"...Abey kitne gulaab jaamun khayega bey! Kaam mein dhyan de, aisa kuch toph kaam bhi nahi hai..."

"...Abey kitne gulaab jaamun khayega bey! Kaam mein dhyan de, aisa kuch toph kaam bhi nahi hai..."

...said a guy at the lunch table. Lets call him Pappu. ["How many sweets will you eat dude! Focus on your work, it's not rocket science"]

My college buddies & I were part of a trainee batch at the Infosys Mysore training center. We made some friends while we were there for 4 months. We gelled with another college group from Mumbai. Pappu was a part of it. At the end of training, we had to pass an exam - Compree (Comprehensive Exam) in order to get a posting. One of the guys didn't clear it. He had to stay back a month to give it another shot. Now this was a gem of a guy. A jolly good fellow, a hard working chap. But sh*t happens and he did not clear the Compree. Lets call him Virat.

So we all got our posting. Many of us, including Pappu got Pune (closest to Mumbai) and we were happy about it. One day at lunch, Pappu said "It is so awesome all of us are going to Pune! We will continue hanging together there too." After some more banter, he added "Virat, too bad you failed. We will miss you. But the Compree wasn't that difficult dude." All of us at the table looked at Pappu with our jaws dropped. Virat wasn't taking the Compree outcome well and Pappu was rubbing salt on his wounds. Virat continued digging into the sambar rice in his plate, without reacting.

A couple of months later, Virat cleared the Compree and got posted to Pune too. But as luck would have it, he got deployed in a project where he got a God-sent manager. He took all the blame for the good work Virat did and made sure to credit him with everything that went wrong. He had stereotyped Virat as he knew he had taken two shots at the Compree. Virat started stress eating. Daily at lunch he'd share his woes and pick up sweets from our plates to satiate the urge of stress eating. On one such occasion, Pappu said what I quoted above.

After a few months, Virat got an offer from another firm. "This firm is not as great as Infy! You are making a big mistake. You won't get good growth there!" said Pappu, when he got to know. Virat joined the other firm. He soon found out that coding/technical work wasn't his calling. He is a magician when it comes to building and maintaining relations. He soon moved into a client management role and progressed rapidly. For the past decade, he has settled abroad, and has been a star performer for the firm he is employed with. We make it a point to catch up every year when he visits Mumbai. On his last visit he asked "Do you remember Pappu?" I am not connected with him, so I said so. "Well, a couple of months back he called me asking if I could refer him to my firm. He is having a hard time there." he added. "Aisa kya toph kaam de rahe hai wahan, tune poocha nahi?" I asked, my tongue firmly lodged in my cheek, as the sound of laughter filled the room, followed by a clink of the glasses.

Pappu ka toh pata nahi, par Virat life mein pass ho gaya.

".....aap hamesha bas itne hi kele bechane nikalte ho...?"

".....aap hamesha bas itne hi kele bechane nikalte ho...?"

...I asked, a bit curiously. ["Do you always try to sell these many bananas daily?"]

I was out on my usual evening walk yesterday and had been instructed to buy some bananas on the way back. "Elaichi, not the normal ones!" were clear instructions. I, like everyone (who doesnt use swiggy) have my favorite sabji and fruit wala bhaiyyas in the market, but my evening walk route is in the other direction. I remembered often spotting an old man selling bananas in one of the lanes and decided to buy the bananas from him. 

So on the last lap, I made a pit stop at the kelawala, who was engaged in an animated conversation with the sabji wala sitting next to him. He was an old gentleman, probably in his 70s (or maybe younger, but that is what I guessed from his appearance). This kelawala always sat on the footpath with just 2 small baskets of bananas. Maybe he had a way of replenishing them, but it seemed he only tried to sell what was on display daily. 

After buying a dozen of elaichi kela, I hesitantly enquired if he only sold those many bananas daily. The question instantly cracked up a smile on the old wrinkled face, exposing the lone incisor holding fort behind the upper lip. "My kids earn enough to run the house. I used to sell fruit all day in earlier days, but now, due to age, I only try to sell some daily in the evening. If I stay home all day, I will annoy the ladies in the house, so I step out to sell them. Besides, I make a little money from this which goes into my savings. It will be useful when hard times come." he said, as he whacked his gamcha (little piece of cloth) at some bees trying to find an exposed banana to feast on.

I had just spent 45 min of my walk worrying about my asset allocation not having adequate equity exposure. This man probably wasnt even aware of the concept of equity, but seemed to have raised a family fairly well with his income and savings. Nearly every family might have elders who have pushed themselves every day in their heydays, saved every penny (be it an earning member or a home maker) and still do. While surviving from month to month, they probably inculcated the habit of saving. Some then perhaps managed to invest those savings (business/real estate/govt schemes or the much chided bank FDs). However, no matter what one invests in: Equity, Crypto, Debt - the core to sustainability & wealth creation is probably "savings''. Without savings, there is no investment to build on.

As I turned to leave, I asked "aapka naam toh batao chacha..." (tell me your name, uncle). All my incisors got exposed this time when I heard  - Raja. Every individual is a king/queen in their own right if they can successfully rule over their urge to splurge and take good care of their faithful subjects - their savings.