The tale of two ladies - a lesson on planned savings and growth

The tale of two ladies -  a lesson on planned savings and growth

By Anagha Hunnurkar

Let me narrate a story…a real life observation.

Vasudha a friend of mine and then a colleague at my office, used to spend all her money on good clothes, good food and generally indulge in luxury as she believed that good living is the essence of life. As a well placed executive she was convinced that it was absolutely necessary to maintain a high standard of living. As a friend, I used to cajole her and urge her to save. There were good loan facilities available for her but my advice used to fall on deaf ears.

On the other side was my house-maid who was also single like Vasudha. She was able to etch out a living by working in a hospital and working part time with me. Now this lady had applied for a house under the Government scheme for low income groups. The demand for these houses is so high that the allotment is made on a lottery basis. In fact, out of lakhs of applicants just a few hundreds get the allotment. Well as luck would have it she got the allotment.

Before going any further I would like you to know a few things of her income capacity. She was coming from a very poor family .She had left her village as a child and migrated to the big city of Mumbai in search of a livelihood. Her total monthly income, when she got the allotment was just ` 3000/- and the house would have cost her around ` 1-1.5 lakhs. Now for a girl with such meager income it was a tall task. So she was contemplating to give up the allotment in favor of another person as she would have got ` 12,000/-  as compensation.

On one Saturday when I had a holiday and was at home, she told me of her plight. I persuaded her not to give up so easily. She rather preferred to have ` 12,000/- of hot cash, immediately in the pocket as she had no resources to finance the house. I convinced her that the very fact that she had got the lottery indicates God’s will to help. ‘So just decide that you will do everything to build this house.’ – I convinced her.  I on my part assured her that I would give her all the help required. Mind you I did not give her any financial donation at all.

Our struggle for accumulating resources began. The only advantage of my intervention was that I could talk to the local banks, co-operative societies and find out ways to finance her house. Now the payment schedule for the housing scheme was structured in such a way that the entire sum had to be paid in tranches spaced out over 18 months. This meant almost 100 months salary for Pushpa (her name) while she would have got just 18 months salary then. The yawning gap mean that her needs had to be funded with additional outside finance.

Yet God had some other design for her. Due to resource constraints, the construction of the project kept on getting delayed and consequently the requirement on her to pay further installments kept getting postponed. Many a time when we visited the site, I used to feel a bit of a fear that I have pushed this girl into taking the plunge and if things don’t materialize, she would blame me all her life. However the delay by itself was a blessing in disguise as this helped her to take up many more odd jobs and save much more than what she would have normally done. She summoned her brother from the village, who started working as a night watchman and continued his school in Mumbai.

The long and the short of it is that today after 12 years, Pushpa is a proud owner of a house (part of which she has rented out and earns ` 4000 as rent.) The house itself is valued now at ` 12lakhs. While she continues to work at the hospital, she has left all other small jobs that she had to do then.  Thus she enhanced her standard of living and is assured of a secured return all her life. Life became more sweeter as she was now in a position to send her brother for higher education, an achievement she is very proud of.

Looking back I feel it is a miracle. This is the power of savings my friend. And as for Vasudha she still stays in a rented apartment with no savings to her credit.

So the culture of savings is not something that is in-born or inherited. It involves sacrifice, will power and a strong urge to improve one’s standard of living. Savings like any other habit has to be inculcated .You have to set a goal and work for it. One of the sure shot ways is to start early and save consistently. India is currently on a riding horse of progress and many opportunities in the form of empowerment schemes are being introduced as Government’s effort to reduce poverty as well as to develop a vibrant capital market. . It is said that the sun does not shine on the poor. Poor means ‘Poor’ in thought, ‘poor’ in action and not poor in resources. If one is short on resources there are ways in which one can fund oneself through banks and other micro finance mechanisms but if one is short on action or will power, then the sun refuses to shine.

anagha hunnurkar

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anagha