Money Saved Is Money Earned

And suddenly the Pandemic happened!

Everybody's life went haywire. It was a long way back to work and income and many daily-wage earners and migrants suffered. Mittulal was one of them. He had traveled all the way from Bihar to Tamil Nadu to earn a living. He has married 5 years ago and had two kids along with his two siblings and his mother to feed.

He worked in a cloth shop in the famous shopping area of T.Nagar in Chennai. When he first came to Chennai some 12 years ago, he was just a small boy supplying tea to all the shops in the area.

Observing his marketing skills, his present owner has invited him to join as a shop assistant. Soon, the cloth shop grew in size and so did the shop assistant's position and a paycheck. He was made the store manager and given a salary of eighteen thousand. The income he received though was not on par with the salary of persons in the same position in the city.

Our store manager lived in a single room and paid a rent of Rs.2000/- every month. He kept another 5000/- for himself and sent the rest of the money to his family. He sent his children, clothes from his shop, but he had to pay at least 3/4 of the MRP for this. His household expenses were budgeted by his wife. These included school fees for his children, basic amenities for his siblings, and medicine for his mother.

Mittulal's wife often grumbled at the meager income and how she barely managed to pass a month with the amount she received for household expenses. However her husband was optimistic about the future and asked his dear wife to some-how manage everything for his sake.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a pandemic from China created havoc in the city. Social distancing was the norm. People were asked to self-curfew themselves for a period of time. As the curfew-like situation arose just 2 days before payday, Mittulal could not collect his salary. He just had Rs.3000/- in his pocket and nothing to send to his wife.

The ever-optimistic Mittulal panicked! He begged his shop owner to give him his salary to send home. The shop owner spread out his hands saying he himself needed some amount as his shop was closed and there were nil sales.

When Mittulal saw many of his friends from his home state leaving the city to go back to their native place, he too decided to do the same. With a meager 3000/- in his pocket and not transport services except a crowded truck, our hero began his journey homeward. He informed his wife that he was coming back, but with no money in his pocket. After reaching he would try to earn some money by doing contract work in the fields.

One truck with immigrants that preceded Mittulal's truck had an accident where one of his friends also lost his life. Mittulal thanked his stars for being alive for his children.

But he was also worried as to what would be his future. He heard from other fellow migrants that there was no work to be done in his village. Few notes in his pocket out of which he had to pay Rs.1000 to the truck driver. What would his family eat? How will the children react on seeing their father without new clothes or gifts for them? How was he going to pay for other expenses? These and many other questions crossed his sleepless mind. After traveling for 5 days he reached his home state in the morning.

Luckily, Mittulal's wife saved the money, and hence they survived. Every month when her husband sent money, she managed to hide Rs.1000/- in a pickle jar. Now she had close to 55000/- in that jar which she handed over to her husband. Mittulal would have fallen at the feet of his wife for saving the situation. Instead he went straight to his mother for her blessings and to call his Mother-in-law to praise his wife for her thrifty nature.