Akbar, Amar. Anthony

Akbar, Amar, Anthony.

I recently started a bit of planting—not much, just 3-4 pots on the kitchen window grill. One of the plants is cherry tomatoes. A couple of months ago, I sowed some seeds, and out came three cute plants. I named them Amar, Akbar, and Anthony.

Despite my obsessive observation and care, one morning I noticed that one of the stems was bent, probably broken. It was Akbar. I thought it would recover on its own, but a couple of days later, I saw the damage had worsened. I knew I had to do something—perhaps support it or tie it up to help it heal—but I decided to put off the task until the next day.

The next morning was heartbreaking. I found Akbar severed from the cut, lying lifeless on the soil. I realized my procrastination had cost Akbar its life. Overcome with guilt, I gently picked it up and placed it back in some freshly dug soil, clinging to a sliver of hope for a miracle.

In the next few days, Akbar's leaves still seemed to hold up well. After a couple more days, I noticed new leaves starting to appear, and I knew Akbar hadn’t given up yet. Although Akbar's growth slowed while Amar and Anthony continued at their usual pace, Akbar had to grow fresh roots to have any chance of survival—and it did well.

Eventually, I had to repot Amar and Anthony into a bigger pot so they could thrive, leaving Akbar behind in the small pot to develop further. Today, Akbar has grown tall enough to be moved to its own big pot. As the saying goes in Hindi, "Der Aaye, Durust Aaye" (better late than never).

A few days ago, I learned that the tomato stem has roots all along it. So, planting the stem deeper into the soil encourages more roots to develop. Now I realize that Akbar’s "miracle" actually has a scientific explanation!

While I’ve discovered that planting can be quite therapeutic, the hobby also brings with it a lot of learning and reinforcement. From this experience:

- Procrastination often comes at a high cost. It's even worse when our procrastination affects someone or something else.

- Sometimes, it's okay to be hopelessly hopeful and act in good faith. Miracles do happen.

- While timely support is crucial, it’s never too late to offer help, even if we feel it might be too late.

Though Amar and Anthony are taller than Akbar, I’m sure they are proud of their sibling for battling its way up. Over time, with continued care and support, I’m confident that Akbar will grow as tall as its siblings and, when the time comes, bear equally cute little tomatoes.

This post isn’t just about plants. Let’s support the "Akbars" we encounter, before it’s truly too late.

P.S.: The attached video is a collection of Instagram stories I posted throughout this experience.

"...bhai, do you remember the password to my sheet?"

"...bhai, do you remember the password to my sheet?" I WhatsApped one of my best friends recently.

I did my PG in 2009 and began saving/investing. I've always been an Excel nerd, and even today, the first thing I open when I want to track or list something is an Excel. So one fine day in 2009, I right-clicked on my laptop, created a new Excel file, and named it "Balance Sheet" (don’t ask me why). From that point on, I made it a habit to update it on the 1st of every month. I started with two sheets in the workbook: Income & Expenses.

Income sheet tracks my realized income each month, primarily consisting of my salary and the realized returns or losses from my investments & trading during the prior month.

Expense sheet includes a column for credit card bill amts (to track cc spends) and another for all other bank debits. Summing these gives me my total expenses for the month. A simple formula then calculates the % of savings for the month by linking it to the net income.

Later on, I added a sheet for insurance—both health & life. Did you know that if you have a PF account, you're automatically covered for life insurance through the EPFO? It’s called EDLI. Look it up. Now, if you didn’t know that, imagine the plight of your family. So, this sheet contains all policy numbers, premium dates, amounts and coverage specifics.

I follow a routine I call the "monthly drill." I execute it on the 1st of every month. I settle my CC bills (all billing dates set for 20th), rent, all the domestic staff salaries (via GPay, which serves as a log for future—no cash) and other monthly bills. I withdraw a small amount of cash (typically need no more than 4-5k a month, as all my transactions are digital). The day isn’t complete until I update the balance sheet. I log my expenses, update all income entries, and review the % of savings for the month. Then, I compare it to the savings of the prior month, quarter, and year to check for any overspending or undersaving, which helps me make course corrections for the months ahead.

The final ritual of my monthly drill is to email the updated balance sheet to myself on Gmail. The sheet is password-protected, and the password is known to my family and two close friends. Although my friends don’t have access to the Excel or my email, they will share the password with my family in case they forget or can’t find it. In all likelihood, the sheet will always be updated through the previous month.

The purpose of this post isn’t to brag, but to encourage those of you who haven’t yet started a similar practice that fits your style & needs. A sheet like this not only helps you track your wealth & savings rates, but it can also serve as a valuable resource for your family—a ready reckoner—when the inevitable happens.

It only takes about an hour, but isn’t that less than the average time most of us spend scrolling through social media each day? This weekend could be the perfect time to start.

Happy tracking!