AFVOA Newletters of Year 2006

Page 21 of 77 business on the side street off India Silk House but then they shut shop there soon after. Where have the Jafars vanished? Perhaps some of you veterans may have the answer! 9. To add to the summer heat, the heat of the impending elections is also gathering momentum. Contrary views are given out by the parties, analysts, soothsayers and the common man on the likely outcome. “Freebies galore” seem to be buzzwords in our State. “Never mind the impact on the finances, the voter is king/queen and we will cringe and fall at his/her feet for that invaluable endorsement in the form of the vote”, is the pre-poll scenario. Political parties in no other state have promised so much. The same so-called seasoned economists while crying out aloud at the central level against subsidies strike a different note when it comes to state politics. 10. Whoever comes to power, the tax-conformist middle class and the senior citizens will bear the brunt of having to finance the populist measures. As it is, the avenues for risk free savings for these classes have been slowly eroded in the past couple of years with the ushering in of the EET regime, by the taking away of the popular tax free bonds and introduction of dis-incentives for other small savings schemes. Add to this the TIN, PAN, Service tax returns, Annual Information returns etc., and you will see the already large non- tax paying public being driven more and more to the parallel economy, which is already assuming staggering proportions. I would like to ask these so-called whiz kids of North Block as to how much of the rural agricultural economy is transacted by non cash instruments and how much of the purchase of jewellery and many other high value items are billed, both in urban and rural centres, for the tax authorities to get reliable information? The ground reality is simple for us simple folks to comprehend – it would be in abysmal single digit percentages! 11. There is the famous Chinese proverb ( they somehow seem to beat us in proverbs too in addition to beating us in the population game!) “G ive a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life-time” . The more the freebies, the society will expect more in the future without having to work for it!! Simple logic, but logic has to be given the go-by in this land of movie stars, villains, comedians and script writers whose fantasies mesmerize the teeming masses and keep them far removed from the stark reality!! All that we can hope is that the senior citizens do not get taxed for the air that we breathe to subsidise our fellow citizens’ lust for even more free items in the future. 12. Let me now turn to some aspects of concern to us elders. We have to keep ourselves both physically and mentally alert. As we grow older, we find many of our friends, who in their hey-day were stalwarts bubbling with enthusiasm, living life to its utmost, suddenly losing interest, becoming physically and mentally dull, resigning themselves to a lackadaisical day- to-day routine. It is for the individuals themselves to prevent such a deterioration of their faculties. 13. One of the most easy and interesting methods is by resorting to hobbies. While yoga, golf, swimming, gardening and even walking are considered good pastimes for the senior for the required physical activity, the need to maintain the mental state of alertness is more important. “ An idle mind is a devil’s workshop” , is a well known saying. In the case of seniors the lack of exercise of the brain leads to torpor and listlessness, with devastating results. Number and word crunching exercises such as sudoku, crosswords, Scrabble and memory enhancing games should form part of the daily diet of hobbies to be pursued. The computer with a broadband connection is a must for a modern day senior. The reason is simple. With today’s search engines, any information about one’s interests is just a click away! Also, one can join any of the special interest groups the world over, pursuing the same pastimes, in order to interact with like-minded persons.