Good evening and welcome to episode 345 of the Private Property Podcast. I'm your host, Uzaman Donga Kumalo. It's a Tuesday edition of the Private Property Podcast, and of course, you've drawn us for the first time. You are tuned in to the only daily property show in South Africa that helps you on all your property needs. And it doesn't matter where you are on your property journey, whether you're looking to buy, to sell, to build, or you're renting, this is your one-stop shop on all things relating to property. And to all our regular viewers at home from the top fan gang members on Facebook and Instagram, as well as on YouTube, welcome back. You know how we do it every single weekday. You and I have an appointment at 7pm. We're always in conversation with the property expert who helps us make better property decisions. And talking about making better property decisions, as you know, we also have a host of other great shows every weekdays at 8pm that you can tune into. As it is a Tuesday, you can catch a warning farmer on the farming podcast. And she comes to your screens on Thursdays as well at the same time. And every Mondays and Fridays, Chad brings us the home shopper's show, where he takes us through exquisite properties that you can find on www.privateproperty.co.za. And Estee Clawson brings us the first time home buyers show every single Wednesday. She's always in conversation with people who've not only walked that first time home buying journey, but have gone on to grow their property portfolios from strength to strength. Those are some of the great shows that you can look forward to every single weekday at 8pm right here on Private Properties Social Media Pages. I can already see some of the love that we're getting on our Facebook page. Do keep it coming. Michelle Beaumarans is watching. I also saw Nelda Everton, who's also watching. Of course, Michelle Beaumarans, Howard Mogadaxani, Gleid Sherinda, Messi, Nipipindi, Mahathir Shingani saying we've made the right choice tuning into the private property podcast. And you certainly have done that. And of course, one of the other things that you can look forward to on our Facebook page is entering the competition that we are running, where you can stand a chance of walking away with 500 grand cash every single evening right here on the Private Property Podcast. And all you have to do to stand a chance of walking away with that cash is to comment, rather, on the post that we have pinned on our Facebook page as we set on the bold goal of reaching 20,000 comments. And of course, if we call your name, you have to be watching us live in order to claim your prize. This evening, we've got 1,500 grand in the money bag. So halfway through the show, we'll see who is going to walk away with that cash prize. Well, that's some of what you can look forward to this evening. And I do hope that if you entered that you're going to be watching and of course, be able to walk away with that cash prize. But this evening, we're looking at one of those topics that I absolutely, absolutely love. We're looking at 10 questions to ask your real estate agent. I think many of us sometimes don't know what we should be asking, especially when it comes to our home ownership journey. We know we should be asking something, right? But we're not quite clear what are some of the questions we need to come on with when we are working with an estate agent. And that's part of what we're going to be looking at. I want to find out from you at home, what have been some really great questions that you've been able to ask estate agents that you worked with in the past that you found very useful and that helped you make a better choice when it comes to the property or properties that you were looking with that estate agent. Do share with us those questions down here below and help us get a better sense of what we should be asking our estate agents. I'm joined this evening by Annette Evans, who is a general manager at the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa, ISA. Annette, good evening and thank you so much for joining us on the show. Thank you, Zama. Thank you very much for inviting me this evening. It's a privilege. Thank you. I think, Annette, before we even kickstart the questions we should be asking our estate agent, first to seek us through what ISA is and the work that it does. Yes, we actually started in 1937. I haven't been here for all of those years, obviously. And our main role is to assist and support and guide estate agents, property practitioners, as we're going to be calling them very soon.  So our members come to us for any assistance and, as I said, support or guidance that they may need. And we are very much involved in upskilling them and also just representing them on the different platforms with stakeholders, such as the estate agent base board, which is the regulator. And they are essentially fall under the Department of Human Settlements. So we are very much the hub. We work with everybody and we are as neutral as we can possibly be, because the main thing is for us to be there and to have the connections with everybody that we need. We don't generally advise the public, but if somebody phones me and asks a question, I can guide them and direct them to the organization that would assist them best. And I think that's actually just such a great resource to be able to tap into. Because sometimes we don't quite know which direction to go when it comes to having some of our questions answered or queries addressed. And I think being able to, at the very least, get a sense of, this is a direction you should be going with. These are the right people that you ought to be having a conversation with. Certainly something that is very useful. And I think then, you know, we should probably get into the first question we should be asking the estate agent that we're working with. Because I think so many of us at home, as I would say, we tend to not know what to ask. I think we know we're supposed to ask something. But more often than not, we're not exactly clear on, okay, what exactly is this thing that I should be asking? I think the number one thing, as you mentioned, is that the estate agent you're dealing with needs to have a Fidelity Fund certificate. And that means that they should check that they are registered on the estate agency, a Facebook website, and make sure that they are registered. And also, we encourage them to check that they belong to the Institute of Estate Agents.  And that means that they are, they're also searchable. So we encourage everybody to check our website, which is IESA.org.za. And also the estate agency or Facebook, that the actual agent has a Fidelity Fund certificate. And that is critical because they pay that fund, that fund covers a client for fraud. If there's any fraud, then that Fidelity Fund covers that client to claim for a fraud case, for that example. And I was actually about to ask you a follow-up that you've answered quite well around the importance of that Fidelity Fund.  We know that sometimes, unfortunately, there are a few rotten apples. It doesn't mean that the whole agency is necessarily like that. And so you want to make sure that you're working with somebody where in the event where you unfortunately deal with one of the rotten apples, you're going to be able to essentially have cover because you know that you're working with people who are effectively credible. And then what would then be the second thing? So we've now covered our basis. We know that they're registered estate agent, that they've got a Fidelity Fund certificate. What do we then have to still ask for a estate agent? So I think the next thing, if you're a seller, would be if you were selling your house, you would want to ask and discuss what your house is worth. So maybe that's too preemptive at the moment. But essentially, they would give you a market analysis, a comparative market analysis and compare sales in the area. And they would give you a good breakdown of what they do. And that's pretty much my next question. What is this going to cost me? What fees? Firstly, the fees. And then also what mandates section? Break it down to what is happening? What are the trends? What can you expect? And make sure it's full disclosure that you have everything you're fully aware of what it's going to cost you up front. And I think when we're dealing with an estate agent, because I've dealt with numerous new, or isn't able to give you a really good estimate where it comes to, we'll say the value of your property, what can we do? Because I think sometimes, especially as when we're dealing with estate agents, from often a lot of sellers, it's your first time selling, not many people deal with the sell side. When it comes to property, we sometimes get accustomed to the buying side, but certainly slightly less on the sell side. And when you're both interviewing that estate agent, you're not getting a good sense of, okay, this is the value and these are the different data sets that they use to get to it. How can we almost best vet that they are giving us credible information? And in the event where they're not particularly coming up with great insight, what's our alternative? Well, I think that's a good question because there's a couple of angles to that. Firstly, the estate agents are not giving you evaluation on your property. So that's actually quite a critical point. I was having that conversation earlier where evaluate, evaluate values of property. But in the estate agent will, as you said, have that information to hand. And I think it's a good question. And the question I would be asking is, so tell me about the recent sales that you've made in my area. Because that is that pertains one to the value. And secondly, to the actual fact that they're experiencing your area, where they local area expertise stands. So that's quite important. And you may want to get a couple of agents in and ask them all that and feel where you can sort of, who I should say you're more comfortable dealing with. And it has actually gone so nicely to one of the questions our viewers are asking. We are, of course, taking your questions and comments this evening as we look at 10 questions to ask your real estate agent. And I want to find out from your home what kind of questions have you previously asked estate agents that you have dealt with, that you found very helpful and useful in your own home ownership journey. We have Umar Getsi Matsosso on Instagram saying, can I ask about the value increase in the neighborhood of my prospective property? And this could also, of course, even be for now the buyer, right? Because you're potentially looking at buying this property. Is that a question that they can ask their estate agent around the general trend in terms of value in that particular neighborhood? That's a really good question. Because when an estate agent does what we call a comparative market analysis, there's three angles to it. The first angle is what has sold and transferred in the deeds office, which would have been quite some time ago. And what is actually is on the market, because if there's 300 properties in your street, then clearly your property is going to be one of many. And the other one is what is actually recently sold. So and the trend there lies there. So they would actually be able to speak to the agent and look at that they would a good agent would want to sit with you and go through those things. If they want to throw one sheet of paper at you through the letterbox and they don't really want to have a conversation, then it means to me that they're not passionate about property. And in my world, people are actually passionate about property. So they're more than happy to speak to you about it. And if you are selling a three-bedroom house and you want to be looking at three-bedroom house comparables, or you discuss the comparables, you know, there are always anomalies. But in general, if you're selling a three-bedroom house or a two-bedroom flat, you want to look at comparables and why do they differ? Because we've always had this joke that sometimes across the road, it's got a different value, different neighborhood, different area, different perceived value. So you need to go through all of those and speak to someone who you feel understand. And that's such an important one. I am this evening in conversation with Annette Evans, who's a general manager at the Institute of the State Agents of South Africa. We're looking at 10 questions to ask your real estate agent. I want us to go for a quick break. And when we come back, we're going to go through more of those questions. We're going to see who the lucky winner of that 1,500 rounds that is in the money bag is this evening. I hope you're watching and will of course be able to claim their prize. So let's see who the winner is. And this evening's winner is Umkiza Makati. That is Umkiza Makati is the lucky winner that is potentially going to be walking away with that 1,500 rounds. I hope that they are watching us live and of course will be able to claim their prize. So Umkiza Makati, if you are watching, do make sure that you drop us a message down here below and of course claim that 1,500 rounds that is in the money bag. And this evening, I am talking to Annette Evans. We're looking at questions to ask your estate agent. And of course, I'm asking you at home, what have been some of the questions that you've asked your estate agent that have really helped you make better property decisions. And this could be whether you're looking to buy a property or when you were looking to sell. And some of the questions and that the views at home that you're sharing with us, we've got Howard Makatsani saying, one of the questions that is asked is, what's the average price per square meter in the area and the estate? And that's a really great question. And I find that that's also a particularly great question for coming from investors. So property investors always want to, you want to get the lowest amount per square meter as possible. So really getting a good sense of the property that you have versus other properties and the cost per square meter is so important. Another one here coming through from Lindy's, that is the reason why potential sellers need to look out for professional estate agents who are registered with the EAAB. And that's to what Annette was saying earlier that you really want to be working with people who are adequately accredited because you don't want to find yourself having any issues along the way. So that is one of those important ones. We've got to see where Douma saying, yeah, my aunt's agent was supposed to sell my aunt's house only to find he was renting it out. Wish I knew all these questions a year ago. I mean, I'd even be interested to find out how that even happened, right. I mean, how, how that even happens. I mean, I have so many questions just based on that comment because this is not, this is not that thing that can easily happen. And I guess one of the ways it could potentially happen is your aunt is in a different part of, you know, town, so they're not necessarily living there. And you've given this estate agent a mandate and they then listed up for rental and they are pocketing the money while, you know, the property is not selling, unfortunately. And so if sometimes, let's say it takes even up to eight months for that property to get a seller who then like signs on for that whole eight months, they've been renting it out and pocketing that money. And I guess it would be very difficult for your aunt to have known if she's, you know, out of town and doesn't live, you know, in that particular town, because of course they wouldn't have access to the place. But I would have so many questions. I mean, utility, you know, how are utilities being paid unless everything is just prepaid? But, you know, and to go back to the questions, what are some of the other questions that we need to be asking our estate agents? Yeah, I think that the biggest thing is to also ensure that you can get the best price for your property. Sit with the estate agents and say, okay, this is, you know, it's a Tuesday evening, you're welcome to my home, you've come around, walk around the house and ask it and discuss, is there any way I can improve the value of my home? Because I know, for example, we all kind of know that you get in different countries all over the world, they do what's called home staging. But they do it for a reason, because they almost take away all your personal stuff, all your clutter, they neutralize it, they put in, you know, up to date furniture, and they say, okay, here's the property. So maybe they get people to vacate their property before they're actually putting it on the market. But in reality, if it's just you and me and we're going to live in there until we've actually sold the property, then the best thing to do is neutralize your property, make, come in from the street and see how how neutral you can make it and how appealing you can make it. They call it the curb appeal. And the other thing is then if you if you plan to spend any money, then you look at kitchens and bathrooms, for example. And there's a lot you can do, you know, for example, if every room in the house is a different color, what often somebody will say was just painted or white and think about it like you're going to walk in here and you want to blank canvas for somebody. And that may cost you a few thousand round, but it may get you a few 10,000s of rounds. And a good estate agent would be able to advise you of that. We've got a great question here coming from Usbunis on Facebook asking, how can the agent assist if I bought a house and later the siblings are fighting and harassing me as a buyer in the property? I know we get this quite a lot sometimes in properties in the township where you've bought the property and you bought it from the rightful owners. So, suppose the owner was, you know, the parent or even the, you know, the grandparent. So, you've rightfully bought it from the rightful owner and yet still getting harassed by siblings who perhaps still weren't claimed to the property for some reason. Is there anything an estate agent would be able to help with in that regard or, you know, should they be looking at other avenues to, you know, best resolve this for them? I think that it would be difficult for necessarily for an estate agent to step in and help. But what they could do is obtain all the legal documentation that was drawn up and maybe advise on arbitration. So, what I would suggest why the agent could possibly help is get hold of the transferring attorney, call a meeting with a local community, somebody who could arbitrate. And then, you know, if it's in a community scheme, then the C-SOS is there and they're very helpful. And the community, just repeat to it, it is, it's a community scheme onboard service. So, for any of your listeners, if they're living in a scheme and there's any issues whatsoever, there is part of the levy goes towards the community C-SOS, we call it, and any dispute can be taken to them. That's one way. And then the arbitration and get all the documentation together to show that they haven't, and, you know, they've lawfully transferred that property and then address any issues and see where they can perhaps address them.  So, definitely do look into, you know, the best ways that you can resolve that for yourself. And then Annette, what would be then the next set of questions that we need to explore asking our estate agent? Yes, I think the issue of the mandate is a big issue. When I say issue, I don't mean a negative issue. It's a big fact. So, you have what's called a sole mandate and there is where one agency is responsible for marketing and selling that property. Everything essentially and how to explain it in a summary is that everything has to then go through that one agent for that particular amount of time. You get a dual mandate where two agencies would perhaps get involved and then you get what's called an open mandate. So, I think it's really important that people understand what they're signing. If they're not sure, it's a good time to ask. Don't sign first and ask later. That's always, I get a lot of queries from people and they say, but I've signed this, now I need to understand what does it mean. Or then I say, it's too late. You've signed it and you need to understand and when those properties are being marketed, then it has to be followed through on that particular. So, that's important that they ask. Please explain the mandate to me and negotiate the fees and basically those points at that time. And that's such an important, I think, principle to adopt. The don't sign and ask later first ask and I think it goes beyond just the mandate. I think anything that requires you to sign, whether it's property related, you're looking to buy, you're looking to sell, you're looking to rent or you're a tenant, do not sign then ask later. First, rather ask, be very clear about everything from the get go, then only do you sign because you don't want to get yourself in a situation where you're signing things that you absolutely do not understand. And then what would be the next question we absolutely have to ask on state agents when it comes to our home ownership journey? How long do you think it's going to take to sell the property? Realistically. So, you can make plans and then you can understand and the big thing is we call it price counseling. So, we always joke and you say you could sell your house for a million more, but it's going to take time to get to that price. Well, not in this market, right? I think not so much in this market. I think the perks from the buyer side about this market is that they're spoke for choice and they're able to drive down costs to a certain degree. So, I think this is an interesting market that we're finding ourselves in. And I think it's great for buyers who are serious about buying and it's also great for sellers who are realistic about what their property will sell for because we have serious buyers who are willing to sign on the dotted line and buy that property. Absolutely. And on that exact point you just made, another very important question is when you've signed, you've signed. If people make the mistake of saying, well, on Monday I bought one property on Wednesday, I bought another property and they both offers got accepted. You've entered into a binding contract. So, don't do it likely because you can't just make offers and then hope that one of them gets accepted. You've got to make sure that you know that they could both be accepted. So, that's really, really important. We've got a question coming through here on our Facebook page, coming from Uli Nisi, asking if you could just do a quick explainer what the exclusive sole mandate is when you're talking about mandates, whether it's an open mandate, a sole mandate. So, if you can just explain an exclusive sole mandate, what do you mean by that? Yes. Obviously, everybody's got slightly different wording. So, they would need to make sure that they fully understand. But if sole and exclusive, it means that only that particular agency would be able to market the property. So, in other words, and this is why it's quite important is if you, when you sign that, it has a timeframe. So, it must be realistic. You can't give five-year sole mandate and then not do anything on the property. The whole point of having a sole mandate is that they are going to be actively selling and do their absolute base to sell your property. So, you give them a couple of months or so and then thereafter, you must be in a position or you are able to then open it up or bring another agent in. So, it means if they put sole mandate that if they have property on their books, any other agency has to bring that person through their books. So, it means that, and sometimes it's a wonderful tool because they will spend, they will go all out to put your property on the market and splash it everywhere and it can be sold quite quickly because they are spending the money and the time and the effort and energy into getting that property as much exposure as possible rather than it being diluted between a few agencies. So, you've got to think what, you know, talk to the agents and see what they recommend, talk to a couple and see what they recommend. We've got a comment here coming through from Uttar Pramukh Bhujia on Facebook saying one advice I have though for estate agents and sellers is please take professional pictures and tidy your house. A disordered house on the website is already a turn off to buyers and that is such a big, big, big one because sometimes, sometimes the pictures are professional and they look amazing but the house is just so untidy, you know, the bed is unmade and you'd even think, did you not know that this is the day where your estate agent is coming in to take pictures so at the very least tidy up the place. I always make sure that, you know, my helper comes through and cleans the place if for example it's still furnished in the event where it's vacant, everything must be clean and of course tidy so that all the pictures give you a really great representation of what it looks like because that clutter does distract the person who's viewing a property on privateproperty.co.zd so you do want to make sure that you get that as right as possible. Yeah and utilise it as well and walk through your property a few times and just see what catches your eye. And I think as we close off the last sort of two questions that you have for us that we should be asking our estate agent. I think it's about affordability, checking what the process of finances are. If you're renting it's the same thing, you need to be able to afford what you're getting and ask them upfront what costs are going to be incurred, that's really important. And then also for example the conditions, once the conditions have been fulfilled you need to understand how long is the process of transfer so that you understand when you need the finances and ask them to explain every little cost to you. And that's actually just such an important one because I think that the transfer process I recently pointed out the properties dealt with this one and I think I was quite fortunate because the estate agent and even the attorneys were on the ball in explaining what the delays were and how long I think one of the buyers that was interested in one of my properties they had a flisk subsidy and so they're explaining that typically when it's a flisk buyer these are the additional, I think it was an additional two weeks or three weeks that it would add on to the general cycle and so we can budget up until this amount and at every step I was quite clear of okay this is the delay, this is how long it's going to be and by the time the matter came up for prep and it registered I was not shocked so I think it's so important to just expectation manage people at home because we don't do this on a day-to-day basis so we also want to make sure that we are kept abreast and don't end up getting too anxious because it's not like buying a car where it's it's quick and easy you know in a day you can already have that car, have a change of ownership so it's a completely different ball game and it's before I let you go any final tip for our viewers at home when it comes to dealing or working with an estate agent? I think that yeah understanding when your rights and responsibilities asking them to explain your rights and responsibilities so for example if you have a bond you need to cancel it you need to give three months bond cancellation so a good letting them refer you to a good convincing attorney they obviously have it could recommend a few and then the seller themselves makes that decision but the buyer themselves will then be liable for most of the costs so it'll be nice to get a referral on both sides the seller always chooses the should always choose the convincing attorney and they need to cancel the bond and the buyer will be dealing with that convincing attorney and they need to understand the costs up front so they they all will be liaising with the transferring attorney that's that's quite critical I feel well Annette we're going to leave it there this evening thank you so much for joining us on the show thank you and thank you for hosting it it's been an awesome evening thank you so much and that is Annette Evans who is the general manager at the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa bringing an end to this evening's edition of the private property part cost with my son Usaman Thomas Kumalo looks like we have another roll over unfortunately um Kiza Makati did not claim that 1500 rand so tomorrow we're going to have 2000 rands in the money bag I hope whoever his name gets pulled out of the hat is watching us live and will be claiming that price well that's it for myself and the rest of the team of course catch Umbalino with the farming podcast at 8 p.m I'll be back on your screens tomorrow evening at 7 p.m until then hoping you're staying home and staying safe


What's going on everyone? Sam here with late in sports cards ripping one box of 22 at Panini and Zenith first off the line Football for Joel B. So good luck here, Joel But I've gotten used to the new I'm kind of actually with you I kind of agree with that Brett because I that helped me like when I was younger that helped me learn positions a lot more Like who would wear what because you can only wear certain numbers for certain positions So help me learn who is who to some degree, you know, so I do miss that a little bit. That's cool One more I think yeah, that is gonna be a z-team of chase young not number That's what here is gonna be a gold Kyler Murray and Marquise Brown one of ten. That's nasty. Jesus Christ Got how about an artist proof that's gonna be one of one Jameson Williams boom Wow Got a gold and a one-of-one Jamo, that's awesome. You get that magged up for you buddy. That's sweet. That is sweet God JK all day 26 out of 50 the Ravens God 33 out of 50 Breeze Hall Hey, what's up Kyle three colored RPA for the Jets. I knew it was gonna be this card is cards in like every other unit But it's so cool dude. I kind of want one of these I kind of want one of these we've got the classic Zenith first off the line on card team Tandems Chris Johnson and Vince young and the old Oilers unis really cool. Congrats on that Joel That will do it for your break. Thanks again on that one Joel really cool hits overall I would say get him right out to you buddy


This is also electronic and that's also electronic. So I have sent you the link if you can send it also. That link has to be there if you would see that the link is not forthcoming as the way it should come for the Amazon. I will create it on my own and then I will share it. Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's all. Okay. So we are about to go like good evening everyone. Good evening. Happy Shiv Rathri and happy women's day. As they say that the day of Shiv as well as women, they are every day it's only that we just connote one particular day on that. And to give semblance with these two mega events I will say, which we all celebrate with such rejoice etc. There couldn't be a better way to celebrate, understand the gender today and tomorrow. Just as Roshan Dalvi, a former judge from Bombay High Court. Just as Manju Goyal, a former judge from Delhi High Court and just a similar from Bombay High Court. And it's not for the first time that we are connecting on this platform of Beyond Law CLC as well as on different platforms we have connected. And those who have been watching them or following them, you would always find that knowledge is not restricted only to the respectives of gender, but beyond that. I would say that it has more semblance with our topic of Beyond Law, what we call as the YouTube channel. And once they are three big stalwarts who can take things forward. I will just straight away ask Roshan Dalvi who has also written so many books. And today she will be taking cue from her book of Trials and Tramps, which is readily available on the Amazon link. We will share it on our YouTube link as well as on the WhatsApp group. I will just ask Roshan Dalvi to take the battle and we are just waiting for having the insights from such good speakers and persons who are respected in the society at large. Good evening friends. It's a happy day. But it's also a day for introspection. Friends, women have reached the top in all professions in all careers and in all walks of life at many, many places. But these are lacks of women that have reached the top and there are millions who have not been able to. It is for them that we should have the women's day. It is okay to celebrate our successes. But it is also good to think and appreciate of the trials that women have gone through to achieve that and that others are still going through and who have not achieved that. Now friends, there have been various instances and I have enumerated about 100 of them in my book where women have succeeded, achieved and triumphed. In COVID we found that the largest exponent of what women are and what they go through came out. It was that even in Columbia University women were adversely affected by COVID. They had their children to care for and they could not even in the research section give as many articles and papers as they did before and as the men were given. In COVID we saw that in so many countries, led by women, COVID was better organized and managed. People derided it when it happened, when it so happened in countries like Finland, Iceland, etc. that they are small countries and therefore it was fine. But Germany is a large country and Merkel did exceptionally well. And if you know, even the reports said that Bangladesh did better than India and it was led by women, a woman, a woman who is still in power. So this is so much for the politics but throughout the length and breadth of India, so we've had this at the CH and Glacier, a woman leads a man's battalion. And in ISRO there were so many women scientists that we saw and the idea of the mass taking off and succeeding when it had failed before was the idea of a woman. A woman of how she made puris, that is what we saw in that film and that is what we always understand about the heat that should be transmitted, not really with masculine strength but with feminine agility. So friends, when we talk about this day and just merely wish everyone a happy women's day, it's not enough. And it is not right that we don't think of others. So we do vote today. Thank you. I am really glad that you have set the tone for the meeting today. That's a wonderful way to start this meeting on such a positive note. In fact, today two things that came to my mind and I was reading the newspaper was the way women were coming out and making a mark for themselves. Like you rightly said, there were hundreds of successes but there are a number of unsung little people who are making a market difference to this movement that we are trying to do. Today in the paper I read about two very interesting women. The border roads officer, the lady, laying the most roads and the most critically difficult landscape in the Syahachan Glacier. 42-year-old young engineer would make the difference. Then in the district that I live in, there are a lot of tribal areas and people do not have access to roads. This young mother who had to walk, see the hills, donated all the money that she had to start a home. And that would make a difference for all the little women that you said who are not really achieving the success. It is these women, these unsung heroes who we should celebrate today. We may have a Sudha Murthy today, but we also have, like you rightly said, the other side of the coin. A lieutenant, Serena John, 1979 Muttama was fighting a case where she was almost disqualified from the IFF.  Because she was dismissed from service nearly because she was married. Like you rightly said, today is the day we should all get together and do something about this wonderful day. I fully agree with both of you. Now that we have received equality, we have obtained equality in the rule books and in the law. And everybody accepts the need for equality and everybody is willing to do their bit in giving equality to women. Now the ball is in the court of the women. Now they have to make the best of it and they have to avail of the opportunities and show that they are worth the equality that has been given to them. So what they have to do is to select an application, select a way of life which they want to live and they have to groom themselves to reach the excellence. One factor that cannot be ignored is that marriage is the most biggest influencing factor in a woman's life. And when the woman is seeking marriage what we find is that what counts most is not her merit but her beauty. Because if you open the newspapers you see the women are advertising to say that I am beautiful and men are saying I want a beautiful wife. So men are actually not looking for meritorious women and women are not projecting themselves as meritorious. Now therefore looking good is high on the agenda of women. While she is busy making herself beautiful her male counterparts are taking those greatly forward to go ahead in their career. So with this traditional difference between the outlook for men and women I agree with Justice Roshan Dalvi. Yes but whilst the women are doing that and this is correct for an average family in our country what is success of a woman is what we must understand. How do you define success? There are several women who have not made it to the top and then names are not known. But they have done some things in their lives which have affected many careers many lives etc. Of course a woman at home also is a woman who works. I would not say that if a woman is a homemaker she does not work and I would not say that because she does not have money or earn money she is not worth the money. But when we are talking about success stories of today we come across so many women who have kind of made so much of impression on our minds. One such woman was from Andhra Pradesh who is now called the queen of transmission towers. She used to climb up on transmission towers because she was an engineer and she would repair or make amends with whatever went wrong with the transmission towers. People were jeering at her and now they call her the queen of transmission towers. Similarly there was an engineer who actually made certain instruments in Kerala to go with her father during Covid on coconut trees. And she made it easier for her father who was a coconut puller to pull the coconuts from the trees. Now there are so many such cases. There is a case of rise, cultivation and revolution and there are cases where women have out shone during the most adversarial times. These are the real heroes of today. I will take that forward from where you left off. To me today is an important day because you also have Siddharth Murthy nominated as a member of parliament because of the outstanding achievements in that period.  And my favourite example of a very very strong woman is Banwari Devi. Now this is a very very tragic case. Banwari Devi was a social worker who was preventing a child marriage. One year old child was about to be given a marriage when she stepped in and stopped it. And for that crime she was raped by five uppercast men. These men were acquitted in a shocking judgment. I had to write up the Supreme Court. Banwari Devi did not get count down. She was not afraid. Despite all the pressure that was mounted on her she is still fought for her rights and I think she is still fighting for her rights. The option of this is the Vishakha case. This is where sexual harassment at workplace was defined by the honour of the Supreme Court. Rules were laid down and now the act has also come into force. Although the judgment was pronounced in 1997 and the act came in 2013. The fine remains that out of this lady's effort to stop the child marriage in Rajasthan millions of working women are today benefited because the law has been laid down by the Supreme Court and it has also become an act. The POSH of the Bosch Act has been called one of these remarkable women. This is Banwari Devi whom we should salute on this day. Well, success, I agree with Justice Roshan is not reaching the top. Now in today's context, in the context of today's topic I think success means reaching the full height of the potential that a woman has and expressing all her capabilities undeterred by all the obstacles that the society presents. Whether as an artist or as a player or even as an industrialist if one is able to go to the position that she is capable of I will call it a success. Not necessarily the winner in the traditional sense but that something that gives her satisfaction and something that we acknowledge as success. Sudha Murthy is coming up again and again so I also thought of Sudha Murthy But it's okay. Sudha Murthy may not have made it like her husband but it is Sudha Murthy which made it for her husband to reach the position that he has and look at the satisfaction writ large on her face. She is happy and she is proud of her husband and all that she did for her husband to reach the top. Now here I have to mention that women have a special price to pay for this success which the Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin said is the price of childbirth. As a woman gives birth to a child and cares for the child for a couple of years she is left out of the race while the others are overtaking her and if this repeats repeatedly she falls behind while others take a march over her. No wonder then that we don't see equal number of women at top although at the bottom we have all the women almost equal like even in our legal profession as the new year begins after the LLB reserves are declared you find large number of women and men have joined the power but as the race passed by the number of women dwindled and accordingly fewer senior advocates fewer principals of colleges fewer CEOs when I see women around me as so successful I think they deserve a special applause because it is their indomitable spirits that despite all these prices that she had to pay she has still made it to the top. And that said friends we must understand where men and women excel they are in different modes and in different styles they excel in the same careers but in different styles a woman for example would be very good in leadership in mentoring in taking forward along with her her juniors or her subordinates or her staff a man would think mainly of profit he would be a very good task master and a very great boss perhaps not a great leader but there are of course many great leaders Khandiji and Nelson Mandela were the greatest leaders of our times and Nelson Mandela had said that we must leap from the back and let the others think that they are in the front so this is how a woman would lead I knew about a story where I mean it's not really a story an incident that happened when a judge in our court who was an administrative judge said that everyone must leave office premises exactly at 5.30 we must have the discipline so you can't say that anybody can leave before but I didn't agree and I allowed my staff to leave before if they wanted and I said that that is not when they think that they should want it but if their work is over they can go home I may be busy but they may not be on that given day so it worked I understand very well in my court because women don't want money they don't want prizes and gifts they want their time they want that is their freedom and that should be the leadership that comes along and in this kind of a mold there are so many women who have achieved that way for example in 9-11 there are many stories of men being told but there is a book Women at Ground Zero and you will realize how many women have done such good heroic jobs on that day which the world has failed to register yes ma'am I agree the lines are getting blurred the boundaries are getting rewritten 9-11 is a classic example of women who went beyond the call of the duty in rescuing people and one story one incident that comes to mind is a beautiful movie called Hidden Figures I don't know how many of you have seen it two black women working in NASA in the 1950s and 60s and 70s there was a lot of racial discrimination and also gender discrimination despite these odds these three women who are actually sitting like Mr. Nelson Mandela said at the back eventually came up with the actual calculations that sent the lunar module out of the orbit and John Glendon asked for not to go around the world there are three times only because of these three women why hidden behind the back not noticed by anybody the most critical element of that mission because of these three women and while I agree with you partly ma'am they are good at you know reading men may be better at reading and men may be better at bosses but I think the lines are getting blurred today you see cases of women willing to fight on the front lines and asking for active duty on the border saying that we are as good as men and I don't think the day is very far off when disparity that we feel is there will not really exist they are good at nurturing they are better at counselling they are better at caring they are better at inspiring I agree but I think the lines are getting blurred and very soon the distinctions will be over I am an optimist so let's see well there are individual traits some people are good at something some people are good at something else there may be some generalization but I think such generalizations are not to be taken very seriously there are men who are kind the women who are rude so all those things are possible particularly if you talk about data and studies they all depend upon a particular sample chosen for the study but yet yet we have to accept that there are certain things in which the women are much better than men particularly when it comes to caring for the little baby who cannot even speak but the mother knows whether the child is hungry whether the child is cold whether the child needs a cover or whether the child needs the arm of the mother so this is something very special which only a woman knows and woman does and sometimes it may be very surprising even to see how does she know about so much about the child who is not communicating men on the other hand want to show that they are brave they are strong and accordingly they are out to show their masculinity whenever it is possible to express their masculinity and in the jobs in which masculinity covers or masculinity helps I just want to say one thing one telling comment that you made about men women being cruel from Yassil Roshan Dalvi's book itself said that women can be cruel and one wonderful comment that ma'am has made in the book about the you know Stowleson incident she said how is it that only the daughters in law get burnt mothers in law and sisters in law never get burnt very telling comment that only the daughters in law get burnt mothers in law and sisters in law never get burnt those are accidents supposedly but anyway while we are celebrating both men and women as gender we must see how we have progressed and what has happened in different aspects one very nice study was a study of group pink and that was in New York no other city in the last recession in America in 2007-2008 people realized actually the statistics realized that it was because the analysts and the people who played the market were only men and they played the market in a given way they did only that but then they realized that if there were women analysts also they would have invested more in insurance, education and healthcare and that kind of recession that struck America would have been milder and there are two books written on that and which I have written about and I have narrated and referred in my book one is Fools gold and one is women of the street the street is Wall Street of course the most telling job in the world they say and there she has mentioned very nicely she has mentioned that men don't have some special genetic code that makes them a better fit to play the market it is simply a matter of education and knowledge so this is how it happens once our mindset is set on the fact that yes we are humans and we have got the same traits because not many have some have and we recognize that then the battle is won because it is when we don't recognize that that you call it stereotyping I don't want to add anything more I will wait for it I will add to what Roshan says we all the time in the courts because I think my audience is also accustomed to the happenings in the courts we all the time think as to how women make a difference and we discussed it with other senior judges and we found that presence of a woman on the bench does make a difference particularly when it deals with matters of about which the women understand more particularly when it comes to family so in that area I think we must allow the woman the first option to decide in family matters because she understands definitely she understands more than the man does who spends much lesser time in the family than a woman does even when both the members of the family are working the general sense is that woman is spending more time with the family while the man is also spending time with the newspaper and the TV so with this we will take it back to Roshan for the deliberations we have talked a lot about celebrating the successes we should not forget what has been left out which are the areas which require concern and which require our actual introspection as well as appreciation of what trials the women are going through these are essentially on the criminal side as we say offences against women and children rape and domestic violence at the highest level though all laws are abused and domestic violence law is also abused by quite a few women many women now today because when they come of age there is a tendency to abuse they have to be put in place but we must not forget that if we go to a municipal hospital for example in the burnt ward all the inmates are young married women and they are from different strata of the society so it is not that domestic violence is prevalent only in the lower strata or some such thing it happens everywhere across countries throughout universal in my book I have written that if we were to inhabit Antarctica it would be in Antarctica also but why we should take care of all these things is what matters and today we have got Poxo there is a complete legislation I would call it a complete code for that but yet the position has not improved last week there was a gang rape in Zartan which is a national shame it was of a tourist from Spain as you all know so when we were told that we were the national capital for rape we took a front when we were told that our GDP had gone down because women in our country were not given the same thing in the unorganized sector we refused those reports Sudha Murthy has said that when she attended a conference and she wanted to understand the position of a woman as per the statistics she thought that India would be somewhere in the middle which of course generally we are but she was appalled to find that India is amongst the least developed countries in the world so far as patriarchy and the women in unorganized sector is concerned so whereas the Scandinavian countries are at the top we are lower than the Sark nations and only higher than Pakistan that is our position so where men and women excel we see where areas which are untouched we have to understand see for example rape when it happens we have got our gots back to capacity with what I would call love affairs and we don't take up the matters of the real rapes I've called them the real rapes and the statutory rapes in my book it is the management of these offenses that will go a long way in rendering some sector to the women who have been most oppressed and these are the highest forms of human rights violations so I also have one disturbing thing to add to this line of thought less than a few days ago there was a case filed in the Kerala High Court in fact it was reported in 666952024 titled as A versus union of India a young bride a bride who was given a handbook or a written note telling her how and when to conceive a son how and when to conceive a son this was detailed this is I mean the case is still being heard I don't want to comment about it but the misuse of an act or the abuse of the PNDP act the prenatal diagnostic techniques act is what I would like to highlight that act was enacted in order to see that the fetuses do not have any deformities and to take corrective steps but it is being used to abort a female baby once they realize that the baby is a female they are taking steps to abort the baby this is the sad state of this is something that still needs to be addressed even that act when it actually came into force in 1994 still had to be filed seeking a direction from the Supreme Court to get this act to be implemented and it came to be disposed in 2003 for nine long years there was import storage till the Supreme Court gave a slight wrap on the knuckles and they were forced to enact the rules this is one area that I could rightly say ma'am an area that was neglected an area on which we should prevent the abuse of law and ensure that the act is really useful and inspires against the female baby should be removed at all costs you see so far as rape is concerned the government statistics say that 98.6% of the cases are within the known people that means the victim and the offender are known to each other they may not all be love affairs but there may be other cases where people who are trusted by the family have raped the girl and we all know reported cases are much less than the actual cases may be larger number of cases are not reported and then domestic violence huge numbers only the extreme cases come to the courts now these offenses happen within the four walls of the house the state has not much role to play in this so what is playing there is the patriarchal mindset so what we need to do is actually to remove this mindset and acknowledge the honour and position of a woman in the family in the right sense this we have to do by educating the children and the adolescents because that is the time when they learn after the impressionable age is over they are as good or as bad as any one of us and another thing we have to do simultaneously is to educate the girls because they must also understand that they are important they should have the ability to be on their own two feet now our statistics again show that 50% of our girls get married before attaining the age of 18 years that means they are either removed from the school before marriage or immediately on marriage that means even the school education is not completed and accordingly when they get into adversities they don't know the way out sometimes they are compelled to be here those adversities and 18 years is not the right days even for childbirth what to talk about leading a matrimonial life and we all know what marriage means in our society so it is very important to make the woman stand on her own feet and let us all understand the real equality allow me if I have time I will tell it one small story conceived by our Nobel laureate more than 100 years back about the equality of women do we have the time 2 minutes 3 minutes now this is the story based on Mahabharata's small part where Arjun comes to Manipur in exile there he meets Chitrangada the princess of that case the thing having no son had raised Chitrangada as a man she knows all the warfare she knows the state club eventually when she sees Arjuna she falls for her but till then she had no womanly feelings now she goes to God of Love and asks for beauty because now she wants to seduce Arjuna now God of Love says you will be beautiful by the night but in the daytime you will be the same so in the night she goes to Arjuna and Arjuna is charmed but in the morning when she leaves Arjuna goes to the people and he hears the stories of Chitrangada Chitrangada is brave she is motherly but she is also like a king she can fight the enemies can drive away the robbers and he is extremely eager to meet such a princess so in the night when Chitrangada comes he says can you take me to Chitrangada I hear so much about her I want to see her at least once then Chitrangada laments so what shame what shame I have asked for beauty so she asks the beauty to go and she then reveals herself and when Arjuna eventually Arjuna wants to marry her he says okay I have one condition I will be your equal I will be by your side whether in war or in peace if you agree only then I am yours so I think this is the way to express how merit overtakes beauty and what is equality now that our women are also willing to go to the front and asking for combat positions this 125 years back what they go road I think he would have been very happy and even here and see how women have made it now so friends to conclude what is it that we should do from today till the next year one is collective action of multiple stakeholders men as well as women it is for men to come out and say that we have heard violence and they will not accept it it is for them to actually speak and there is no need for only women to speak about all these causes we are speaking for the human cause okay now there is an association called MAVA men against violence and abuse in Bombay which is doing very good work they make films on gender equality and they show it to schools and colleges to actually impress young minds United Nations one small organization called HEFOSHI where also men have come forward and said that we should have equality not only on the civil side but on the criminal side that means as we talk in law that against offenses as well as in careers and that has been doing some very good work there is some magazine which is called KURUSH PANDANA which shows actual stories of how women have succeeded etc and how they should be on par but today increasing number of men are also taking the lead and as Sheryl Sandberg has said in Lean In it is a book which I have referred to in my book a truly equal world would be where women run half our countries and companies and men run half our homes so that friends would be diversity equity and inclusion in the corporate sector they talk of diversity and inclusion only and it is going at a great pace and that is good but being trained in law I would say it should be diversity equity and insurance because there should be a level playing field because what is it that there are numbers all the time people are talking about how many women are here and how many women are there that is not the only thing but that is not what is required because as if you are going to see merit it should be only on merit it should not be on quotas and those kind of things but merit must be recognized appreciated and encouraged and that we can do at home right from the beginning and in schools and colleges I think it is a case of social study just as we are now having yoga we should be having nutrition say that doctors similarly we should be having legal rights legal rights of all and legal right to equality so I would say Manju said that we should educate girls of course we are all educated and therefore we are equals but I would say because unless we treat and we actually educate our children to respect women from the beginning we are not going to happen and if that happens the entire generation would change and our women's day will not be a day only to say or happy women's day I hope next year we will say something else thank you friends I fully agree with what you say I think we should be the like Mahatma Gandhi said we should be the change that we want and like rightly said the change should begin from the home how to teach his young son how to respect the lady of the house how to respect even the maid of the house how to respect a lady who delivers the groceries or the milk he should open a door to a lady he should respect to a lady because a child would immediately inculcate the habit from his father any child it should therefore start from home and as you rightly said the marriages also should have a course on this the fact that women are coming out and fighting every time a woman raises a cry like a me too moment or anything I feel every said able-bodied man should support that cause every second thought you should actively stand up and support these women or try and go for justice start at home, teach your children the right manners and be there as an active supporter and as far as courts are concerned both of you are distinguished judges I think quick disposal of these cases is also absolutely necessary they are getting bogged down in these years and years they are being buried under the paper but something should be run to quickly although courts have been established the required speed and efficacy has not been achieved one other thing about the medication is also educating our prosecutors our police officers not to subject a woman who is a victim to another I don't want to say anything more thank you it was a pleasure thank you both my brother and my sister it has been an excellent evening for me and all that you have said will disown it with me for long it is true what I think is the same thing as you think and madam Rosyandal it is good that we all think that it is the education which eventually will help education will have to be perhaps redefined now that is being done perhaps that should include character building which Vivekanan said is not putting all the information in the brain and run riots there education should be man building character building nation building education I think this is what we need I was just thinking that there couldn't be a better way to get yourself educated from three persons who have created the mark within the society and it actually resonates what just Manjubal says that all those who watch the session would have brownie points to learn and they will have something with which they can actually inculcate things and after the session I feel that there are more like seedlings which actually will glow into plants and trees and we will have a better tomorrow and for us it will be as they say that why only celebrate women's day or one particular day once you inculcate better things it will continue to imbibe good values good teachings and a good society for tomorrow and thank you to all three speakers we have been interested thank you everyone stay safe, stay best thank you


Hi everyone, welcome back to Apples and Tearas. So today's vlog is going to be a little bit different than you guys are used to. It is currently January 12th, 2023 and I did something kind of crazy today. I told my principal that I was moving today because Scott and I are hopefully fingers crossed going to be moving back up to the Prescott area in Yavapai County. So if you know anything about Arizona, you guys know where that probably is. And if you don't, Arizona has a whole northern region area where you actually get four seasons. You get snow and you have fall and it's not hot. And that is where I grew up in Prescott, Arizona. So we've actually, we lived there a few years ago.  You guys know I used to teach up in Prescott. I used to work with Jennifer up in Prescott and I'm actually trying to go back to the school that Jennifer and I taught at together.  But today was the day that I told my principal at my current position as a fourth grade science social studies teacher down here in Queen Creek that I am going to be moving. So she was really, really sweet about it. She was, I told her the reasons, you know, we want to be near family. We want kind of a quieter, slower lifestyle. We want to be more adventurous and get out. And you know, just everything about living in the valley is just not my favorite. And Scott's ready for a change as well. So yeah, she was really sweet about it. She was like, I'm praying for your husband that he gets the job he wants. And I'm praying for you that you get the job you want. And it's all just been fabulous. So I did or I do have a student teacher that's working with me right now who will be graduating in December. So and because she is going to school at ASU, they do have a couple of different programs where you can do the last or a couple of bits of your student teaching as a paid substitute. And work under like a mentor teacher, you would still have a lot of like observations and evaluations, but you would be being paid as a substitute instead of not being paid at all. So I brought this idea up to my principal and she was like, all for it. So she told me, like, make sure you have her really polished on behavior management and classroom management and engagement strategies and all of that. So her and I have really been discussing a lot of classroom management, behavior management, all of that stuff so that she can be polished and ready to go and just kind of slide right into my position for fourth grade science. So fingers crossed that everything works out, but today was kind of a big step. So my husband Scott, as you guys know, is a police officer here in the valley and he is hoping to lateral up to a department up in the northern area. So he has two departments that he's kind of going back and forth between. And then he also has an insurance job that he's looking into to get out of police work altogether. So we're going to just continue to pray for all of that. He's actually up there right now doing like interview stuff, paperwork, like application stuff. So it's all kind of happening. We're going to have to sell our house, which we are more than prepared to do. So I'll take you guys through that process, probably in this video. I'll just give you little updates here and there about things that are happening, kind of just like steps that are getting us closer and closer to moving. And then I will probably do like a big announcement video before I post this one. So or maybe I'll post it like after or maybe at the same time. I don't know what I'm going to do yet because I want to make it special. I'll probably post it before this one. Let's be really honest because you guys want to know like, oh, she's moving back. And then now you can see the whole process of how it went down. So anyway, yeah, I'm really excited. I'm also really nervous because both Scott and I, in the professions that we're in, they do not pay nearly as much up there as they do down here. So both of us are going to be taking a major, major pay cut to move up there. So we're trying to figure out all of that. And we're hoping to build a house because my mom is a very seasoned home builder. She used to be a contractor. She worked in building homes her whole life. She's always built us home. She's built us over 10 homes in my in my lifetime. So we're hoping to be able to build a house using my mom as our consultant.  So we're trying to really just work out all of these details and see if it's going to be possible for us to move. One thing I did mention to my principal today was that everything kind of depends on if Scott can get a job and if we can sell our house. So, of course, she was like, we'll keep me posted contracts are due March 3rd. So I told her I would definitely like let her know before March 3rd for sure if we were going to be leaving. So she does know that we are planning to move. We're trying to get everything kind of set up to move.  Yes, it is not happening. I will not be signing my contract. So this is six minutes deep already. So I'm going to let you guys go. But please pray for us because I just I'm so excited to be home in beautiful, beautiful Prescott, Arizona. You guys have no idea where it is. You should look it up because it is gorgeous. OK, till next time. We're at 50 percent. OK, so it is January, what, 14th today? And we're all up here in Prescott, looking at a perspective property that we might be purchasing to build a home on. So I'm going to show you guys the view. So this is a neighbor's house. Our property would be that way. But we'll show you what it looks like. I love the view. That's a view like you're on top of all the way over there. Hi, everyone. I can't remember the last time I did a check in with everybody about the whole moving thing, but it is February 17th. And I'm just at school getting ready for my day. But today is actually a kind of pivotal day in our process of moving to Prescott. So I think the last time I updated you guys, I don't know for sure if I told you if I didn't find. But if not, so my husband, Scott, was actually hired with a department up in the Prescott area. I won't tell you which one, but he actually starts. His first day is this coming Tuesday, the 21st of February. And because the department pays so much less than what he's paid down here, we decided that to save money. We're going to be pulling cash out of preschool. Is today your last day of school? Yeah. Yeah. And then cash and Scott will be up in Prescott four days out of the week, and then they will either come down and visit me on his days off or I will go visit them on my days off because right now his schedule is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. As of right now, that could change. And if it does change, if he ends up working weekends, then I will spend every weekend going up to Prescott between now and May 26th, which is my last day here in Queen Creek. So a lot of things have kind of been going on in the background that I haven't really shared yet. So that is one of the kind of pivotal moments. The next thing that is to come is on March 1st. Our house is going to be listed for sale, and we are hoping and praying that we can sell it for a certain price so that we can make enough money to then build our new home. So and we're not like overpricing it or anything like that. Like we've discussed with our realtor what a fair price would be and just depending on all the other prices of the areas around us. What we have decided on is pretty it's a pretty amazing price for a home like ours. So I will probably be sharing the house sale process with you all. But I think I will probably share that process on our family channel, which is called Apples in the Badge. If you guys are interested, you can go over to that channel, follow it. And then we will be probably posting a lot more on that channel, just kind of around like the house sale and the building process for our new home. And honestly, like just the whole fact of moving to Prescott is really like an enrichment for our family. And so we want to be able to share more on that platform just because we want to be able to have the memory. So look back on. So if you're interested in following our family channel, it is going to be linked right down below. It's called Apples in the Badge. And I would love for you guys to hang out over there and so that I can share a little bit more like family personal things rather than just teaching content. So anyway, that is kind of like the newest update. It's going to be really hard for me because I've never been away from him longer than like one or two nights just on a vacation and now it's going to be like four nights in a row. I don't know where 16 is. So it's going to be hard on me and for him. He's kind of sad like he's going to miss mommy a lot.  So and he will not be going to preschool up in Prescott. He's going to be my mom and I are going to actually sit down and create like a really nice kind of like weekly schedule for him. He'll be doing some online learning. We're going to get him on ABC Mouse. I know a lot of people rave about ABC Mouse. There's a couple of other programs that I know of that he can go on and learn just to continue his learning while he's not in school. He starts kindergarten in August. So and he's actually doing really well because like he's been ready for kindergarten for a long time. And then my sister runs an outdoor program. It's called Honey Bee's Adventure Time up in Prescott. If you guys live in Arizona, her thing is amazing. So he'll be going to that almost every afternoon and then on weekends when I'm up there. And it's just like a hiking club, an adventure club, an outdoor club. And she also teaches a Brenda microschool. So if if he like is wanting like a school atmosphere, like something like that, he can go with her during the school day as well. So he's going to be kept really busy. We're going to get him into like Little League and swimming lessons. And he's going to be kept so busy. So he'll be in good hands. He's going to be with the preschool of Nana for a while. This is her food. Look what. So anyway, that is the latest installment of the Valdez move. So I hadn't I wasn't sure if I had updated y'all on any of that. So I wanted to just pop in. As of right now, we have not purchased or like promised ourselves to a lot. There are two that we're looking at, both very different price ranges. And so we want to kind of wait a little bit. To see like the sell of our house kind of depends on which lot we're going to purchase, because it's all like a money down kind of situation. So anyways, I will update you guys as it gets farther in with the sale of our house and all of that. And then we'll see how things go. All right, friends, so it is February 20th. Yes, it's presidency. And we are at another perspective lot here in Prescott. Everyone's here. We're kind of climbing around and playing. This lot is significantly more money than the other one we're looking at. But because it's already flat, it's going to be way less work to build. So we actually put in an offer today that we should be hearing about in the next 24 hours. So cross your fingers for us, because this lot would actually be like perfect. It's way more money. We're going to have kind of a tighter budget on the build, but it's in a beautiful location. I'll show you guys the view. So this is the view. It is on a busy street, but we don't really mind because this whole area, all of this land right here would be ours, in addition to the flat top. So the house would go here and then we would have some side yard stuff and then the whole rest of our backyard is this. Hey, guys. So I'm chatting with you from inside of my medicine cabinet. Today is Tuesday, February 21st. And last night was the first night that I spent here in the big house alone. Cash is up in Prescott with Scott and my parents. And I am down here. I'm going to be staying here by myself a lot of the time, like a majority of the time. Selling the house, keeping it clean. And then just finishing out the contract here for school. Luckily, we have spring break in two more weeks. And then I'll see, is it two more weeks or three? I think it's two or three more weeks and then one more week. So three weeks total until spring break and then and then I can go up to Prescott and just be with my family. So last night was kind of hard. I slept OK. I do take like a sleep aid, gummy and. And that helps me sleep and stay asleep. But when I'm by myself, it's a lot harder to make the conscious decision to like turn off the TV and like be. In the quiet, I have major sleep anxiety. I've always had a hard time like falling asleep. I don't know, like the sheer thought of like my body shutting down and like going to sleep has always terrified me. I don't know what it is. It just always has. Like I've always struggled with like, OK, just close your eyes and go to bed. No, just turning off the TV, closing my eyes and going to bed has never, ever worked for me. My whole life, I've always had to either sleep with the TV on or like make sure someone's with me. I have always had like a sound machine of sorts. Just as like a support to help me not feel. I don't know, I guess like laying there in the dark with your eyes closed is kind of vulnerable and I don't know. I've just always hated like going to sleep once I'm asleep. I'm fine. But anyway, I apologize. My bathroom's a mess. We've been kind of like going through the motions of packing and cleaning for the house to be sold. A lot of that's going to be done this week. So I think I'm going to create a new vlog starting here where we're not really focused on like moving details and information, but rather now we're kind of discussing. How we're prepping for this move. So yeah, you can see there's kind of like stuff all over because we had started like deep cleaning the shower because the shower was if you have showers like this, you know how annoying they are to clean. Anyways, so I think I'm going to end this blog here. The next installment of this saga is going to be selling this house. Seeing if our lots purchase, which we should know, we should know today if they've accepted our offer. We'll see fingers crossed. Please God. And then after that, it's just selling this house, finishing my teaching contract and getting a new job. So I will be including all of that information in our part two video of we are moving. So thank you guys for watching this long. Subscribe to the channel. Both channels, if you guys want to stay up to date with all of our family adventure and follow some Instagram as well. And I will see you all in the next one. Bye.


What kind of potential do you see for us, for India going forward, you know, a lot of scientists now say that the future is not impossible to predict based on data. So, you know, I want to get your views from what you see around you. See, data is about the past. These figures and statistics can give you some insight into what may happen tomorrow. But these statistics and data does not take into consideration what is beating in the human heart. Things have happened in this world, not always according to past data, not as people expected, because one human being stood up with a passion that nobody else could stop and suddenly this human being made the difference and turned the course of life for a society or a community or an entire nation or the world. Again and again it's happened. So, so-called scientific data has no access to this. So, tomorrow morning with what passion Indian youth will stand up and what difference they will make, there is no scientific data for that. How we can inspire them, there is no scientific data for that. They are going by cold statistics. Yes, it will give you some idea where we are. It will never tell you where we are going to be. It tells us where we are right now. Right. There's no way to know really. No, no, it's not that there's no way to know. First of all predictions are for those people, whether astrological or scientific I don't care, because both are about the same. Predictions are for those people who neither have the capability to either make a plan or execute a plan because you are not capable of a plan, you fall back on predictions.