(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.
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.
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.
This is what the Internet was created for that we might see amazing things like this.
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