weight when they read about one with low self esteem. While this doesn’t mean you need to ditch chick lit entirely, choosing novels with characters with normal or high body confidence could help to give your own a boost.

Self-worth

Research shows that many women underestimate themselves both physically and intellectually, while men are more likely to overestimate their virtues. Research results published in the journal Psychological Science found that, when participants were placed in a setup described as “speed meeting” with members of the opposite sex and asked to rate the sexual interest of their partner, the men were more likely to overestimate their attractiveness and the interest of their partner, while most women underestimated their partner’s sexual interest.

Furthermore, an analysis of 25 studies by a professor at University College London showed that, although men and women tend to have the same average IQ, women also underestimate their intelligence while men overestimate theirs. Also, not only did female participants give a lower estimate of their own intelligence, both men and women tended to think their male relations were more intelligent than their female ones.

Workouts

While your workouts may keep you fit and slim, research suggests that women are failing in one key aspect when it comes to exercise – improving strength. In fact, studies suggest that women are weaker than they have ever been, which may be because many focus purely on weight loss rather than strength. Concerns that muscles aren’t feminine are also a key factor in our dwindling strength. However, while you may not care about gaining muscles, poor muscle strength has many implications for our health, including increased risk of osteoporosis and back and joint pain.

Another mistake women make when it comes to workouts is following the same regimes as their partner. A new study by researchers at the University of Missouri shows that women and men respond to exercise and diet in different ways, and that women need to do a lot more exercise and pay more attention to their diet to reap the same results as men. While exercising with your partner is a great way to stay motivated, try to tailor your workout to get the results you want.

Bollywood This Week

From Sonam’s bikini to PC’s desi look, here are the movers and shakers of this week.

From Sonam’s bikini to PC’s desi look, here are the movers and shakers of this week.

 

Filmmaker Anurag Basu, who is scripting late singer Kishore Kumar's biopic, is still hunting for the actress to play yesteryear diva Madhubala in the film. While Ranbir Kapoor is set to play Kishore Kumar, sources say that Katrina or Kangna are the hot contenders for Madhubala’s role.

 

After shunning the bikini all this while, Sonam Kapoor is all set to don one for her untitled Yash Raj film. Sonam who has always been bikini-shy had earlier said that her body is not fit for donning a bikini.

 

Director Satish Kaushik will return to direction with the remake of 2012 hit Bengali film 'Bhooter Bhabishyat'. The film traces the life of a group of ghosts in an abandoned bungalow, was one of the highest grossers of last year in the Bengali film industry.

 

PVR Pictures has issued an apology to actor Aamir Khan for misquoting him on Hollywood filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow's new film ‘Zero Dark Thirty’. The actor was quoted talking about the Hollywood film, and Bigelow, in a statement issued by PVR Pictures

 

After playing an autistic girl, Priyanka Chopra will don a desi look for Gunday. The star was recently seen in a pale blue saree on crowded truck laden with bananas and livestock in West Bengal where she was seen shooting with Arjun Kapoor.

 

This is confirmed. Saif Ali Khan is all set to launch wife Kareena’s cousin Arman Kapoor. The film will be directed by Imtiyaz Ali’s brother.