That villager had a very strong desire to invite the Chief Minister of his state to his daughter’s wedding. He could easily imagine how much respect and social prestige he would gain if people could say that a Chief Minister had attended his daughter’s marriage. With this in mind, he managed to meet the Chief Minister in person and invite him to the wedding. But when he extended the invitation, the Chief Minister’s reply was this: “I will not come to the wedding.”
Hearing this, the villager returned deeply disappointed. He felt anger and hatred toward the Chief Minister. He even passed a judgment that the Chief Minister was someone who attended only the weddings of the rich and never those of ordinary or poor people. Finally, the wedding day arrived. On that day, to the villager’s astonishment, the Chief Minister walked into the wedding ceremony. The villager was amazed. Then the Chief Minister said to him, “I deliberately told you that I would not come to the wedding. Because if I had said I would come, you would have borrowed money and put on a grand show. You would have spent money unnecessarily. I said that only to prevent that.” That Chief Minister was Kamaraj, who once ruled the state of Tamil Nadu in India.
Celebrations are good, no doubt. But we must think about what emotion should drive them. Today, people have become those who search for reasons to celebrate. From birthdays to funerals, everything has become part of a celebration. Very often, we show off excessively just to impress others. If a function happens in the neighboring house, most of us feel compelled to make the next function in our own house even grander than that. For this, we try to introduce ‘uniqueness.’ We spend money for the sake of being different. All this ends up pushing some people into debt. What is condemnable is that the money spent on celebrations is often not money we earned or saved, but money taken on loan.
Even if we have enough money, do we really need to chase so many celebrations? Disrespect for money is the reason behind its wastage. Money should be saved and used like water. Even if a tank is full of water, if you keep the tap open, the water will flow out within hours and the tank will become empty. The same thing happens with money.
The abundance seen in some people is due to money obtained undeservedly. Those who acquire large amounts of money through corruption, violence or smuggling will have no hesitation in wasting it, because they did not work for it or sweat for it. The difference is like that between a student who passes an exam by cheating and one who passes by studying hard.
There are news reports that rulers in many parts of the country lead luxurious lives even while the entire nation burns and that their generations accumulate wealth in foreign countries. On the other side, a large section of people struggles in poverty and price rise. There is a famous saying by Mahatma Gandhi: in this world, there is enough to meet everyone’s needs, but it is all held in the grip of a small minority. That is why one section lives in extravagance while the other is forced to live in poverty.
In every coin that we spend unnecessarily, someone else’s name is written. Just as our name is written on the grain of wheat we receive, there are rightful claimants to the wealth we have acquired undeservedly. Forgetting this is what turns us into spendthrifts.
Let me say one more thing. We think that if we have money, we have everything. We believe money is everything. Yet even a man with assets worth fifteen thousand crores commits suicide. We heard such news last month and were shocked. So there is something that stands beyond money, extravagance and celebration. Perhaps that is what gives meaning and peace to our lives. Think about the ways to discover it.
It is often said that without money there is hardship. But a human being is not just money. A human being is something more, something that stands beyond it.
Regards
Prof Antoney P Joseph
