At Aurinko Academy, children had classes recently on financial literacy. That got me thinking about how as a child growing up in a lower middle-income household, I didn’t need a class or a workshop in school to understand the value of money.
As a child, I understood why we would wait for at least half an hour at the bus stop before even thinking about taking an auto. I understood why asking for Ice cream involved a delicate assessment of my father’s mood and knowing the time of the month. Once, I lost ten rupees from my possession and spent a couple of hours tracing and retracing my steps trying to find the precious currency, terrified to go home without it.
Things are different now. My children now rarely use any public transport. The fridge always has ice cream and once when I informed my son that something costs a lot of money, his response was “So, why don’t you go to the ATM and get it?!“
Thus, I was very interested to hear from my almost 9 years old child his feedback on the financial literacy classes at Aurinko. He was cagey at first but then mentioned that money is very important in life. That we must work hard to earn money and need to be a “smart shopper”. He learnt about the importance of saving money for the future. He learnt about “needs” and “wants”.
I asked him the difference between “needs” and “wants”.
“Vegetables are a need but Pizza is a want“, he said.
I discussed this topic within our Aurinko family WhatsApp group.
“Yes, but when one is very hungry and there’s only a Dominoes nearby, then Pizza becomes a want!” was a response from another child relayed by their parent.
I discussed some more money matters with my child.
“How much does the TV cost?”
“What about your laptop?”
“Do you know how much I pay for your school fees?” (A number close to my heart, ha ha)
“How much do you earn?” (Had to sidestep that one)
Thanks to Aurinko
Anand Bharadwaj
Aurinko Parent
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