Category: Essay

Editor’s Note : Tarang 2K25 – the 17^th Jal ErachDastur CA Students’ Annual Day was held on 22^nd February, 2025. The said event included an essay competition and the winning essay titled “The psychology of money: How financial decision shapes our lives” was penned by Dhairya M. Thakkar. Below is the verbatim print of the said essay

It is rightly said that, “Money is just a paper, but is never found in dustbin.” In simple words, from a popper to a multi-billionaire, everyone needs money to fulfill their needs, followed by comforts & desires.

Let us assume that there are 2 friends, Alex & Brian, who both earn Rs 1 Lakh per month. However, inspite of the assumption that everything between the 2 friends is same, the only difference is their choice of to spend money they earn. Alex chooses to purchase a few gifts for his family, uses money with a free-hand, shops a lot & hardly saves. On the other hand, Brian uses a simple yet effective rule which he names as “40-30-20 Rule”, i.e.-

40% of his income – For all the necessities, accommodation, etc.

30% of his income – Investing in stock markets, SIPs, Bonds, etc.

20% of his income – For all the additional luxuries, comforts, etc.

And lastly, he keeps his 10% of his income in form of cash at home or bank so that it can be enchased in case of any emergency.

Now, who do think, 20 years down the line, will be better with finances, money management & financially sound. Of course, it has to be the man who since Day 1 had that discipline to keep his savings aside & invest it constantly (So, in our example, it’s Brian).

It is rightly said by Mr. Robert T. Kiyosaki (who is the author of one of the most famous self-help book Rich Dad, Poor Dad) that: “It is more important how much you save & not how much you earn, So, spend after you save & never save after you spend.”

So, now let us connect the dots of psychological decision & money. In one of the books, which is also called as, ‘Bible for Investors’ – The Intelligent Investor,it’s author Benjamin Graham wrote that money has more to do with discipline while saving or investing.

Thus, if a man is disciplined enough to manage to save a decided component of his income, then he will surely be in a position to invest it & garner money in forms of dividend, capital appreciation, interest, etc. whereas on the other hand, if a man fails to save money, then there would be negligible chances of him earning any returns because he could not accumulate capital in the first place.

In the very famous Marshmallow experiment, two kids were asked to sit alone in a room with one marshmallow in front of them. However, the challenge was that if a kid chooses to not eat it, then he will get 2 marshmallows, instead of 1. One of the kids chose to eat it right away whereas the other kid chose the path of delayed gratification & he got twice the returns.

After decades, it was evident that the kid who chose instant gratification, was suffering in his financial life, social life & had issues in almost all areas of life, whereas the kid who chose delayed gratification was financially independent, successful, had good social status & was respected in the society.

This simple experiment proved that life has pretty less to do with grades, percentages, etc. and has majorly to do with discipline & money is not an exception to it. As correctly said by Mr. Warren Buffet, “Making money multiply is like watching grass grow on field … It requires patience to be rich.”

So, towards the conclusion, financial decision is like sowing a bamboo tree, it will grow just 2 feet in first 5 years but once it shoots up, it results into growing 100 feet in next 2 years. So, money grows at its own pace & person who keeps on investing, gets rich, a bit later but at a larger scale.

“The way to find
yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” – Mahatma Gandhi.

 

It is rightly
concluded by the great national leader and human being, Mahatma Gandhi in the
above quote that you need to serve others in order to know your true purpose in
life and what better stage than student life.

 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY VOLUNTEERING?

Volunteering simply
means undertaking a task or providing service to an organisation or a cause
without being paid for the same. It is an act of altruistic behaviour i.e., not
having a selfish motive behind doing anything. Thus, it is rightly said that
volunteers are paid in six figures i.e. S-M-I-L-E-S.

 

WHY SHOULD STUDENTS VOLUNTEER?

The early you start
a habit the better it is. A human being while he is studying can quickly adapt
changes and make such change a part of his life. Student life enables a person
to explore among the choices which he can make along with its academic curriculum.

 

Following are the
benefits of volunteering in a student’s life which make the act of volunteering
important:

 

1. Effective
utilisation of time and time management skills

Nowadays, it is a
common scenario to find students of all ages especially the teenagers glue
their eyes to electronic devices like mobiles, tablets and laptops. Though
technology is an integral part of the human beings alive today but more often
it is found to be misutilised or excessively utilised by the younger
generation.

 

Volunteering for a
particular cause or an event will help a student to effectively utilise the
available time.

 

Also, it is
observed that those students’ who volunteer develop better time management
skills because they learn to balance all tasks in the given time.

 

2. Inculcating civic behaviour

Students who
volunteer for social causes tend to develop a sense of civic behaviour. A
recent example is that of Swachh Bharat Mission which saw many students
actively participating in cleanliness drive which has created awareness among
all.

 

Causes like
protecting the environment, saving wildlife, segregation of waste, saving
water, among others have immensely helped in creating a sense of responsibility
towards the society and mankind.

 

3. Develops a habit
of team work

“Alone we can do
little but together we can do so much” – Hellen Keller.

Volunteering is
done in groups or teams and students are assigned tasks they are supposed to
perform in a team. A student learns how to be a team player. He learns to adapt
with people of different culture and background and thus be effective in
adjusting with anyone in the future while working in a team.

 

4. Improve leadership skills

Students who volunteer often find themselves capable of taking any task
on their own. The confidence gained during volunteering helps them to possess
good leadership skills which will be beneficial in every aspect of life in the
future.

 

5. Promotes healthy well-being

Students remain
active when they take up any other activity voluntarily and it is normally seen
that such students are very active, energetic and have a positive outlook
towards life. They are enthusiastic as they always look forward to do something
more than normal. It is observed that students who volunteer gain peace of mind
through the activities they perform for others.

 

6. Students become more responsible –
socially

Be the change
you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

 

In todays’ era,
change is inevitable and it is the only thing which is constant. Students wish
to make a difference in the society and volunteering or standing up for
something gives them a platform to put forward their point of views and help in
bringing about the change by first, starting themselves and then creating
awareness among their peers social responsibility is that of the society and
what better way than learning in a students’ life.

 

7. Helps in improving CV

After completing
your academic career, a student builds his professional career based on his
knowledge. But it is those extra-curricular activities which give him an extra
edge among his peers. Employers generally find it impressive when they find
that a person has volunteered in his student life because it helps to make them
conclude that he/she is a person with a vision, a purpose and he can do so much
more than what is generally expected out of employees.

 

8. Provides an opportunity to learn a new
skill

Based on my personal experience, I had the opportunity to be part of
the club which promoted Gujarati and Marathi language wherein several
activities were conducted weekly. As a student volunteer, I not only gained
knowledge on these languages but also a sense of belonging to the people
belonging to the respective caste.

Many organisations, University Clubs and Associations take up
activities which are either not for profit or are for a particular event which
involves lot of work from organising, co-ordinating, working with technology,
innovation and so much more. These activities help students to learn a new
skill for example, calligraphy or may be learning a new language or painting,
sketching, public speaking among others.

9. Makes way for future goals

If a student has
volunteered for something then it is quite possible that he can take the
learnings further by making a career in the same. Many students who volunteer
for a single task or may be try hands at different things often are able to
judge their capabilities and interests which helps them to make a career
choice.

 

10. Gives a sense of satisfaction and its
fun

The miracle is
not knowing how the work is done but by being happy in doing it. – Mother
Teresa

 

It is always a
joyous feeling to do something for others and it is quite evident when you see
smiles on the faces of other people or you are able to do something for a
cause. It is always happy feeling to do something for others.

 

First give and only
then you can get.  

 

Note – Kanika has been an active and regular
participant in Tarang 2K15, Tarang 2K16, Tarang 2K17 and Tarang 2K18 events and
has consistently won prizes in Essay and debate competitions. In Tarang 2K18,
she bagged the 1^st prize in Essay Competition for this Essay. In a
fitting tribute to her contribution, this award winning Essay is printed in
this BCAJ issue.