Shopping for saris and it’s therapeutic value

                   Shopping  for saris and it’s therapeutic value

There are many suggestions given to drive out mental depression, such as  seeing a comedy movie or scenes in the television, reading comics, joining a friend’s group for some activity or getting out of the home or listening to music etc., But of late shopping is suggested as an activity with higher therapeutic value. Even window shopping is considered as helping to fight depression. We indulge in shopping for acquiring household items, dresses, jewelry, accessories, furniture, latest gadgets, art pieces etc. But as far as women are concerned ,shopping for personal wardrobe is considered as an activity which would instantly drive out mental depression. I have heard many women supporting this idea. It is highly true in the case of Indian women because in no other country the weavers, the designers, the printers of handloom and mill made clothes are glorifying women with such variety of dresses through their creations. All the states in India specialise in a particular type of women dresses especially in weaving of the saris.

The minute a woman decides to buy a sari to get out of depression, she would be indulging in an urgent plan that includes allotment of budget for the purchase, the locality to visit, the shops to enter and a rough idea of the material and color of the of the sari, so that there should not be a repetition of any sari which they already  have or their friends and relatives have, because women get immense satisfaction in wearing exclusive saris which no other women should be seen wearing. (Vanity, thy name is woman)

Then, after entering the shop they hop from counter to counter to see all the available variety of saris even if they are remotely connected to their budget. The excuse for this behavior is to get knowledge regarding the latest designs and prices so that they can use that knowledge during the next available opportunity. This stage in the   shopping has dramatic effect on their mental condition. The mind is a so refreshed after seeing such variety of saris decorated with gold and silver colour zari  , beads , stone work , hand woven borders with breath taking designs with vegetable dyes, machine prints and hand woven saris with vast types of color combinations arrived from north, south, east and west of India

Most of the women have the tendency to stop and look at the saris unfolded by the sales men for others, even after selection their saris for comparison sake. This comparison attitude continues until the bill is settled  since, even at that stage saris selected  by others are casualty surveyed to check whether their saris  remain exclusive  still. Women prefer

to go to boutiques in spite of untouchable prices  for the sake of selecting an unique, latest ,and beautiful  saris because, they do not like to possess a sari 100 other women would be wearing .They hate to buy any sari  in their opinion is  “too common” in  design and colour combination . It is true that only those women who have husbands who do not micro manage the family expenses and only those  working women with financial independence  can resort to sari shopping to tackle mental depression . Others resort to window shopping because even  that activity  helps in relaxing the mind through visual effects of a huge sari collection and its beautiful display.

I have a friend who has one full size steel cupboard filled with “depression saris” as she calls them. I noticed that it was very unique and breadth taking  collection. I was wondering whether she would be getting into fresh bout of depression if she doesn’t get chances to display them for long time  . Many women would agree that sari shopping indeed has higher therapeutic value because , all the steps involved in it are interesting and relaxing to the affected  mind. Men do not understand the complexities and technicalities involved in sari selection. Those men who accompany women for sari shopping wonder at the time consumed in selection and the pity the sales men who untiringly unfold hundreds of saris for each woman customer in their effort to guess the particular taste of a customer. I often wonder why do  men accompany women to sari shops because women like to have total freedom in sari selection. If they are forced to select sari to please their  husbands who give a suggestion in selection , they are sure to exchange it the next day under some pretext. Moreover, sari shopping is therapeutic only when it is done with leisure and  patience and it is better husbands  stay way from it because , quite often they  are the source of mental depression  of their wives.   

 

Community psychology

                                                Community psychology

                                                   

The important economic and social problem of the 21^st century which the countries of the world are facing is growing number of the aged population. It is estimated that by 2025 the number of persons above 60yeras (the third age) will increase from the current 590 million to 1.2 billion. That means namely 25% of the population will be in third age. This situation is described as “silver tsunami” . This segment of the population is considered as unproductive and dependent population. The burden of higher dependent population on the limited working population would create economic and social problems. It will pose challenges to a growing economy in the form of fewer tax contributors and larger number of benefit receivers and this would strain the budget. The working population in addition to paying taxes will have to support the elders which is likely to result in cutting down their savings and investments and that would create tension within the family and on the nation’s capital formation process. Thus, aging has its impact on family and the economies all over the world.

Social scientists talk about “community psychology” as a solution to this problem. In simple terms, it means, involving the seniors in the  community services either on voluntary or honorarium basis  so that, their psychological  wellbeing is  maintained or restored . When they start  utilising their expertise in different fields and wisdom in executing community projects ,  they get a purpose in living . To fit in community projects , they have to  empower themselves through acquisition of the basic skills required for that projects.  They can even regain their social and financial independence since the funded NGOs and the government can pay for their services when utilising their services for their welfare projects.. Thus ,community psychology helps and this driving  away frustration  born out of  loneliness and idleness  by keeping them physically and mentally busy. . 

 The projects in which the senior can be integrated are plenty. They are,creation of awareness prorammes on  health, legal. adult literacy, organ donation, blood donation, environmental issues, family planning, voter’s rights , corruption,.  green environment and pollution free atmosphere, helping in empowering  the differently abled adults, managing   day care centers elders ,  senior citizens homes and orphanages. They can even help in rehabilitation of destitute women and children.  Rendering value education   to school children is the need of the hour since, India  is   facing crisis of character.  They can organise cultural programmes for fund raising for the betterment of   village schools and free senior citizen homes .They can supervise civil work schemes. The active seniors can offer counseling to depressed d seniors and help them in times of need.

Public intervention is needed to help the elders to achieve self enrichment i.e., it is the duty of the governments to allocate sufficient resources to upgrade their skills. Free computer   and crash teachers training courses can be arranged by the government to the elders  because,  there is a tremendous dearth of experienced teachers  in India  and The retired teachers and newly trained elders  can be engaged on hourly basis  so  that they can help  government school children   in English, mathematics and value  education.

Several countries such as USA, Canada, Norway Philippines and China have started adopting community psychology to convert the aging population from the position of liability to assets by converting them into productive human resource. In china arrangements are available for life long learning to elders. 15000 centers are engaged in teaching technology, free of charge to one million elders. Their proverb says “at dusk, do not say it is too late, do say that there is sunshine all over the sky.”

 Written By Dr. .Prof Rameeza.A.Rasheed                                                                         (published in Elders, the news letter of Tamil Nadu Senior Citizen Association )

the budget

After reading and listening to the budget presentation and the related and  endless  discussion that followed in the electronic and print media, one is left  with the doubt regarding  the revenue source for meeting all the budget proposals . The Finance Minister seems to have immense faith on the FDI and PPP sources . Are we to believe that , the foreign and domestic investors are standing up in the queue , to invest in the desired sectors in India despite the existing business climate, dominated by the administrative  hurdles, high level corruption ,  infrastructure barriers in the power and transport sectors, stringent land acquisition Act ,  complex custom tariff system etc., ? If the hope of the FM in this regard is not materializsng what are the alternative revenue raising methods? What is the urgent need to allocate Rs 100 crores for several projects like smart cities and tube trains which will not have greater economic impact? Instead of concentrating  on projects with maximum linkage effect, this budget has planned to distribute financial resources thinly on not very urgent projects .

railway budget

It looks as though for many of the proposals in the railway budget, requiring heavy outlay of resources, the reliance is on FDI and PPP investment. There is no guarantee for ready flow of resources from these sources unless their concerns regarding accountability, profitability and corruption  free dealings are answered through concrete measures. The problems facing Indian railway are serious in nature and requires urgent attention and waiting for FDI and PPP resources doesn’t seems to be an intelligent economic decision.  The budget is not only silent  on these aspects but also on the completion of the pending projects which would  help in creating a better base for further development .As long as political considerations out weigh economic considerations in framing budget proposals the Indian railway can not be converted into a viable sector.