Kolam, Stray dogs, odds and ends

There is a kolam outside most hindu homes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolam) a pattern made using rice powder mixed with water ... A few days ago, my mom complained that the kolam was disappearing rather quickly - it is supposed to be done in the morning (or late night) and stay throughout the day ... Turns out, a squirrel was coming by almost every day and using the "kolam" for food - rice/water - so why not? What is interesting is that she places a small amount of cooked rice outside a window sill every morning for squirrels or crows that appear - So to fix the "kolam" problem with rice/water, she went and bought some white powder that is NOT food - and hope that the squirrels eat the food on the sill and not in the "kolam"

I notice stray dogs a lot - they seem to mind their own business - and in the morning, I see several people walk with small bags filled with crackers or cookies - they drop pieces every so often where some of the dogs congregate - I am guessing the dogs know who will come when and drop off food ...

The TV here is off a satellite turns out - there is a dish on the top of the building - and apparently there is some problem with the dish orientation - they called someone - cancelled it - and tried to reschedule it - but turns out someone living in the top most floor apparently is very uncooperative and trashes the place where the dish is located - This sort of unsocial behavior seems to happen a lot apparently - people simply do not care about what happens outside their own apartment - even though they do have to navigate the areas outside - My brother had to have some repairs done to the apartment - and one item that needed attention was some water leakage coming from the apartment above - the neighbors there did not care and refused to do anything about it - so he had to pay for THEIR repairs and then do my parents repairs so there will not be leakage - petty or non petty behavior is fairly common - each tenant is supposed to pay some nominal amount for building upkeep every month - there are many who simply refuse to pay and there is not much that can be done, apparently - In some things, India remains mired in negative and backward thinking and unless people improve, things will get worse