"There is a season"

It's that time of the year. Its time to scrounge around to put together the one lakh investment for 80 C tax exemption. This year, in a bid to save my salary from getting chopped off by TDS I invested in tax saving mutual funds back in May. Ha! Considering the lack of dividends and the dizzying fall of its NAV I would have been better off with the tax being cut and the lesser salary accruing the savings account interest. Oh well. Hindsight and 20/20 and all that. Anyway, I still have some to invest and was researching on NABARD bonds and came across this link [ Of wives, girlfriends and home loans ]which I read only because of its catchy title. Hey, home loan rates are not all that exciting and a title suggesting scandal is exactly what would entice reluctant [and gossip hungry] readers like me. So the article talks about how existing home loan customers get screwed over while banks reduce rates to lure new customers. The columnist exhorts the "wives" [existing customers] to not sit around and mope but to make demands. If the banks call their bluff so be it.. actually move to the next bank offering a better deal. This reminds me of when the magazine [I'd mention its name but honestly I've forgotten it] we subscribed to had an ad which said they would gift a book on India to new subscribers. Dad called them up and asked them for our copy. "They" explained that it was only for new customers. Dad argued. Then he argued some more about how we were customers for 'N' years and how they should not take us for granted. It took a bunch of calls but finally that book on India was delivered home.
The point is, Stand up!
Of course, in these times, it may be slightly hard to stand up at the workplace, with the Sword of "The Current Market Scenario" hanging over one's head. Maybe there is a time to stand up and be heard and a time to sit quietly and wait for an opportune time. Or maybe that's a coward's rationalization.

The acronyms used above as far as my memory and imagination go:
TDS : Tax Deducted at Source
NAV : Net Asset Value
NABARD : National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development