“Wadala Station?” I asked as a taxi approached me while I was returning home from a trip to the Siddhivinayak Temple here in Mumbai today.
“Come, sit,” the driver said, as I thanked my stars because a few drivers had turned my request down.
“I was going towards Chembur, and Wadala is midway, so would take you there.”
“Oops, but why does your meter start at 20 rupees? Isn’t this high than normal fare?”
“Sir, this is a cool-cab (Mumbai’s AC taxis), so the rate is higher. But don’t worry, since you don’t need the AC, I will charge a normal taxi’s fare only.”
“Thanks! By the way, Chembur is very close to my home. Why don’t you take me there?”
“It will cost you 200 rupees to Chembur.”
“And Wadala?”
“About 40 rupees.”
“Okay, take me to Chembur for 200 rupees.”
“Why waste money, sir?”
I was surprised to hear this from a taxi driver, whose peer group is otherwise cursed for looting money from passengers. Before I could’ve said anything, he continued.
“Sir, if you can save 160 rupees by taking the train from Wadala instead of Chembur, why waste money on the taxi travel? Plus, the train from Wadala will get you home faster. And anyways you are not carrying any luggage with you. So I would suggest you take the train and save money.”
I was utterly surprised at this man’s thoughts about saving money. So I enquired about his family and work.
“What’s your name?”
“Kantilal, sir.”
And you have been driving taxis since…”
“For the last 34 years.”
“Great! And what about your family?”
“My wife and 2 sons stay with me in Mumbai, while my brothers and their families live in a village in Uttar Pradesh.”
“So you go to your village every year?”
“No, I have not been there for the past 5 years.”
“Why? You haven’t met you brothers for so long?”
“I have been saving money for my children’s higher education, and that’s why I didn’t think of wasting even a single rupee on anything else.”
“Where are your sons studying?”
“The elder one is working as a salesman in a finance company, and the younger one is doing his MBA plus working with a mobile company.”
“It’s great to know that you got your children educated.”
“There’s nothing in life without education, sir.”
“Yes, that’s right!”
“And sir, without proper education, you can never learn how to live your life properly.”
“But you are not so educated, so how can you say so? You talk sensible things and have been very smart to get your children educated.”
“It has taken me years of struggle to get my children educated and provide for my family. I know, with education, I could’ve done this faster and better.”
“Yes, I think you are right here. Proper education and the right mindset to use that education could’ve taken you places.”
“Yes sir! I don’t want my children to live in the darkness of ignorance. That’s why I have got them educated so that they can take sensible decisions in their lives.”
“That’s a very nice thought,” I told him. “And you must have also taught them about saving money, right?”
He smiled, and said, “Yes sir, that’s a very important lesson. I have been a saver for the last few years of my life and that’s why I was able to provide for their education. Now I’ve asked them to save as much as they can, so that they are also able to provide for themselves and their dependents in the future.”
“It’s very nice to hear that.”
“Thank you, sir! I believe saving money from whatever you earn is very important. And if you are an educated saver, you also know how to save and let that money grow in the right way.”
“You see, things have become so expensive these days,” he continued, “Price of everything is rising. So if you don’t save and don’t let your money grow, you can get into trouble in the future.”
I was astonished on these wise words on saving and investment from a poor, uneducated taxi driver.
“And sir, I am not greedy to run after money and neither are my sons. So we are satisfied with whatever we earn, and whatever we are able to save. There’s no point in wasting your life running after money, which is just your servant.”
“Amazing,” I said to myself as the taxi stopped in front of Wadala Station.
“It was great talking to you. Here, take your 50 rupees.”
“No sir, it’s 40 rupees.”
“But your meter is reading 50 rupees!”
“Remember I told you that this is a cool-cab and thus the meter reading is higher. But since we have not used the AC, the fare is only 40 rupees.”
I was surprised again, this time on his business ethics.
“Goodbye Kantilal ji. Take care,” I said while getting down from the taxi.
“Goodbye sir, it was nice meting you,” he said.
Lessons learnt
On my journey from Wadala Station to home, I continued to think about the discussion I had with Kantilal, and the amazing insights he shared with me on life and the need to save money and let it grow.
I sometimes wonder if more and more educated people think and act like Kantilal.
Over the past eight years, I’ve met many people who were highly educated but had lost their way while managing their hard-earned savings.
They had speculated on bad investments, led by ‘hot tips’ from their financial advisors, friends, or neighbours.
After years of hard work in their education and career-building, just one or two bad investment decisions had cost them heavy.
I wish such people could take some lessons from Kantilal. Lessons like…
- Saving to be able to provide for themselves and their family’s future needs
- Not getting greedy when it comes to money matters
- Not chasing money and instead living content and fulfilling lives
- Laying great importance on education to remove the darkness called ‘ignorance’
- Being ethical, even when not being so could earn them more money easily
Kantilal, I owe this post to you. And I wish you continue to spread your wisdom on life and money with all your passengers.
Great, very good , was glad to read it.
Great lessons of life. Wish everyone understand the importance of saving and investing.
Dear Vishal,
Amazing statement from that simple man:
“And sir, I am not greedy to run after money and neither are my sons. So we are satisfied with whatever we earn, and whatever we are able to save. There’s no point in wasting your life running after money, which is just your servant.”
You are quite lucky to have met such a guy in your life time.
Regards
Indeed Ajay! I was so happy to meet that man. Sadly, I could not take his contact details. You don’t find such simple, straight thinking people these days. Regards.
” power of simplicity”………nice post.
Thanks Vijay!
This is been amazing. The so called educated guys earn more and they spent more on credit cards. Most of them end up in CIBIL. Nice thought I thanks a lot for posting it.
Indeed Dileep. Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for the great post, Vishal.
But it is not surprising. Some of the best lessons I have learned in life is from the so-called uneducated people. The clarity of their thoughts can sometimes be astounding. We learn through books and through a system, but they learn through life and that’s often more valuable.
Very true, Eswar. Thanks for your comment!
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated (Confucius)…..Excellent…Kantilal ji has actually proved it very well….and thanks vishal for keeping us updated on the same 🙂
Thanks for your feedback Abhishek!
All I could say is the post is inspirational. Sticking to such strong ethical values for a person who has no money to meet even his brothers is almost unbelievable. Also, I can sense rational thoughts, discipline in saving money and a clear goal to educate his chidren. Very nice post Vishal
Thanks Bhavesh! It’s hard to find such people these days, so I was pleasantly surprised to have met Kantilal.
Nice one, Vishal. I hope Kantilal’s sons soon become entrepreneurs, since with their kind of thinking, they can build an umbrella for many other people rather than just for themselves through a job….
Amen, Rajaram.
Very inspirational story. When we look back at India story, i feel most of the indians were either self employed in agriculture or professionals in thier own smalll way. Instead nurturing this with addition of education and knowledge of finance management, our successive government policy killed the enterprising spirit of people and trained them to be ” salried” only. I am sorry, i am also a salaried man! At least post 1991, crisis revived this spirit to some extent.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Vishy!
vishal,
I believe it is repost….
because it is the one which introduced safal niveshak to me…
anyways, nice to read good things again
Yes Sri 🙂
Since not many tribesmen had read this then, I re-posted it.
Excellent article. Hats Off to Kantilal. We rarely see people like him these days. It’s a must read – with eyes and ears wide open.
Thanks Upendra! Indeed, Kantilal is an inspiration.
Nice story Vishal. Thanks for sharing it.
These stories make me think that the future of India is going to be much better. I have a maid servant at my home. She is illiterate, but her 10 year old daughter goes to an English medium school which is a reasonably good school in our neighborhood.
The moral of the story is that many people in lower strata of society have understood what a good education means. This brings hope that our future as a nation will be better.
Regards,
Raj
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Raj!
great post vishal…………….wish more and more people will be able to think like kantilal abt the importance of education and saving money for the future…
Thanks Mr. Narsing!
Nice article Vishal.
If we stop for a while, from this fast pace life, and look around one can find wonders. I always tries to start a conversation whenever life brings me in the direct contact of people like Kantilal (read in autorikshaw, rikshaw, having tea at small tea stall etc). There is too much to learn from these people. Kantilal, doing the same job for last 34 year and still happy. Its not the money, obviously , that is the reason of his happiness. Its clear from your conversation that he is happy because he is seeing achieving his goals. His goal from the start was to give proper education to his children. He know that is the only way to break the chain of poverty. Both eyes on the goal. Driving taxi for 34 year to achieve his goals and enjoying the process of reaching closer every day makes him happy. Your conversation reminds me of the following famous quote :
“When you really want something to happen, the whole world conspires to help you achieve it.”
― Paulo Cohelo
Kantilal has his goals clear. His thinking is a source of inspiration for me. Nice article.
Indeed Rajiv. Thanks for your comment!
Thanks Vishal. good article. Many a time, its the simplicity of things and thoughts that make it difficult to follow and implement .
Indeed Calisto. Thanks for your comment!
Culmination of education is character otherwise education is meaningless… This man has achieved the character. But we have many educated illiterates.
Unfortunatly true.
Thanks Vishal for sharing your experience, isn’t it nice to meet simple and content ppl like Kantilal? 🙂
The common impression is that everybody is running after money in India but I have met many Kantilals in recent years…so I don’t let negative experience (here and there) spoil the party.
Wonderful article Vishal ji on art of living.
one Dilemma i used to have and i think many of you must have surely experienced the same.
once you started following the above said principles ( which i sincerely do)….first of all you would feel..you are left behind the mass…….then….after sometime..your immediate frnds start passing comments on you saying..you have turned to some saint / the monk ……!
under these pressure sometime..i felt that there were right…and thought of re-joining the rat race……but then…..i felt…..that these people who are already..running..the rat race……i don’t need to mind their opinion…..and secondly….i am answerable to myself when i go to bed….and not all these people….!
cheers.
Very true, Kishorji. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Regards.
Kishor, I remember what Mahatma Gandhi said —
“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”.
Very true sachin..!
i totally agree….! I think…we are at the laughter stage..!
cheers
I had also met this Sikh person once. He was very courteous and offered me a lift while I was walking. I was pleased and humbled by his nature!