Its the small things that matter

Small things count. Sounds clichéd, right? The sooner we realize this, the better. Let me start with a simple example. Then, we can go on to something more complex. This will require another article though.

For about ten years now, I have religiously followed the habit of collecting small change in the form of coins. I began this when I landed in Delhi on a wintry day in 1997. Pretty soon, I discovered how useful this practice was. At the end of the month, with a few days to go before the next salary cheque came my way, I discovered that the amount I had collected was enough to help me through the remaining days. Over time, as my financial situation improved somewhat, I decided not to spend this amount.

In due course, marriage happened, in 2000. The small change collection continued, though. I introduced the idea to my wife, and she seemed to like it though at first there was amusement expressed. Pretty soon, the counting of coins together became a regular feature of our married existence. As the amounts swelled, we swelled too, from inside, with happiness and with some pride. On an average, we discovered, we could collect rupees five hundred every month – bus travel, auto travel, eating out, buying vegetables and fruits, and other daily chores, selling old newspapers and magazines, brought in the moolah. We made it a point not to transact with coins. Once we had collected some coins for the day, we would fiercely ‘protect’ them – we never used them to make any payment, unless there was no alternative. I followed this more strictly than my wife. The coins were collected in different containers after sorting the 25 and 50 paise coins, and the one, two and five rupee coins. We used a combination of plastic containers and two or three small baskets that I had got from the famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, Orissa, on one of my travels. Our practice therefore had a divine sanction!

“At this rate, we can start one LIC insurance policy per year”, I quipped once. We had by then started two LIC policies, each requiring nearly six and a half thousand rupees per year. “On second thoughts, I suggest we use this as a travel fund…once in a while, we need to go out of Delhi to see different places…” This worked once, when we drove out to Mathura on a hot, humid day in August 2002. Our son, nearly one and a half by then, was with us.

The third suggestion I had was to use this as a ‘construction fund’. By then, we had purchased a plot of land in a very beautiful location of Bangalore. I had started dreaming about our ultimate home, where I would have a study with loads of books, where I could invite friends for a conversation, and give them coffee and pakodas on a rainy day. My wife had laughed at this suggestion. “So you’ll buy one tap, or half a door…?” “Even that can make a difference”, I had said adamantly. “One tap at a time, one door at a time…that’s how a house is made…”

Seven years later, we still continue to collect coins, in the same plastic containers and baskets. My own estimate is that we have collected about thirty thousand rupees! Tomorrow, I will deposit another two thousand rupees in the bank where we have an account specifically for this small change. For now, I have given up ideas about travel and construction, though they are still tempting. We are open to spending this money in a useful way should the need arise in the future.

Small things count, right? We are still counting…

August 2007