Category: Life & Living

Earn before you spend

As we grow up in life, we love to acquire material things and spend as freely as we can. I think there is nothing wrong to buy ,everything we desire in the world, at the quickest possible time.

We grow up as kids and in school ,our needs and desires may be limited to books, toys or food occasionally. Then as we grow as adolescents, our desires grow along with us. We aspire for gadgets and also vacations and drives and so on. Then we want bikes and cars. so our needs and wants grow faster than our human growth.

This is basic human evolution and may be nothing wrong at all. The one thing, which may come in our way ,is the limitation of resources, at our disposal. We depend on our parents and elders, till we are able to stand on our own feet and start earning our livelihood. At this stage in life, we love spending without much thinking.

Then ,when we get our first salary, we feel like going around and buying the world around us. But our limited resources, make us realise that this remains an elusive dream. We look at other friends and relatives and keep dreaming that some day we will able to conquer the world and buy whatever we want from our own earnings, without depending on anyone.

Again this thinking appears rational and realistic. However, the day we buy things from our own earnings without depending on others, we suddenly realise the value of things around us. A simple thing like, we do not want to waste food ,if we have paid for it. We become thrifty and respect the value of earning and spending.

So the simple learning in life could be, that we need to earn before we spend. Some of us tend to live on credit and loans and imagine that some day we will be debt free and let us enjoy today. Some nations have promoted ,living on debts and credit cards. In India, we have always been inculcated to live on our own savings and never on loans.

This learning is invaluable ,when put it into practise. If we are able to put a simple rule, that we will save at least 20% of our earning every month and then only spend the rest, we may realise that we would never live in an illusory world ,ever. If we earn before we spend, we realise the value of everything in life , in a very experiential way.

I remember visiting a music store at least for ten long years, admiring a music system, which I loved ,but could never afford to buy. It took me ten long years before I could save the money and buy it. This made me realise ,the value of everything I aspired in life.

The simple equation for a successful life could to be earn before you spend and save for the future. Another learning could be, to learn to live without debts and loans. The credit cards, is a great innovation but we need to ensure that we never spend more than we can afford and pay the bills before the due date ,always.

Let us learn to earn before we spend from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

4th May 2025

Liberalism of Hinduism

I am a born Hindu and am proud to be one ,always. In my personal view, Hinduism is one of the few religions in the world, which is very liberal and open ,in its thinking and preachings.

Since my birth, I have never been forced to follow any rituals. We have never been ordained to visit a temple nor offer our prayers in a particular way. Of course, like all other religions, Hinduism also has a rich history of written and unwritten scriptures like Vedas and Upanishads but nothing is imposed on us ,as individuals ,by our parents or elders.

We have full freedom to follow any prescriptions or define our own way to God . this is the best part I love about our religion. We have never been restricted to visit other religious places or even follow the good things of other religions, as Hinduism believes, in letter and spirit, that all religions are different pathways ,to the same destination – God.

A prayer, which I offer in the morning ,after I get up and at night ,before I sleep, simply translated states, –

“ May all sentient beings be at peace,
may no one suffer from illness,
May all see what is auspicious, may no one suffer.
Om peace, peace, peace”

It transcends religions, nations and all boundaries, which human beings have defined for themselves.

This month I undertook a long spiritual yatra ( journey), which we commonly call “Gaya shradham” in Hinduism. In this journey, we start at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, India where we do a ceremony for our forefathers on the sea shore and collect sand and take it Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, and immerse it at Triveni Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers.

We then perform rituals at Prayagraj and collect water from Triveni sangam. After completing our rituals at Prayagraj, we go to Varnasi and do ceremonies at five banks of the Ganges river, considered the holiest river ,according to Hinduism in India.

Then, we proceed to Gaya and do “Pinda dana” or donating rice balls as offerings to our forefathers. The interesting aspect of these offerings is that we offer to our parents, if dead, forefathers, relatives, friends and even enemies, teachers, Gurus, known and unknown people and even animals and other living beings who have died and been known to us.

Finally, we return to Rameshwaram with the sacred water from Triveni Sangam and do abhishekam ( holy bath ) of Lord Shiva at Rameshwaram, followed by some rituals ,to end this journey.

It is believed that all departed souls may get “Moksha” or salvation, if we pray for them this way. What I loved about these rituals is that it does not discriminate between humans and other living beings and goes beyond religion, colour, caste or faith.

In spirit, Hinduism embraces all religions as different pathways to God. The routes may be different but the core belief is that the destination is the same for all of us. The basic values of respecting parents, teachers, Gurus, friends, elders etc. is enshrined in the Hindu faith.

Dr Radhakrishnan, former President of India and one of India’s greatest philosophers wrote a book called – The Hindu way of life “. It beautifully explains how Hinduism is a way of life and not a religion, per se. Of course, there could be fanatics in each religion, who tend to interpret religion in a narrow way and mislead millions of followers. But a true Hindu will always respect all religions and enable co-existence with these basic human values.

Long live the liberal Hinduism.

S Ramesh Shankar

25th March 2025.

Privileges unlimited

We are all having unlimited privileges in life. Today, I visited a home for the destitutes in Varnasi. There are about 65 inmates in this institution – both men and women. Most of them are differently abled – mentally, physically, socially or emotionally. Some of them have been left behind by their own children ,in these homes, although they are well to do.

I realised once again ,how privileged we are and have been, in our lives. We have been brought up in respectable families and had all the basic comforts of life, always. We have siblings .our parents gave us the best education and values.

When you meet each one of them ,in such institutions, you realise that everyone’s story ,can make you cry. Some have left home and reached here ,since there was no alternative. Some of them were left by their own families to fend for themselves and so landed here. Some others were deliberately abandoned here ,by their own children.

Some are physically challenged and others mentally challenged. Some are socially ostracised ,while others have been emotionally drained ,due to social distancing by their families and friends. We do not realise how lucky we are ,unless we see the suffering of such people. Our visit there was only for a few hours but it shook us apart. It makes you thankful to God and nature, for giving us all that we have in life.

The trials and tribulations of life, are varied for all of us. Some of us struggle in our early stages but make a better living, through education and hard work ,later in our lives. But some people like those I met in the ashram ,are facing tough times ,every day of their lives – may be from birth till their death.

We complain ,if we do not get good food at home ,on a day. We complain if we are not able to buy clothes, for a festival. We are upset, if we are not able to go for a vacation . If we look at these people, we may realise ,how lucky and blessed we are. We get good healthy food every day. We sleep comfortably and live comfortably.

We have a family to support us and friends to meet and greet. Imagine living all alone and not sure of the food ,next morning. You do not have any siblings or a family to support you. You have no friends to share your joy and sorrow. You live life ,with no hopes and no aspirations. This may shake us apart ,even if we try it for a day.

It is these experiences ,which makes us human and enable us to be grounded ,to Mother Earth. It makes us realise ,that we have more than what we need. We need to be thankful to God and grateful to our parents , relatives and friends, who have made our life ,so comfortable for us ,from birth itself.

Let us periodically remind ourselves ,as to how privileged we are. Our privileges are indeed unlimited.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025