http://www.zanybrown.com Mon, 31 May 2010 06:48:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I am told that it was an accepted form of greeting on the Prairie for a pre-teen to address an adult as “ Aunty” or “ Uncle” till the middle of the last century. It reflected a small town upbringing and good manners that came concurrent.    In my childhood if ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=121    If I could help it I would stay alive indefinitely: It is costly to die in Canada. I am referring to the cost of a shoestring budget I am working on for my own funeral. My desire to be cremated has more to do with economic considerations: I can’t afford to ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=119 Planning budget air travel during a period of recession is not that difficult if one knows how to collect Air Miles the relatively easy way. I have a few pointers on the subject- based on my own experience. None of what I suggest in the foregoing is illegal; it is ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=118 I glanced at the clock as I waited patiently to board my ferry at Swartz Bay terminal in Victoria. I was coming home to Surrey with fall in the air and the days getting shorter.  A few feet away from me sat a man in his early thirties whose disheveled, ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=117   We in Canada are fortunate to live in a relatively less prejudiced society. There is less prejudice directed towards visible minorities in Canada than that which manifests itself in the treatment of lower castes in India. Nevertheless, when there is a case of overt prejudice that shows up in Canada people react to it ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=116 My Nigeria-born pastor surprised me with his Sunday morning homily when he referred to Michael Jackson as a genius with a higher level of consciousness. My pastor is well read and I tend to believe what he opines. Though the biased may not agree with that assertion, I think we ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=115 Whenever I hear good news concerning a new South- Asian immigrant I know, I feel relieved and pleased. But there are people who feel jealous and insecure to hear of someone's good fortune. I don’t blame people who are overcome by the pangs of jealousy when they hear that someone got a ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=114 Just as hockey is the unofficial religion of Canada so is cricket the all-encompassing boundary that confines an Indian’s brain.  An Indian cannot think beyond cricket unless his thoughts go for a six.  And that too, he will religiously pick up the ball from the stands and throw is back ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=112 The question is a “no-brainer”- as North Americans would say.  It does not even merit a second thought. Insurance cover and a new house purchased on a mortgage go together like tea and Parle glucose biscuits. Insurance is a must if you are planning to take a mortgage loan for your dream house. In any ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=111    Like a shaky hand trying to thread the eye of a needle, the new immigrant to Canada often goes through a rough ride on a giant wheel in search of a job. Even afterwards, every now and then the down-ride creates butterflies in the stomach. Such is the insecurity of the job related market in Canada. For ... http://www.zanybrown.com/?p=110