Honey, lets discuss money.

The wallet was full of 500 and 1000 rupee currency, swiped fresh out of the ATM to pay the rent. Breaking news of a speech is all it took to make the wallet feel so light and the heart so heavy. After an hour of brainstorming with self and confusion, all the hideouts are checked. Pant pockets, old wallets, underneath newspaper spread on shelves, every zipped compartment in all the bags are all thoroughly checked and I end up amused to find a couple of more invalid currency. The only consolation was the pouch full of 5 and 10 rupee coins which was a secret piggy bank.

For once in life I felt truly happy like a child for possessing 324 rupees in all. I felt richer and at peace at the end of the day and treated myself a lime soda for not having spent a penny out of it the whole of next day. Sometimes, only sometimes, does the idea of not having shopped inspite of having walked the entire stretch of a busy shopping street gives someone happiness. I felt it then.

The next day at the bank was a live drama. Watching people jumping queues, bunking offices and fighting for the exchange to get a few valuable currency was a scenario that will be remain etched in my memory for ever. Surprised husbands, shocked over the savings of their wives which was many times the money they gave them to run the household every month. Women who had never been involved in the financial matters of the family were now showstoppers who stunned their husbands with their exceptional savings done over years and shared the unusual hideouts now that they could no longer keep them anywhere except in their bank accounts. Kudoos to the women , who braved all odds in running the family still didn’t forget to save a little bit of the little money she was given.

The ATM pin is finally shared with the wife, a mother is taught to swipe at the super market, a sister is taught the nuances of online shopping. I don’t know if black will become white or true revelations will happen. But sure did it hit a lot of men that women are better at finances than them. A women who had never spent of couple of hundreds at once for herself over all lifetime, has saved, in the meager money given to her over the years enough to keep her going for a life time. This drive has left a lot of men gaping at the women of their household who micro managed all the expenses, yet saved. Even when she earns, she doesn’t get the financial independence she deserves. Break the taboo, women know to earn, spend, invest and save.

 This drive should teach us to respect all the women in our family who cared, saved and braved. Atleast now, involve her, discuss and share with her, your finances. She may not always hold a super specialty masters degree in economics like you, her left brain may be genetically more active yours, she may not always comment on shares market crashes, may not read the economics times with her morning coffee, yes, but without her, your money has no meaning. Period.

(Yeah, she loves surprises. As long as it has nothing to do with your finance management plans.)