This appeared first on LinkedIn.
I read a question on my LinkedIn feed recently: “What is the best return on investment you’ve had for less than ₹500 lately?”
Tell me your story. This is mine.
As an entrepreneur for the past 28 years, I have no fixed timings. I have no permanent office. I have no regular schedule. Everything changes every day, based on meetings, travel, and workload.
Over the past year, my wife Natasha and I have started a spiced fresh-fruit spread brand called Tasha & Girl (with the “Girl” being our 3yo Kymaia). That means even more irregular hours. I leave and arrive home at odd hours. Little Kym is used to this.
However, since she’s started school, she’s learnt that other parents bring stuff for their children whenever they travel – a toy, a sweet treat, something – the child always asks, “What did you get for me?” the first thing when the door opens. Kym, on the other hand, never did, and we always assumed she never expected any such treats.
The other day, I was (in one of the rare cases) neither working nor snoozing in the car on my way back home, when a little kid, no older than Kym herself, came to the door at a signal and tried selling me one solitary balloon. For ₹20. I don’t know what came over me, but I handed out a pack of Parle-G I keep in the car (sometimes I get cravings) and fished in my pockets for some change, finding only a ₹100 note. So, I became the owner of a white balloon with pink polka dots. I carried it home, and since it was almost midnight by the time I reached (Mumbai to Pune), I let myself in to find my wife and daughter sleeping peacefully. I changed, had a drink, and just before turning in, for no specific reason, tied the balloon to Kym’s bedpost.
The next morning, when she woke up and found the balloon, she came up to me as I slept (I like to wake up early, work, and then catch up on my sleep once everyone else is up) and told me, “My Baba is the best Baba.” before kissing me and going around the house showing the balloon to everyone (“Look, what my Baba brought me.”), insisting on taking it to school (not allowed) and then wanting to play with it as soon as she returned.
Of course, by night, she’d forgotten about it, as she snuggled with me in bed, sleeping the sound sleep of the innocent that only children can.
But it struck me that for a pack of biscuits (₹4) and ₹100, I bought so much love and happiness to (and from) TWO 3-year-olds, which reflected back on me to make me happy and peaceful. Best investment I made.
