Change your attitude towards money

There was a time when we handled money with gratitude, reverence, and caution. Our forefathers, for the most part, dealt with money and wealth in the spirit of trusteeship and as temporary custodians, never imagining themselves to be the creators and owners of the same, which they believed may have come to them due to hard work but also Divine grace, for nothing moved without the Supreme. Considering themselves blessed, they did not usually flaunt or throw it around because that would be tantamount to being disrespectful. There was also the fear that doing so would attract the evil eye in an unequal world wherein someone who earned less although he or she worked harder and longer, possibly because of the nature of work, lack of education, circumstances, or even “bad karma,” could seethe in anger and be driven to desperation.

The wise elders of yore were frugal in their spending, always bearing in mind that a little saving could come in handy on a rainy day. And they knew that their fortunes could change in a second, reducing them to paupers just like that. We have seen that with Covid, natural calamities, and wars.

In years past, the average citizen worked very hard for what he/she earned. My late father, a renowned surgeon, was paid Rs 2 for assisting the chief early in his career. And understandably, when the school’s annual fund was announced, he just gave me Rs 5 to hand over as his donation.

As the world of business became corporatized, not everyone earned handsome salaries or fees. Some industries, sectors, and professions seemed better placed than others. Soon, everyone wanted to get richer. Money gradually became a tool for many things, including furthering social causes and the pursuit of power. Today, one hears of it finding its way even to elections for the smallest of associations. While mamool has been in our vocabulary for a long time, kickbacks, cuts, and commissions are household words today. Where is it all going to lead us? The pursuit of easy money is to be shunned for tainted money, which it is said never lasts. My late grandmother used to quote a proverb that, when loosely translated, reads, “What comes with the stream will run with the water.”

Our Gods of wealth and prosperity like clean spaces, hence all the spring cleaning before a festival. But what we seem to forget is that we also need clean hearts and clean hands for that prosperity to last.