1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

Value Of Money

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by satchitananda, Apr 21, 2018.

  1. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    "Appa, I want a new shuttle" to make lace. That was me in Std. IV. Everyone was tatting and I wanted to, too.

    "I want felt pens." "Why do you want felt pens? You have colour pencils and those are good enough." "My friend has felt pens and they are much nicer than colour pencils." "You can't have everything you want or what others have. Money does not grow on trees." Lesson learned in Std. IV. No, I did not appreciate it then. I do now.

    Time went by. I could not wait to grow up, start earning, to be rich and to make it big. Those were not days when one could do small summer jobs nor could we sell lemonade and make money at stands like the kids in Enid Blyton books did. Life went on with me wishing some such stuff was possible in India too.

    I had just completed my B.Sc and got a job in a vaccine manufacturing unit. Salary Rs. 700/- per month. I was over the moon. A 4 figure salary those days was a dream ..... and I was chasing it. My seniors who had completed their M.Sc got Rs. 800/- . So that was my next goal. I had unfortunately not got admission to M.Sc that year. So made use of the year to get practical experience. Got admission to M.Sc the next year and finished 2 years later. After completion, applied to the same place again.

    Meanwhile I had plenty of time on my hands. There was an advertisement in the newspaper asking for young people to come forward to sell "Jetking" television sets in shops for 2-3 hours in the evening. I don't remember how much I got for that. A week's wages around 700/-? Then came another summer assignment. A company wanted to make digitalised study guides for Std. XII students. I got selected to prepare questions for Biology. It was hardwork with a deadline. I sat at home and worked day and night and beat the deadline by a couple of days. Then I bargained with them to reward me for beating the deadline and got a princely bonus of Rs. 50/- on a payment of Rs. 700/- (total Rs. 750/-) - my earnings for 3 weeks of work totting upto roughly 16 hours per day. I only got up from the table for meals. Do I have to mention how rich I felt at that time? Oh, I even got a certificate for my efforts.

    Finally I got the appointment letter I was waiting for and got the extra Rs. 100/- a month. I felt elated. The glory of that Rs. 100/- per month earned with 2 years of hard work! :mask:

    Then I changed and worked for a while with a private pathologist and then with a diagnostic set up. After about 2 years I got into research and got a stipend of 1100 per month! Oh the joy of the 4 figure salary! I had made it into the BIG league! Just kidding. Am sure many govt employees, even their peons earned more than a research fellow, but, well, that was what I was capable of. Over the years the income gradually went up, but it was never more than half of the bank chowkidar! :rage:

    I often think back to the innocence and magic of those times when earning what today is spent today on a day's vegetables felt so wonderful. The monthly scholarship was mentally converted into Rupees and the feeling was equivalent to being the Queen of England (if she had earned her own wages).

    Once I started doing that (converting into Rupees I mean) I became extremely cautious and dreamed about becoming a millionaire on the money I could save as a student. So much so, I'd walk miles carrying bags of grocery from the supermarket. Once when I came home on a holiday, I sat down and when trying to get up, I screamed in pain as my wrist hurt like the dickens. Mom's enquiry led her to the secret. "Why don't you take a bus?" she asked. 'It costs 50 p. That's 25 Rs." I answered. Mom immediately called dad and said "Kettiyala, onga ponnu romba chickanama cheluvu panara" (Your daughter has become very careful with expenses). Her amusement stemmed from the fact that the daughter who was very liberal with expenses when spending dad's money had become very careful when it was her own.

    Today a 5 figure salary is nothing to talk about. Youngsters earn 6 figures every month. Prices have also shot through the roof. Young 'kids' are personally able to buy housing on loans. I still can't think of it. Of course, I don't do the same kind of work or the same kind of hours. But the joy of every salary that comes into the bank remains the same. Working on hourly basis, every time the figure is higher than the previous one is a cause for jubilation and a warm, happy glow inside. After all, nothing like financial independence, irrespective of the figures. :) The value of money is something besides what it can buy. It is the sense of self-worth that comes with it. The ability to support oneself, the ability to buy gifts for others, the ability to help yet others ..... those are feelings that cannot be bought at any price.
     
    Loading...

  2. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    23,659
    Likes Received:
    27,217
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    Nostalgic @satchitananda I too wonder. My salary was a 900 to start with.. and the feeling of seeing the amount in your passbook..priceless.

    Now my dd is a trainee and gets a decent amount and the way she says Amma shall I get you this.. priceless!!,

    Ds sents a msg mom can you transfer 2k today need it urgently..lol the two ends running parallelely at home..
     
    Amica, Gauri03, Sandycandy and 5 others like this.
  3. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    LOL Shanvy. Will not be too long before the young man also starts earning on his own and wants to buy you something. Remember buying a silk saree for mom from my first salary. Oh the joy was so immense!
     
    Amica, Star25, shravs3 and 4 others like this.
  4. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,481
    Likes Received:
    30,224
    Trophy Points:
    540
    Gender:
    Female
    True. Higher than previous is a special feeling.
    One of the first things I bought in India with my salary was a VCR (not a VCP, thank you!). The same old Rajesh Khanna and Balraj Sahani movies felt special when the cassette was rented with my money and watched on VCR I bought. Any scratches on video or glitches during movie playing were benevolently overlooked. The same glitches when we rented the VCR would have me haranguing the VCR guy to give me the rental money back. : )

    A microwave and a TV, VCR were the first big things I bought with first US salary. One of these is still with me.
    True raised to the power of True. If I had to pick one, I would say the ability to buy gifts for others is the most magical.

    I needed this one, Satchi. Was feeling very irritable and ungrateful for quite chinna chinna chiru chiru chota chota reasons. : ) Good reminder. I shall go and find a quiet place and read Desiderata and regain perspective.
     
    Amica, Sandycandy, sindmani and 3 others like this.
  5. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    23,659
    Likes Received:
    27,217
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    @Rihana balraj Sahani and Rajesh Khanna:sunglasses:. It was Amitabh for me. And I would not mind a stuck up tape..

    Some things are priceless..
     
    Amica, Sandycandy, sindmani and 3 others like this.
  6. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
     
    Sandycandy, sindmani and Rihana like this.
  7. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    5,365
    Likes Received:
    10,561
    Trophy Points:
    438
    Gender:
    Female
    It was the year 1957.I was in Pre University Class.My father used to give 6 two paise coins for bus fare, that too for getting down the previous stop and walk four furlongs.If I get down nearer to college I had to pay 10 paisa.By saving 8 paise per day, for 25 days I could save Rs 2/- with which I could travel for 16 days.
    I used to keep all the six two paisa coins in the Geometry box.If I lose a single coin, I had to walk 4 km home.That also has happened on two occasions.Summer holidays were spent in preparing thatches for roofing out of coconut leaves.We could not afford to engage labourers as they would take 50% of thatches as charges.

    If I say these things, my grandson straight away says,"don't bluff Patti.Would any father ask her daughter to walk 4 furlongs just to save 4 paisa?Your father must have been a kanjoose'he remarks.

    jayasala 42
     
    Amica, Gauri03, Sunburst and 8 others like this.
  8. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    I am not surprised about your grandson's reaction. To start with it is hard to even imagine anything costing that little. When we were young, I remember having 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p coins. Where are they now? They might as well be Atlantean artefacts for all we know! Today it is hard to believe that I ever bought 5-6 kgs of tomatoes or peas every winter for Rs. 2 or Rs. 9 respectively. And that was just about (OMG) 17-18 years ago. It just seems like yesterday but now I realize it was almost 2 decades ago!

    When dad used to use a pair of kitchen tongs to draw out the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube (metal those days) I'd get quite mad. I'd tell him to stop the kanjoosi. Or when he stuck the last thin slice of soap which remained onto the new soap. Today I find myself doing the same thing without a second thought and then it suddenly dawns on me that I am changing into that 'kanjoos'. :)
     
    Amica, Sandycandy, knbg and 3 others like this.
  9. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    3,921
    Likes Received:
    9,220
    Trophy Points:
    460
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Satchi,

    "I am another you" :)

    How similar are our experiences! I always did small shopping for my mom and remember buying salt for 3 paise and kothmir-kadipatta for 2 paise. In those days during summer we would buy ice candies for 5 paise each and the creamy one for 8 or 10 paise! We were so frugal in our habits that we used have hardly Rs 2 in our purse! Once when there was a flash bus strike we walked almost 10 km home to avoid spending on autos! And I totally agree with that first salary feeling:)

    How times have changed, Na? Today at the slightest of issues we tell our children to hop into cabs and they too don't hesitate to spend when they need. When I was in my final M.Sc, for one book I had paid a princely sum of Rs 100 and my friends had turned green with envy!!!
     
    Amica, Sunburst, shravs3 and 3 others like this.
  10. joylokhi

    joylokhi Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,725
    Likes Received:
    2,519
    Trophy Points:
    285
    Gender:
    Female
     

Share This Page