Slaves of the Lake

I'll admit I was feeling uneasy for a few days after publishing my previous post. But then I realised that keeping quiet about it doesnt help in the least.

My study at Winneba is over! We interviewed all sorts of children - who sleep in abandoned cars, who havent eaten in a week, who dont have money to even bury their dead parents...I honestly cant bring myself to write about it, but I know I should.

 

Luckily, I happened to chance on this documentary which says all that I am unable to!

 

Do spare some time and look at it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEDVFndYuT0

 

The last 2 days were all about the Presidential Elections in Ghana - campaigns, lobbying and agenda-pushing....I wonder if the cause of the slaves buried in the lake can even surface for air!

Fishing for life

I was sure that she could see behind my forced smile! I could hardly bring myself to touch the woman whose hand I was shaking.  I was staring at her face, taking in every little detail so that I could recognise her when I saw her again. To most people, she was normal. Like many others, she had sold two of her children and sent them to work on the Volta lake.

 

The Volta lake in Ghana is the biggest man-made lake in the world, the kind that makes tourists gush about its beauty. The lake joins the sea and also boasts about an economy that thrives on unbelievable abuse of orphaned or trafficked children. These children are as young as 4-5 years and are sold by their parents to fishing businessmen for as less as 8 Ghana Cedis ($4). They are paid nothing but given food everyday. They toil endlessly and sleep on the sea in their boats. They are required to engage in the notorious deep-sea fishing throughout the day and night.  Deep-sea fishing is a risk to your life.

 

According to my field surveyor who did a study on this - “Every blessed day at least one child is lost to the sea”!

 

These children are subjected to terrible abuse by their “owners”. They are beaten and starved if they don’t work. They are robbed of their childhood for absolutely no fault of theirs. It doesn’t matter if they die, the “owner” would just buy another!

 

The organisation I work with does wonderful work in preventing this type of trafficking and rescuing these children!

 

Parents who are unable to take care of their children or are in urgent need of money sell their kids to this cause. Many do it just because they don’t want the responsibility of taking care of the child. Like the woman I was talking about. She didn’t look particularly poor. She was sitting across from me, talking and laughing as if she didn’t have a care in the world. I wonder how she sleeps at night!

 

Sometimes, I hate that my job exists!

The Office Wife

The whole of last night, the power was out. But it wasn’t so bad, there are hoards of mosquitoes to keep you company and you can enjoy the benefits of their presence long after they leave.

So, this morning I woke up with blood-shot eyes, covered in bites and very irritable!

Depp: You look like a wreck.

Me: Thanks, you always know the right thing to say!

Depp: Come on, cheer up! I’ll help you pick out what to wear today.

He holds up a bright blue wrap-around, patterned in flowers.

Me: Thats good, but I need to look professional for work, not like a housewife in a park.

Depp: You’ll look good in this, whether you’re a housewife or an officewife.

Officewife - the term certainly threw me off! And as I’m typing this post, spell check has no issues with housewife but flags officewife. Well, maybe thats a good thing!

Obrouni

OBROUNI !!! - Wherever I go in Ghana, thats how people call me and how they refer to me. It means “White Woman”. I’m not white by any standards, brown maybe, but that doesnt matter because according to the people here - If you are not black, you are white.

Oddly enough, I feel discriminated against because of my fairer color. What disturbs me most is that every single person uses the phrase, even small children, without exception.

I sometimes wonder, in a world that tends to discriminate against people because of their darker skin, aren’t Ghanaians reinforcing it against themselves? Why would they do that?

My boss put this rosy spin on it by saying that they call me “Obrouni” not in a disrespectful way, but in a friendly way. Its true actually! People tend to treat you better because you are “Obrouni”.

But I still feel discriminated against! Why? Because they are setting me apart from them (No, DONT tell me that I AM different from them).

Because at the end of the day, calling someone by their color is racist!

Or maybe I’m just getting grumpy in life!

It depends! Does it?

For some reason, I really resent it when people, especially at workplace say "It depends!" with an air of knowing!  

What does that mean anyway? It doesn't in the least answer what you are asking. For example, the other day, we asked someone does a door-to-door health intervention (spraying anti-malarial insecticides on walls of houses) - How many houses do you cover in a day? 

"It depends" came the answer.

"On what?" I persisted!

"On many things like the size of the houses, the number of rooms, the type of walls, etc".

This type of an answer helps no one. But sadly, lots of people talk like this!

He couldve simply said " Around 10-20, depending on the type of houses".

I really don't get why people cloud things - why they settle for being ambiguous and obscure where they can be a little more objective and say something concrete. Its almost as it is either:

1. They don't know

2. They don't want to tell you

3. They want to make it seem like its something complex when it is not. 

4. Its too big a load on their brain to think about it and come up with an answer. 

Dole up!

My maid's family went to the local MLA to invite him for her daughter's wedding. He was not personally known to them or anything, it was just courtesy. He said he wont be able to come but gave them Rs. 3000/-. It seems anyone in their community who went to his house with a problem or difficulty would be helped the same way...Nice.... right? Why wouldnt they vote for him? And on the other hand, no commercial transactions above Rs. 50 lakhs can be carried out in the city without giving a commission to the "authorities"...

Really, the mass and the scale of corruption in our country is so huge that attempting to tackle it is more expensive for us than what we lose to the corruption!

Might is right?

I am sure we all have had our experiences with unreasonable landlords. I didnt realise there was an other side to it. The other day I was telling my parents that they had under-quoted the rent for a flat they owned and I asked them to revise it. They seemed reluctant to do so, despite the going-rate being slightly higher. At first, I thought they were just trying to avoid the hassle of searching for another suitable tenant but there seemed to be more.

Mom: See, we've chosen the medium-risk-medium return option.
Me: What?
Mom: We could let it out to someone at a higher price, but the more their ability to pay, the higher the chances that they'll create trouble for us.
Me: Its your house ma, if they create trouble, just throw them out!
Mom: What if they dont go?
Me: What?
Mom: They may refuse to leave.
Me: So? Evict them!
Mom: What if we cant?
Me: !
Mom: See, even here, high returns come with a high risk.
Me (not willing to understand): Whatever!

As if on cue, a friend told me the same day about having trouble evicting a tenant who hadnt paid even a day's rent. Why? He was in the Police, and they didnt want to take him on!

Its not that my parents are not well-connected or dont know the right people; they just prefer to not deal with such things, which is something I will never understand. 

Anyways, to me, all this is just another reason not to buy a house :)

So far so good.

Went to pick up my cousion today in Terminal 3 at the New Delhi airport thats just opened up for domestic flights...

Listened to my uncle telling me that the rent of his flat just doubled..

My aunt told me about a wedding she attended yesterday with whos-who in Delhi amongst the guests... 

Watched We The People on NDTV about the Telecom Spectrun Scam...

Read Rakhi Sawant saying that she is walking with God because her name is mentioned along with Shah Rukh and Amitab..

Have to attend a conference on helping the poor in one of the most expensive hotels in the city this week..

I suddenly feel very scared :(

It must be me :(

I feel like writing a poem now but nothing rhymes with AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!

Why is it always something dammit??? Why is my life and time wasted almost everyday with idiotic problems, the latest of which is the dratted Internet at office which happens to be in my name.

Two esteemed colleagues of mine stayed as guests for 12 days, gave me a total bill of 45000/- watching the FIFA world cup, sweetly left India after that and now I am landed with a legal notice since theres no one whos willing to pay for it...Not only that but my mailbox is flooded with nasty emails from them simply because I asked them to pay for what they used...

I cant decide who is nastier - them or the monstrous collection agents from the Internet company.

Why why why why WHYYYYYY is it me AAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL the time????

going going..gone!

My life sucks...yes, right now, it positively, totally sucks! My wallet  got stolen today..and the bitch who took it wasn't content with the ridiculous amount of money there was in it..she actually felt the need to go indulge herself buying gold with the credit cards..leaving me with a bill that chills my spine each time I think of it...all in a matter of 15 mins...not to talk about the hassle of running around trying to lodge a police complaint and worrying that she may misuse my IDs....or even the fact that I am totally cut off from all my finances and that all my cards are blocked...Yeah, shes smooth and fast...and they've asked me to come check out her face tomorrow at the shop she blew all my money at.....apparently, its on camera...but I am willing to bet my life that she'll be veiled or something...after all shes not stupid right???? 

So goodbye to all my savings....hope we meet sometime soon....:(

Once a papa met a mama under a mango tree...

Its official now...and a post on it is overdue. I have not understood so far the supposed pleasure men experience in harrassing women. Their only motive I can think of is power and it works both ways - if we dont react, then we're pinned as scared of them, and if we do, they're totally invigorated. Isnt that so?

It can be anything - prolonged stares, sexually explicit remarks, cat-calls, shoulder brushes, grabbing...all depending on where you are and how far they think they can go!  There was a time when I used to take these very personally. In fact, I am riddled with such memories especially  from when I was a child. Heres a scary fact - its easy to get over it if you think its not your problem, which is totally justified if you were not equipped to react.

That dispensed with, what do we do when we are greeted with it the minute we get on a bus or walk by a wine shop? There are those who advocate ignoring them and I go with that as long as it remains verbal. But most people misinterpret your silence as a go-ahead to treat you worse.

I would like to relate an incident that took place last friday on an overnight bus. I was totally exhausted from the day's fieldwork and started sleeping as soon as I sat down. In the middle of the night, the girl sitting next to me woke me up saying the guy behind was harassing her. She was literally in tears because he had been  making lewd remarks, pinching her under the pretext of adjusting the window etc.

I couldnt really comprehend what she was saying becuase I had a splitting headache and everything  seemed  vague...Whats is wrong with you? They were pinching you too...In fact they even touched your face, didnt you feel anything???

No, I really didnt! I was dead beat and lost to the world...I am ashamed to say I just told her not to worry and went back to sleep....When I woke up at 6 am, she wasnt there...she had already gotten down....now that I could think clearly I turned around to look at the guy she was talking about...the man with the mustache in blue and gray clothes...he was fast asleep!

Soon it was the last stop and we all had to get down..the guy behind got a call... from his wife I would say by the sound of it...and he was positively sweetness and light....

On an impulse, I stayed where I was and allowed him in the queue in front of me...just when we were about to get down, I mustered all my courage and might and kicked him as hard as I could on the shin....he yelped in pain, stumbled and almost fell....pepper spray in hand I was ready in case he hit back...but he didnt...the coward just picked himself up, didnt even glance back and proceeded as if nothing happened....everyone saw it..the driver, the bus-boy, the other pasengers...no one asked me why I kicked him and I didnt bother to explain...

A giant step for me, a small step for womankind...

We now know from swanky, but what about stupid?

Some people are about the finer bits.

Is the thought-bucket really that deep? Heres something that illustrates the point.

A supplementary titled Luxury must-haves for every CEO (which by the way, is a contradiction in terms ) in an Indian edition of an internationally acclaimed magazine ...heres your clue - starts with an F and ends with an S and has an O R B E in between...Now take a wild guess??

Anyways, of the seemingly wondrous things recommended, the first pitch was for washroom decor, if you please.  

Imagine a sumptuous bathroom where everything is interwoven to create a seamless, unique and evolved form.  It is the alchemy between the inner-self and the world and the makers call it "a new sense of lightness", a more emotive way of looking at things. Here, water itself is the design object.   

Never mind that the piece in question was obscenely expensive and by no stretch of imagination a value for money in real terms. Or so it seems..but people who believe that they would connect with something they couldnt otherwise would believe in it.

It cant be, can it? Isnt this a classic case of polishing brass hoping to turn it into gold?

Is this really an experience only few can afford or is it something you can get and more by just watching the sea?

The Matchstick Economy

Have you ever wondered what margins stockists would make on a matchbox costing 50p. 5p? 10p? It is a volume game but is it worth the opportunity cost of their investment? So it seemed worthwhile to study the fascinating matchstick economy and here are my notes:

Now I dont have to remind you that like the table salt, matches are not a marketeer's friend. 

1. Do you care which brand the shopkeeper gives you when you ask for them?

2. Do you even know of any differences between the brands?

3. Would it affect you if their price went up from 50p to say 60p?

4. Do you ever count to see how many matches are there in your box? Would you notice if were 10 less?

5. How can matches be marketed? Ads on TV? Even if so, do you really care enough  to make a conscious purchasing decision?

..and so forth.Given all this, what is the incentive for a manufacturer to make good matches? 

I could not find any numbers for the matchstick economy in India. So I visited a few matchstick manufacturing hubs last week to understand their pricing. Here are the costs per box

Manufacturing - < 5p

Packaging - 3p + 2p

Transportation - 5p

Total < 15p

Commission for Middleman 1 = 2p

Commission for Middleman 2 = 3p

Wholesale commission = 3p

Retail commission = 5p

So the box of matches for which you pay 50p costs around 28p. Its good business. 

Woman1 has spent her around 30 years of her life stuffing matchsticks into boxes. She has to count 70 sticks and fill a box. For every 200 boxes she fills, she is paid six rupees. In a day she  and her co-workers fill as many as 2000 boxes, thereby earning 60 rupees. Woman2 packs the boxes into cartons. 200 boxes make a mini carton. She is paid 1 rupee a carton and packs around 50 cartons with 10000 boxes a day, thereby  earning  50 rupees. Woman1 and Woman2 work as a team from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening. 

Middleman 1 is very astute. He inherently assumes that 10% of the boxes are faulty so he asks for 10% more stock. In a day he transports 1,00,000 boxes on an average earning 1300 rupees a day after costs   Middleman 2 charges more because transporting to a city is expensive you see, so he earns around 2000 a day on the same stock. The wholesale shop makes 2500 a day and the retail shop makes 4000 rupees if it has to sell the same 100,000 boxes.

As always, each one earns in proportion to the work they do. Thats how good a business this is!

Financial help - need vs want

An email I received in response to an article I wrote: 

Hi 
I have built delinquency models for a leading bank in the sub-prime market. I was really shocked about the high interest rates and the profits generated in the sub-prime market. This was before it collapsed.

Your article "Micro-credit Bubble?" of August 2009 makes interesting reading.

I am one of the many Indians “doing well” in Canada. Today, my house value is $500K. In 5 years it grew from $350K. My wife and I have two cars and an outstanding mortgage of $200K and a car loan of $10K.

In reality if I look back, I have been brain washed to: 

1. Have a good house, all appliances, latest gadgets, cars and keep increasing my wealth.

2. On getting a good job, I was brain washed to buy a house and build equity. The price of the first house was $200K, which was more that what its actual economic price must be. Having a good job and good credit score never made me think it was highly priced. The first time I learnt about high price was recently – when the housing market collapsed in the US.  Housing prices kept on rising and within 5 years of buying my first home, its market price was $280K. At the same time, my salary and my wife’s salary had grown but not at 40% over 5 years.

3. I and my wife were made to feel we could go for a house worth $350K. We sold our first house bought the second at $350K and new furniture and new appliances. Now 5 years later it is $500K

What did I achieve? 

1. A significant portion of my earnings have gone to repay interests on mortgages and house taxes and insurances.  My real purpose of earning was not for paying mortgages and house taxes. 

2. I have a loan of $210K. I had no loans when I stepped into Canada.

3. We have a very luxurious house. I and my wife come from very simple families. We now feel all this is a waste. It does not serve any economic purpose. We are stuck in the system. In reality we do not have economic freedom.

4. The market price of my house is $500K when its economic value is around $200K or less.

I see "economic growth" in India or is it an opportunity for the rich to become richer? I have been talking to those “benefited” by financial help. Unknown to the person who earns and pays his or her loans - there are many in the system who keep on "benefiting" by this financial help. These FI’s keep on making people go into higher and higher loans every time they clear their earlier loans. The interest rates in India are much more than in Canada. Anyone like me can borrow at 3.25% or less and give at 12.5% or more as a micro-finance loan. In the process, rather than helping the needy, the MFI is helping the rich become richer.

I want you to think about it. Build economic values and not capitalistic values. Ensure the women who the targets of MFIs, do not end up financially exploited by MFIs.  Reduce greed.

I look forward to your views.

Who will guard the guards?

News comes to us in fragments. Scandals, accidents, allegations, verdicts - we rarely connect the dots and see the power-play involved in what seem like isolated incidents stretched over many years. More so because we are so totally removed from it and dont have any stake in it. They are after all, stories of  "other people".

This is the story of a family friend, which I learnt just yesterday. I had no idea whatsoever, and it left me shaken to the bone. Here is the gist, without too many details.

Building a medical institute from scratch is no easy play - the licenses, the paperwork, the permissions, the bureaucracy, the brown envelopes, the marketing, building the competencies and facilities, the investments, the risks - many a time people give up because it doesn't seem worth all the trouble. But this gentleman was not one of those - he persisted and succeeded in building  what went on to become one of the  biggest and most well-reputed medical institutes in India.

Once it was established and started earning good repute, he got a call from a  Union Minister asking him to resign from the institute. The Minister wanted to gift his son-in-law the Directorship of the institute. This gentleman (lets call him SJ) refused. But not wanting to earn the wrath of the political party in power, he agreed to have the son-in-law co-appointed as the Joint Managing Director.

They didn't agree to this compromise. SJ had the patronage of the Chief Minister in the state (from a different political party, of course) which protected him from life threats and so he was able to continue  without any problems for a while. But then, the Union Minister and his party hacks decided to discredit SJ and filed a false case on  him, accusing him of fraud. They created dummy witnesses and bogus evidences. But still, he refused to resign from his post.

In the meanwhile, the Chief Minister changed because his party lost power in the state. Now, there was no hope for any help from them. But SJ and his family fought till the last - they lost their assets, their house, their land in their effort to save their own repute and that of their institute. They fought for seven long years. The case went up to the Supreme Court and finally, the verdict came in their favor...all their struggle had paid off....

The very next day, there was yet another false case filed on him. He resigned immediately.

Freak Magnet

This actually happened a few days back and frankly, I didnt think it was worth blogging. But still, I thought I'll write about it.

I was on my way somewhere in an auto that morning. There was this guy in a scooter, mustve been around 50, who was staring at me continuously and making inappropriate gestures and following  us. My auto driver was meek, not the strong type and evidently didn't want any trouble. No amount of speeding up or taking side-roads could get rid of the scooter. I wasnt too bothered, I mean, what harm can anyone possibly do in the broad daylight on crowded roads?

When we stopped at a signal, the guy pulls up very close to us and says "Why are you staring at me? What do you want?" or something to that effect in Kannada, in an ultra-loud voice, enough to turn all heads..."She is following me and harassing me", he told all the onlookers, who didnt care to reply.

That was when I began to get angry. Who was following whom and staring and all that, not to mention the mouth puckering and the other sick gestures? Who in wide world did this guy think he was??? I cant tell you how angry I got, far far disproportionate to what the situation merited. Sometimes I get violently angry and this was one of those occasions. I was so enraged, I couldnt get any words out to reply and neither did I want a verbal spat in the middle of the road. Thankfully, the signal lasted only a few seconds, and when it lifted, he continued to follow, this time saying stuff like "I'll show you people".

I told the auto to stop at a Police Station on the way. I was determined to teach the guy a lesson. The auto guy was reluctant to stop to which, I told him that if he didnt, I'll  be forced to complain against him also (all his details were there on the Drivers Details sheet at the back of his seat, which is a compulsory display for all autos in Bangalore).

So he stopped and to give credit where its due, he offered to come inside with me and confirm my story. I didnt expect that from a guy who wasnt willing to even stop and was pleasantly surprised. I really expected him to just drop me off and be on his way. People sure are unpredictable at times. The scooter guy, he also stopped grandly and started yelling at us without noticing that we were in front of the Police Station, but as soon as he realised, he was off before we could blink. I should really start driving, no?

P.S: Today I learnt that one hookah session is the same as 100 smokes, since it is tobacco filtered through water.

Strikes, strokes and death rows

A really harrowing experience :(

We had to go on a field trip to Kolar on work. We had to be there at 11 am which meant that we had to leave early in the morning. So at 6.45 am, I was trying to find an auto to get to office but surprisingly no one would come.

Finally one guy agreed but demanded five times the usual price. It transpired that there is an auto strike. I didnt know about it, neither did I care, I only wanted to be in time for work...big mistake...

Anyhow I had to agree to his terms for lack of options. He made one stop to deliver flowers at a shop and we were on our way again. I really didnt think the strike was a big deal, it didnt even register in my mind....

Unfortunately for the guy, around 100 auto drivers were lying in wait on the way to catch people who disobeyed the strike. Ive never really seen a mob at work before, and its really scary.

They just didnt allow him a chance to even talk. In his desire to avoid a beating, he said I was his sister. Now this is a stupid thing to say, it can be easily invalidated...and thats just what happened when he couldnt tell them my name...I think he shouldve told them the truth or atleast kept quiet....

Well, I guess I too disrespected the strike but I couldnt really tell them that I didnt give a damn. But they went really easy on me and asked me to go. In fact they were really polite and said "Madam, please go, we dont want you to see him being beaten up"...I really didnt know what to do.

And the WORST thing is that I couldn't even get a chance to pay him in all the confusion. Everyone was screaming on top of their lungs and I couldn't even see that auto driver anymore in the crowd. I had no option but to leave...I didnt dare look back. I thought of calling the police, but I didn't think it would work, especially since the traffic police were already there and watching the scene...so I just left....

I just cant get this incident out of my mind...everyone tries to comfort me saying that the guy deserved it since he was being greedy and wanted five times the fare....but it doesnt help...I really hope nothing happened to him :(

I have to take courage in my hands and go to that shop where he delivered the flowers in the morning to see if I can find him. I should apologise and should also pay him something for going through the trauma (like how the Govt thinks that money is good "compensation") but I don't think any amount of money can make the incident go away....

My name is nobody

Random Man: I really respect women.

Me: Why?

Man: Eh?

Me: Why?

Man: What??

Me: Why do you respect women?

Man: Uh, because, um...we should respect them.

Yeah right !!!

I cant stand these patronizing sorts, who are sort of sexists in cuter outfits. And I dont get the 'respect women' part, I really don't see why they should be "respected", whatever that means.

Another irritating conversation Ive had lots of times.

Random Uncle/ Auntie: You work in villages? You travel so much, you must be finding it very difficult.

Me: No, I don't.

Uncle: Why don't you take a job at a bank or something? It'll be easier for you, and you can be at home always.

Thanks uncle, you just described one of my worst nightmares.

Stupidopolis

Three things I hear a lot these days, and I cant decide which is the stupidest of the lot: 

Why do you think so much?

Huh, because I have a brain? 

Don’t lie to yourself.

Yeah right, like you would know... 

I  NEVER read.

Really? Then I suggest you throw yourself away, and start all over again…

Ok, I guess its Friday night and I feel jaded, so I am just being mean….

Chamber of Horrors

It’s a lifetstyle choice I guess….gymming I mean…but then what on earth is face-firming? Whatever it is, when the VLCC gym tells you that you have earned yourself a free session of face bloody toning thanks to your sweating it out at their gym, you feel happy, you smile…you don’t think about what exactly it is as long as it is free….

That’s what I did too….

These rooms where they work, they are carefully designed to create an enigmatic atmosphere – soft music, dim lights, tasteful pictures, mysterious oils, the works…so I popped in merry & bright, happy and eager for my free “face-toning” session…

A regular facial accompanied by a 15 minute lecture on benefits of face toning, a patronizing speech on why VLCC is so much better than the others and a super-aggressive sales talk with a fast and furious promo on their products…..well, cant really blame them, I was captive audience after all, right?

So far so good….

The lady then casually announces in her rehearsed tone that she’s going to switch on the “battery current”… “It may sting a bit but its only for a while”, she says…

Problem - “Sting a bit” turns out to be a feeling as if someone is turning your face inside out and setting your nerves on fire…worse still, it gives you a tour of the neural network on your face…literally!!!…a forceful, wrenching tug tells you what is connected to what in your face with vivid clarity, all thanks to the harmless “battery current”…it pulls on your jawbone, and you can feel the unbearable tug right from the nerve on your temple and you realize – hey!!! THIS is how my face is wired….it pulls like a stinging wasp on your chin and you can feel it from the base of your throat and you begin to realize that there are actually many nerves connecting these two spots….its pulls on your forehead and it dawns on you that your forehead is kinda the center and everything is connected to it, since you can feel the horrible yanking from all around your face….and the VERY WORST is when the nerves that connect your teeth and your face come alive, blazing painfully…..kinda makes you long to tear your face out and throw it outta the window…ANYTHING to stop that pain….

I am ashamed to say that I couldn’t sit through my “free session”, enjoyable as it was... I ran out within 15 mins as if a million mad dogs were chasing me, much to the disapproval of the lady….

Now you may ask, why this blogpost??? Well, it just made me think of all those who have to bear the “shock treatment” in psychiatric hospitals or torture-chambers or wherever…if the “harmless battery current” makes my nerves this raw and red and beg for mercy, I cant even begin to imagine what they must go through….

Sometimes, I wonder why man invents these things.