When everyone wants money here, why should I be different! Once upon a time, we were taught a Sanskrit poem which said न चोर हार्यं न च राज हार्यं……which meant knowledge is the most precious wealth of all that cannot be snatched away by a thief, cannot be snatched away by king, cannot be divided among brothers, not heavy either and if spent daily, it always keeps growing.
But lately I realised
that this knowledge is used only to acquire the ‘other’ wealth that the family, government, brother, thief, and others seek / demand /
snatch from you.
The omniscient gods too
need money. On a lazy Sunday morning, just out of the temple after having a ‘Paid’
darshan of the God, I received a traffic violation SMS demanding a Rs.200 fine
for parking outside the temple. I was soon greeted by a mobile number tucked
under the wiper of my car and a wheel lock. Two policemen swiftly arrived within
a minute of calling and politely handed over photographic proof of my “over
speeding” violations within Mumbai city over the last 3 years! I had to
pay some thousands on the spot to open the wheel lock!
We Mumbaikars, may be the
only people in this entire world who are proud of two ‘Express Highways’ where
the average driving speed during anytime of the day or night doesn’t exceed 15
Kmph! Obviously, there is no denying the fact that I am a traffic offender for
over speeding on the sea link, a part of my office commute where I pay a daily
toll of 105 rupees to save 10 minutes of my precious travel time. My
engineering mind has never been able to fathom the reason for the T-Junctions
at both the ends of this engineering marvel from where the traffic again starts
crawling.
Everyone needs money.
Some ask, some snatch, some demand, and some trick you to get it. The builders,
supermarkets, chemists, garments, shoes even the roadside “Belpuri Wala” offer
discounts galore to make me buy 5 when all is need is 2!
“Sir the mutual fund in your son’s name (minor) needs churning. The current return on the same is 7.15% and we have an attractive investment opportunity to earn 7.25%.” said the female voice at the other end who claimed to be calling from my bank. She had all the information about me and wanted to sell an insurance policy which I politely refused.
The Sixth century philosopher Sankaracharya, says in his popular poem “Bhaja Govindam” which goes as follows यावद्वित्तोपार्जनसक्त: तावन्निजपरिवारो रक्तः….. Your family and relatives will be interested in you only as long as you are able to make money. After which no one at home ever will care for you or even bother to speak to you.
Let’s not waste time. Lets make money!
