Parents and the Priceless Value of Money

It all began with a plant pot for planting aloe vera. Yes, just a simple pot the kind you buy, place by the balcony, and promptly forget to water after two days.  But in my dad’s eyes, this pot became a symbol of everything wrong with our generation. According to him, we kids “don’t know the value of money” and “live lavishly.” Lavishly, mind you not on fancy vacations or imported cars but on clay/plastic pots. For two days straight, he gave me the full Financial Management lecture. Apparently, I should have told him about my desperate need for a pot, because there are several ‘idle pots’ waiting for adoption in our ancestral courtyard.

“You should’ve said! I would have brought one from Palakkad!”

Apparently, the solution to my extravagant lifestyle was to transport a clay pot across two state borders Kerala → Tamil Nadu → Karnataka and for what to save a whopping ₹50. As the saying goes: penny wise, pound foolish or in my case pot wise, petrol foolish.

Anyway, I eventually went alone to get a new pot. Like all well-trained children of age-old parents, I followed the unwritten rule - always quote half the price when reporting back home. So, I said, “Got it for 50 bucks!”

His eyes lit up for a moment until the inspection began. The pot was inspected like an archaeologist examining a rare artifact. Tap-tap. Squint. Judgement. “Not as good as the one at home.”

Of course it isn’t! The Palakkad pot has character, heritage and possibly ancestral blessings. Mine is just from a store. At that point, I simply smiled and said the only phrase that saves one’s sanity in such moments:

“Noted. Will do that next time.”

And that is how a simple plant pot turned into a masterclass on frugality, state logistics and the eternal parental belief that we buy everything at gold rates.

Because in their world, a cup of tea still costs 5 rupees, jeans are 200 bucks and anything above 100 automatically falls under the “luxury purchase” category. But hey who are we to argue? We might not know the value of money, but we sure know the price of peace.