Valentine month contest bonanza from Indusladies!

VARALOTTI’S ENTRY FOR THE VALENTINE MONTH CONTEST (BONANZA)<o:p></o:p>

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The wonderfully worded contest announcement set me thinking on the gifts I gave and received. My accountant-brain made a fast calculation which showed that I have been a receiver more often than a giver. My account stands in debit with respect to so many persons (Remember the cardinal rule of Accountancy: Debit the receiver and credit the giver) and to such a large value, that had all those gifts been financial transactions, a competent court would have declared me bankrupt long back.
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I did not want to choose from the very few gifts I gave but rather take a plunge into the ocean of gifts I received, to come out with the most precious pearl. The contest was not just a bonanza but a double bonanza for me, because I came out from the depths of the ocean not with one but two precious pearls.
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The gifts I have received vary from a hello by a long forgotten friend, an email from an old acquaintance, to the small money plant gifted by my daughter on our wedding anniversary. Flowers, cards, dresses, perfumes, money, nice words, courteous listening – I have received in abundance. But over time flowers wither, cards fade, dresses get worn out, money spent, words and courteous listening replaced by similar gifts.
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But the two gifts, which I am going to describe here, have stayed with me ever since they were given. Strange enough, when both these gifts were given, I did not know their real worth and worse still, I did not even relish them. Both gifts were handed over to me on a golden platter in times of crisis and did not appear at that time a solution for the problem at hand. And another coincidence is that in both the cases the donor is the same person, my dear father.
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I was in my Seventh grade. Our school was planning an excursion to an exotic location. One had to pay just Rs.40/- to be a part of the fun-filled, thrilling trip to somewhere in north Tamilnadu. I was the first to give my name and ran home breathlessly awaiting my father’s return from his office. I blurted out the details and demanded Rs.40/-. My father said a clear NO. He declared on my face, “We cannot afford that luxury.”
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I managed not to break into sobs in his presence. I cried all night. Next morning my father told me,” You do not believe me, right? I will give my salary cover to you. You manage the family expenses for a whole month and if you can save Rs.40, it’s yours.”
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Fair enough, I thought. After all there was more than a month’s time to pay the money.
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My father true to his word gave his salary and our family accounts book to me, my holy initiation into the accounting profession. I sat with my Mom and Dad to prepare the budget for the month. Eager to save the money I cut down on a lot of essential expenses.
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I thought I would be saving more than Rs 100 (My father’s salary at that time was a little over Rs. 700). But as the month progressed expenses started coming from unknown quarters and unexpected angles. My brother fell ill – unbudgeted medical expenses. Two of our close relatives stayed for a week – unbudgeted food expenses and the cost of parting gifts to them. In the end I could barely save Rs. 10/-.
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Without telling my father I told my teacher to take my name off the list. First I thought that my father had tricked me. So I asked him to let me manage the show for the next few months. The results were the same.
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That was my first reality show with family finances. The gift was hands-on training in financial discipline which stood me in good stead many years later when I had to face tough times in my profession. More importantly it gave me a balanced head to manage affluent times. And it gave me the innate financial sense with which I could manage the finances of companies turning over in millions. With my 23 years of standing in the Accounting profession, I cannot value this precious gift. Can you?
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The second gift was even more valuable and even more touching. My old man, who ruthlessly demonstrated to me that he could not afford Rs. 40, proved to me he could afford a million times that amount, exactly seven years later. To make you appreciate the value of the second gift, I need to dwell on our family finances a little more.
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My father was working for a private company as an Assistant Accountant at that time. Apart from my parents and us, four children, my father’s sister and her husband were living with us. My uncle was a lawyer and was making some decent money. We all lived as one family. I was adopted by my uncle later. But all of us still continued to live together. My adoptive mother, my aunt, died quite young.

contd.....

Education those days was quite affordable. For example my semester fees for B.Com was only Rs. 78. I nursed an ambition to become a lawyer taking over my adoptive father’s flourishing practice. (Incidentally my pen name is a part of my adoptive father’s name: Varalotti Srinivasa Rengaswamy Iyengar)
But disaster stuck when I was in II B.Com. My adoptive father who was in his 70s died after some serious ailment.
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A year before his death his professional income had declined. My father had to borrow money, sell my mother’s jewels to meet the medical expenses. When my adoptive father died our coffers were bone dry. My father struggled to meet both ends meet. Food was not a problem; but everything else was. I poured all my energies into my studies and in the next year finished my graduation securing the University’s First Rank.
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It was 1978. One of my brothers had just entered college; another brother and my sister were in school. My Dad’s salary could not keep pace with the spiraling prices. I was dying to help my family. Luck knocked at our doors.
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A public sector bank had offered Officer’s posts to 3 candidates in the State who had got the University’s First Ranks. At that time Tamilnadu had only three universities. I ran to my father with the bank’s offer letter.
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I thought he would hug me and congratulate me. But he was expressionless for a while. The words he uttered at that time – that was the most precious gift I have ever received in my whole life.
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“Sridhar, I am an ordinary B.Com and so my life was a struggle all along. I do not want you to be like me. If you take this offer now, you will be only a B.Com. throughout your life. I hear that there is a course called CA and bright students can easily clear that. I want you to do that course.”
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“But, Dad, that will take another three, four years. How are we going to manage?”
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“You know that we have a house in the suburbs. We’ll sell that house, deposit the money and can manage with the interest.”
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“But Dad, I will be clearing Rs.2000 a month as a Bank Officer. (A princely sum those days; my father was making only Rs. 1500 at that time). Why should we lose that?”
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“Sridhar, do what I say. You are studying CA. Period.”
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For a while I was furious. I could never understand the foolishness of throwing away the Officers Post with a princely salary. But I obeyed my father and enrolled for CA. The rest is history.
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I have never received a more precious gift in my life. Doing the CA course defined my personality, changed my attitude to life and above all made me a professional. To cap it all, this gift made me fit enough to receive other valuable gifts thrown in my way by God, writing for example.
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And the beauty is that this gift still continues to increase in value and I am sure that I will carry this gift even beyond my grave.
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After winning the prize in the very first contest announced in this site, (circa July 2005) I vowed not to compete any more. But I broke my vow to repay at least one-billionth of what I owe to my old man.
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With that kind of a gift any other man in my place would have reached farther heights and would have brought greater glories to the donor. I being I could do only this much. I have no complaints, however.
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VARALOTTI a.k.a. sridhar<o:p></o:p>

Dear Sridhar,
(Habba rabba -you did spell my name right not " at last' but " at long last" !!)

You have written you entry not with words, but with sentiments. One of the most beautiful write ups from you - I am not comparing with what you post in your forum.

Very true, very touching and tell me, who is more blessed?
You for such a father or for realising the beauty of the gift life long
or
your father for this ever grateful son ?

Your post brought tears in my eyes - you both are blessed !

Love,
Chithra.

My Hearty congratulations to you varalotti sir. A very touching write up indeed. I could see the love and respect you have for your father in every line. He surely will be proud of you. And yes you have also made use of the gifts in the way he wanted it to be.

The way you explained brought back so many memories of my father from my life too. Thank you for that.

Hearty Congratulations once again.

regards
vidhi

Dear Sridhar,
Your entry rightly deserves the prize . It is so beatifully written. You have poured out your regards for your father. I am all the more happy that you rejected the prize. With professional writers taking part the amateurs stand no chance of winning!. In your posts I notice the expressiona.k.a. What does that mean. Sorry I am quite ignorant of such abbreviations.Congratulations!
Regards,
Meenu

Dear Radha,
My hearty cogratulations to you.I am looking forward to your posting your entry. Varalottis entry was very outstanding.How about yours?
Regards,
Meenu

Hello Varalotti,

Congrats! I read your 'account' and it was so heart warming. You have not just spoken about the gifts that your father bestowed on you. You or rather your father has given us lessons in parenting, accounting, values and gratitude in life. What I liked about your piece, is that there is a spontaniety, a warmth that seeps through the words. One can immediately spot that this is not a phoney account, it is something that has been actually received and experienced, and remembered in humble retrospect.

It was an apt gesture to pass on the item prize for the contest.

Dear Chithra,

This was something I wanted to record somewhere in this universe, apart from being just a grateful thought in my mind.
And this contest gave me the place for it.
Naturally I am more blessed than my father for I have received a great gift from him.
Thanks once again.
sridhar

Dear Sridhar,

Read your entry and was really moved to tears. I can understand why you so cherish this gift for ever and your dad was indeed a visionary . I have learnt a lot today from your entry and yes it does deserve every accolade for its warmth and sentiments that you have conveyed through your words.
Congrats.

Vandhana

Hello Sridhar,

Everytime I sit to read your winning entry, there's somebody near the gate or a phone call or call to go out....... so, I thought I'll congratulate you first and read it later. I'm sure it must be a special entry. Had a friend (from Paris) visitng us which again is keeping me busy..

Congrats Sridhar. will read it later and let you know.

Regards,