It won’t be wrong to say that even a toddler realises the worth of money.

Show the little being a piece of paper and money. He just grabs the money and dashes out of your reach in the blink of an eye. When a relative gives him some money, he just takes it and stacks it in his piggy bank.

Have you ever tried to touch the piggy bank of a child? If not, don’t even strive. Piggy banks should carry a statutory warning. I too owned a piggy bank and nobody dared to touch it.

During my childhood days, I was the privileged one to get the monthly salary of my dad. Every gentleman hands over his salary to either his mom or wife, but, my dad handed me his salary every month. He was of the opinion that ‘WEALTH INCREASES WEALTH‘ and for him, I was the most precious possession and his life’s wealth.

I have always wondered how a piece of paper with a number imprinted on it holds so much value that people fight and kill for it.

Money is truly a friend as well as a foe depending upon how you take it. Even, I have not been spared by its charm and side effects.

I remember as a child, I once went to a friend’s home. There I saw her pinkish-blue glittery purse. I fell in love with it and sensing my yearning for it, her mom gave the purse to me for a week. I was on cloud nine. But soon my delight turned into disappointment to see such a mesmerizing purse, all empty. A light purse is a heavy curse. So, there entered the devil in me and I resorted to stealing money – from dad’s wallet, sister’s pencil box, mom’s purse and I also started taking the change kept on the refrigerator or elsewhere.

The more I stole, the more I wanted. I was becoming obsessed with the bulging purse. I was no more attracted towards the external glamour of the purse but was bewitched by the money inside it.

Finally, the day arrived when I had to return the purse to my friend. As I didn’t have any personal or private space of my own at my place, I got scared as to where to hide the stolen money. The innocent me returned the purse with money (my stolen money) still inside it, without giving a thought to its repercussions.

My friend’s mom called my mom and I don’t know what they talked about. I just remember, after returning from my friend’s place, my mom gave back all the money to me which I had kept in that purse and said, “Beta, this all is your money. You put in a lot of effort to collect this. This should be with you and nobody else”

Hearing that I broke down and told her the truth.

My mom sat by my side, kept her hand on my head and counselled, “Beta, I am proud of you that you accepted your mistake. I am proud of you that you didn’t unnecessarily spend the money, instead saved it. But, I am hurt that you stole it. You need to make up for this deed. Earn the money rather than stealing.”

I questioned her that how could I earn the money at that young age.

She replied, “Do good deeds like helping your elders in their chores and feeding birds and animals, work on self-improvement and study hard”

Saying so, she handed me a piggy bank and kept all my stolen money in it.

For the first few weeks, I didn’t take any money that my mom gave me. I wanted to make it up for the stolen money. Thereafter, my piggy bank started gaining weight with my earnings.

It was like killing two birds with one stone. I not only started taking interest in household chores, helping elders, and studying hard, but I also started saving money seriously.

When one earns the money by putting in a lot of hard work, he/she values it and stops being extravagant. It happened with me as well. Instead of spending the money that I earned, I saved it in my piggy bank.

Here I would like to tell you one more incident related to this. Some months back, I had asked my dad to buy me a Barbie doll, her clothes, and her kitchen set. At that time, my dad had told me to earn money and buy it myself. So, with my mom’s advice, I finally earned and saved my money and from my first savings bought that Barbie doll set. My parents were immensely proud of me.

From then onwards, I have never given up on the habit of saving money. I am inculcating the same in my son. He too has a piggy bank where he saves the money which he earns and opens it yearly on his birthday to purchase anything of his choice. And he too spends his money prudently.

Proud momma’s proud son.