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I have never been clued up on Money Matters, maybe
because, when we, my sisters and I, were growing up in an Army family, there
was never enough money to spread over the entire month. By the 15th,
my Army Dad and my teacher Mom would have exhausted their respective kitties. However,
never once did we three girls feel the pinch. We had Parvathy Amma, a grand old
lady (of course, she was young once), who made an appearance when I was six
months old, and left for her heavenly abode almost three decades later. She was
a true asset in our lives, for she had magic in her fingers – every dish she
made was MasterChef-worthy and the way she made a limited amount of money last
made her a financial wizard.
Many were the meals friends and family came over for. The table would groan under the weight of Parvathy Amma’s delicacies, and how she did it single-handedly was a miracle.
All that we children saw was the largesse, never the drought. Our home was open to all, and my parents were folks who would give their last penny away, if required. Money did not raise its head all through our childhood. We believed that it probably grew on trees. The only savings that mattered to us were the coins that we thrust into our piggy banks, which made us feel rich indeed.
Pixabay
And yes, we were rich in all the things that mattered – we had a
beautiful life and a loving family, doctored with dollops of discipline and
decorum dished out, myriad friends and birthday parties, and roti, kapda and
Army makaans. What more did we need?
So, we ‘growed and growed’ as Topsy remarked in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Fixed deposits came and stayed, current accounts stayed current and the Post Office helped us accrue interests and Tupperware gifts. Cheques were not supposed to bounce (how could they behave so childishly!), pass books were stashed away with the family jewellery and heirlooms in lockers, and God forbid if cheques were not crossed. A PPF fund was started in the State Bank, and if we did not put in regular amounts, they would send us reminders sounding very cross indeed!
Those were the days when I did two things with great alacrity
– teach in different schools, (by now I was married into the Army!) and write
articles and short stories. I received cheques for both, the amounts of which
were smaller than the immense pleasure I received out of receiving them. I
would painstakingly put down the cheque numbers and the amounts in a
weatherbeaten diary, going over them once in a blue moon. These amounts went
straight into my account and remained untouched as I had one principle that I
shared with my sceptical better half – Your money is my money, and my money is
my money! I still wonder why it took me time to convince him of that!
Today, money matters have taken on different avatars
across the country. G Pay and UPI have made physical wallets obsolete. Even a
groundnut seller roasting hot groundnuts in his cart (how can one not think of
that delectable aroma!) has G Pay. All one needs is a smart phone and money in one’s
account. The rumour is that pickpockets have gone out of business.
Alamy
Hence, here I am, older and wiser, having got better at
money matters for the sole reason of having a husband who is a whiz kid at
them. At the click of a button, one finds a stream of delivery boys (and girls)
streaming up our stairs – Flipcart, Google, Instamart, Blinkit and Jio. These
folks work from dawn to midnight, come hail, rain or sunshine, and are quicker
than the proverbial hare.
Gone are the days when ‘bonds’ meant fetters, and SIPs
came in juice bottles. Thanks to the afore mentioned whiz kid, we possess both,
and a bit of a toehold in the share market as well, albeit a well-controlled
one as we have heard gory tales of people having gone bankrupt because they
threw themselves, heart, souls and wallet, into shares.
Old timers always had cautionary tales up their sleeve,
which ended with the following quotes. “Save up for a rainy day.” “Do not put
all your eggs in one basket.” “Cut your coat according to your cloth.” Money
comes and money goes; the trick is to keep it growing instead of going.
iStock Photo
In a nutshell, let us live life to the fullest, keep our
money growing and be content with what we have for comparisons are odious, as one
wise soul said. The grass on the other side may be greener, but it is better
not to let the green-eyed monster take us prisoner.
As Richard Armour put it, “That money talks I’ll not deny.
I heard it once. It said Goodbye.”
Goodbye Money Cartoon - Magnific
This post is a part of Bachat & Beyond Blog Hop hosted by Sukaina Majeed and Manali Desai under the #EveryConversationMatters Blog Hop Series powered by authors Suruchi Hirawat and Harsh Soni.
