Write Your Life’s New Chapter: Plan for Financial Independence

Women are well known for playing multiple roles: maintaining home, raising kids, and supporting husbands and families. Then there are emerging realities of more and more women joining the work force and being part of the “economic growth story”. There is little doubt that balancing these many roles and responsibilities is no simple matter.

Multiple life roles teaches women two important life skills: knowing the importance of time management and how to deal with people. Although women may not experience the same levels of freedom as men, these life skills have helped them transcend social, personal and societal barriers to join corporate work forces. Successful woman she becomes; yet, there are conflicting family, societal and professional expectations that constantly want her to be submissive and reticent. And, they continue to question her performance every time. It’s not all easy to become a successful woman!

In the same family and workplace but women face life situations different than men. Relocation after marriage, childbirth, divorce, loss of spouse – all have implications on women’s wealth creation locomotive. These compounded with low earning capability, forced career breaks and longer lifespan than men makes women financially insecure. I have seen women who, after the death of spouse, were ousted from home penniless or those who sought refuge in women shelters and at relatives’ or those who continued to stay at the hands of children’s insults.

Ladies, you need to plan your finances NOW for a better future you deserve.

The first thing about women’s finances is that many at least have a “saving account”. You can, however, go beyond to better manage your finances. Time is ripe with the proliferation of financial products and opportunities for making prudent investments. The mercury of your financial literacy matters the most. How you raise the mercury level is through information from internet and advice from friends, colleagues and relatives. Get yourself interested in and gather knowledge on rewards and risks of financial investments, for example, insurance products, fixed deposits, mutual funds, stock markets, banking, real estate, gold. Get yourself involved and engaged in your family’s financial decision-making. Finally, take charge of your own finances – be independent and lead the way!!

Getting aware of the need for financial planning is important because you have embarked on a journey to gain financial self-reliance. PLAN FOR FUTURE. I put Robert Frost here:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.  

 PS: Thoughts inspired by Money Outlook.

English is a funny language - many a time!!

Sitting in my swivel chair with hotwater bag and surfing the net - tweeting, reading online news and at google library - all have become a kind of weekend ritual for me.

Have anyone of you looked through Google Books (http://books.google.com/)? It's not that great collection of books but some are worth reading when you have time and mood. I am reading some at the moment. In the Humor category, there is this book on "Crazy English" by Richard Lederer.

English is the most widely spoken language; 50% of the world's books are written in English; 70% of mails are written in English; over 80% of computer texts, including all websites are stored in English; and, English has acquired the largest vocabulary than any other languages, perhaps as many as two million words. Yet, English language is crazy - the most loopy and wiggy of all tongues. That's what the book says. It gives a hilarious account of English language as it is.

Some examples: Why your nose runs and your feet smell? Why do we call it newsprint when it contains no printing but when we put print on it, we call it a newspaper? If they wrote a letter, perhaps they also bote their tongue. If we conceive a conception and receive a reception, why can we grieve a greption and believe a beleption? Why is it called a TV set when we get only one? If pro and con are opposites, is congress the opposite of progress? If the plural of tooth is teeth, should not the plural of booth be beeth?

My trial on blog seems to be working, Wow! Friends, till another one, Chao!

Open up space for my freedom to flourish!

Angry, bitter, enraged, infuriated – these describe less of my expressions and feelings of the moment when I heard about Delhi rape case; and Shiwa, Bindu and other atrocious crimes against women in the news. For want of more news and information and in utter desperation, all that week I twiddled frantically at my TV remote buttons. Whatever I heard or saw, it only created a rampage inside me!

I embraced my inner self to ask if there was anything wrong in being a woman. Only one voice resonated loud and clear through me – I am so proud being a woman. I am smart, respectful, hopeful, inspirational, and you name it that constitutes a proud woman! Being a woman that I am, in fact, has been an amazing adventure. It’s such a beautiful experience, such a beautiful feeling, why would ‘you’ commit such heinous crimes?

Is it my body or is it in your mind? Ten years back when I was researching on gender issues, I read the Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir wherein she raised the core question of female embodiment: Are the supposed disadvantages of the female body actual disadvantages which exist objectively in all societies, or are they merely judged to be disadvantages by our society?What de Beauvoir suggests it’s not a woman’s physical stature or appearance, rather it is mind and perception of the society we live in that constructs an oppressive environment for a woman. I feel nice about being a woman but it’s just not a matter of my free choice unless the society gives space for my freedom.

Angry I am. But, I am also introspecting – this is the time to recollect all magnitudes of my feelings and turn that into hope and determination. Be it in the name of Shiwa, Bindu or Saraswati, I want to rise and revolt against injustice. Within me speaks parts of Shiwa, Bindu or Saraswati, calling me to unleash the brutality that every woman faces in our societies. That’s one reason I am with the force of “Occupy Baluwatar”. My twitter feed often times explodes with messages of support and encouragement for “Occupy Baluwatar”. I hope politicians will rise above their political base and take up “women’s issue” as an issue of supreme national importance. If government fails to action justice on #occupybaluwatar cases, history will book its leaders/politicians as ones with failed conscience.

Dear leaders, politicians, lawmakers: if you cannot open up a space for my freedom to flourish; beware, we women will lead your way – at whatever cost it may be!!

A New Beginning for me - Blogging!

Nothing is too late!!

From today I am starting to blog in the hope that it will reflect the way I lived a day, that captures my imagination of life and boosts my passion for writing. I surely go by what Eliza Gilbert, the author of international bestseller Eat Pray and Love, says “I believe that, if you have a talent (or even if you think you do, or maybe even if you just hope you do), that you should treat that talent with the highest reverence and love. Don’t flip out, and murder your gift through narcissism, insecurity, addiction, competitiveness, ambition or mediocrity. Just get busy, serious, get down to it, and write something for heaven’s sake”. I am doing just the same. I might not have that great way of expression or vocabulary elegance, but I promise I will give it a try. Somebody put it sarcastically that “blogging is learning to say nothing, more cleverly every day”. But I think it is an art of writing, an art of expressing yourself and a means of communicating with people who have contributed into making you as you stand as “YOU” today.

Nevertheless whatever encouragement I give to myself, I still feel I need more guts and confidence to share my thoughts with everyone on my list of friends, colleagues and families. As human tendency goes, normally we all long to be valued and appreciated by others. But there is another side to it too. If our encouragement hinges on others, we might end up being needlessly discouraged ourselves. A way out of it I thought, therefore, is to start sharing my blog independent of inhibitions or fear of being judged. I am sure of my relationship with each of you that it does not really matter to me what you think of me when you read me! I want to write with complete freedom. It’s well said “the secret of freedom is courage” and courage of course is the power that generates all other powers!

In some ways, I draw inspiration to blog from famous blogger like Amitabh Bachchan whose writing style and enduring communication with his fans, friends and family comes uninterrupted and so regularly. So, I am fascinated by the idea of blogging but I am also intrigued by the thought to keep continuing with the same energy that I have at the moment.