Sounds very funny does it not? Why would anybody choose to be poor? Or unhappy? Or fail? Well if you read Hindu philosophy in detail you realise the following lessons are taught to you through stories:

You are a function of what you chose to be.

If you are happy you make the choices to be happy and successful – so success follows happiness and not necessarily the other way around!

Happiness is a state of mind – money is important but the importance we give to money is just too much. It is not so important as we make it out to be. It is just like health – you need to have it, but those who have health do not jump up and down saying they are healthy. Those who do not have it know how much it means. Remember the song from the film ‘Khatta Meetha’? ‘Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hain’.

Our requirements are a few, so we need less 🙂

I met a taxi driver (If Meru had a frequent user, I could benefit)…and got talking. He said he went to a barber’s shop and paid Rs. 20 for a shave. On probing I found that he normally spent Rs. 10 for a shave and that meant Rs. 100 a month – Rs. 1200 a year. Then I asked him about his food – he said he eats out every day – that meant about Rs. 100 a day ATLEAST – Rs. 36000 a year.

If he choses to buy a Gillette shaving blade (Rs. 20?) and it lasts him 15 days – he would end up spending Rs. 40 a month or Rs. 480 a year. He could of course choose some unknown brand and save still more! If he ate food from a ‘dabba’ packed by his family he could clearly save Rs. 25000 a year and save some stomach aches too! Do people not KNOW these basics? Actually NO. They cannot see the impact of small amounts on their total expenses. When I explained it to the taxi driver, he was stunned. I said ‘Rs. 40 a day can give u Rs. 3 crore by the time u retire….hmmm good habit

If you are in HR do you think it is your responsibility to tell people such basic things? No. Because HR (like most other professionals) do not ever get rewarded for avoiding trouble. If there is trouble and you sort it out you get rewarded!