".....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.