626. Kanthimathy's Concerns

When Vairavan married  Kanthimathi, he was employed as an office assistant in a small firm on a modest salary.

Soon after the marriage, Kanthimathi realized that while the two of them could live comfortably on Vairavan's salary, they won't be able to make the ends meet, if their family grew, after the birth of a child. 

This caused concern to Kanthimathi. But, Vairavan didn't seem to be concerned with such thoughts.

When Kanthimathi shared her concerns with Vairavan, he said nonchalantly, "We are two now. My income is sufficient to meet the needs of the two of us. Why should we think of the problems that we may face after our family grows and worry about them now?"

By the time children were born to them, Vairavan's salary had gone up. So, the family didn't face any financial problems, as apprehended by Kanthimathi.

Vairavan earned a good name with his proprietor by his sincerity, dedication and hard work. As a result of this, Vairavan's position in the firm and his salary both kept going up.

By the time Vairavan's son and daughter joined college, Vairavan's economic status had gone up considerably, to the extent of the friends of his son and daughter in their colleges calling them 'children of wealthy parents.'

Even as Vairavan's income was going up, the expenses also kept increasing. Vairavan was liberal in spending money in buying high end home appliances for the household, a motorcycle for his son, a scooter for his daughter etc.

"You have been spending your entire earnings on necessities as well as luxuries. Don't we need to save some money for our future needs?" Kanthimathi asked Vairavan. 

But, Vairavan didn't bother to apply his mind to the concerns raised by his wife.

Both their children had completed their studies and landed good jobs. Vairavan performed the marriage of both. He spent money lavishly for the weddings.

"I pleaded with you repeatedly to save some money for our future. But you didn't pay heed to my words" said Kanthimathi, in an accusing tone.

"What has happened now? Are we not doing well?" asked Vairavan.

"Are we doing well? You earned a lot of money. But, you didn't buy a home for us. You spent a lot of money on our son and daughter. Now, they live very far from us. They are not even bothered to find out how we have been doing. They have no concern for our needs. They don't send us any money. Both of them have been thinking only about their families. You are now retired. You don't receive any pension. We live on the interest we receive on the provident fund received by you, on your retirement. We are living in a rented accommodation. The house rent and other expenses keep going up. But the interest income we have been getting on our bank deposit is coming down, due to the bank's lowering interest on deposits continuously. In this scenario, I don't know how long we will be able to manage to survive!" burst out Kanthimathi.

"When we had a good income, we lived a comfortable life. When our income gets dwindled, we have to reduce our standard of our living befitting the level affordable by us. That is what we have been doing. Why should we bother about the problems we may face in the future?" said Vairavan, calmly.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 63
Unfazed in the Face of Trouble

Verse 626 (in Tamil):
aRREm enRu allal padubavO peRREm enRu
Ombudhal thERRAdhavar.

Meaning:

Those who, in times of wealth, don’t stingily cling to their wealth, will not be distressed by poverty.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kAnthimathiyin kavalai' by the same author.) 

Verse 627 (Soon)
Verse 625