Page 40 : 99 Coins

A conversation with a friend yesterday on the topic of work , further studies , future , priorities etc reminded me of a story . This was a story which I had read when I was in my Junior school . Funnily , I don’t remember where I read it nor do I remember the exact name of the story . All I remember is that it was a beautifully written, old Indian folktale and it had some deep underlying meaning which my tiny brain couldn’t fathom at that point. Now to think of it , it makes a lot more sense than it made to me when I was 10 . The story(I am writing what i remember of it ) goes thus (Let’s call it 99 Coins):

Anil and Babu were neighbors . Anil was a hardworking middle class man who worked as an accountant in the factory owned by the village headman . Babu on the other hand was a daily wage earner who worked as a laborer in the Zamindar’s fields . Anil’s wife Rukmini and Babu’s wife Shobha were good friends who shared gossip and recipes as normal housewives would . Rukmini noticed that though her husband Anil earned more than Babu , Sobha and Babu seemed a lot more happier than them . She could hear them making merry every night . They used to invite their friends home , cooked good tasty food and danced around to folk music every night before they went to sleep . On the other hand , Anil and Rukmini led a rather dreary life . Anil used to work late nights and by the time he got back home , he was too tired for any kind of entertainment . Rukmini , never understood how this was possible and one fine day she shared her worries on this with Anil .

Anil was an intelligent man , he understood what was troubling his wife . But he also knew that she must understand this herself . So , when she spoke to him about her concerns , he just told her ‘ Babu and Shobha haven’t yet experienced the magic of 99 ‘ .

A few weeks later , she noticed a drastic change in Shobha and Anil’s lifestyle . She could no longer smell the aroma of good food nor hear the sounds of folk music . Shobha and Rukmini’s daily meetings also got less frequent . This pattern went on for a couple of weeks .At the end of two weeks Rukmini could no longer take it and confronted Shobha to get an answer to her sudden change in behavior .

Shobha was reluctant to talk about it initially , but after much coaxing from Rukmini she finally shared her story . Shobha said ‘ Babu used to earn two coins everyday , which was more than enough for us . It provided for our food , clothing and everyday entertainment and we were very content with the life we led . One fine day , while returning back from work , Babu found a small bag containing coins inside which was left right outside our house . We looked around to see if the person who had left it was around , but we couldn’t find anyone . We took the bag in and started counting the coins . There were 99 .
Rukmini was amazed and in her excitement asked Shobha “Did you count properly ? Wasn’t there a hundred coins ? “ Shobha said “ Unfortunately no . There were exactly 99 . We counted it multiple number of times .
“That’s a pity “ Rukmini said “ It would have been perfect if there were 100 “ Shobha smiled “ Yes . That’s what even Babu thought , so he took a coin from his daily wage and added it to the 99 coins to make it 100 “
Rukmini was perplexed , she still didn’t understand what this had to do with Shobha and Babu changing their lifestyle . Theoretically, they should be having even more fun as they now had 100 more coins to spend . So , she asked Shobha “What does this have to do with your sudden change in lifestyle. I see you and Babu working more than ever before . You don’t have fun anymore . I can no longer hear cheerful songs being sung , nor do you invite friends home anymore . How did all this change ? ” Shobha explained ” The day when Babu removed a coin from his daily wage and added it to the 99 coins to make it a hundred , we were left with only one coin to run our household . Though it was tough , we did manage to make ends meet . It also struck us that as now we have 100 coins , it made sense for us to save a hundred more . So we have stopped spending money lavishly and now work extra hours everyday to save more .
Rukmini finally understood the magic of 99 . She had one last question for Shobha “Now that you have lots of money and are working harder to earn more , are you and Babu as happy as you were before you found the bag of coins? Shobha said ” We don’t have the time to think about our happiness anymore ”

Now that is the gist of the story I remember , forgive me for any lapses in accuracy . Anyways , what struck me about this story was the fact that most of us are in a very similar situation which Babu and Shobha are in .. We seem to be chasing the wrong dreams . Most of us have confused the “pursuit of happiness” with the “pursuit of that proverbial 99 coins” . I am not saying making money is not important , on the contrary , it’s one of the most important things . All I am saying is there needs to be a balance . It is always better to do something you like and make money out of it rather than doing something you are not very fond of just to make that extra buck .

True happiness lies in satisfaction . Satisfaction in everything you do . Let’s not forget the true purpose of our lives .. You need to do things you love , whether it be a hobby , a different role or service to the society (if that’s what you want to do ) . In the end , i know that money definitely will buy you happiness . But I also know its very short term . True happiness comes from doing what you love doing and maintaining a healthy relationship with your family , friends and loved ones .

On that note , Sri Sri RR signs off 🙂