Being smart the right way!!!

At least more than once in life, we all become greedy to save money, don’t we? Of course, the heights to be a miser differs from person to person. Money is such an important asset that we tend to give it the highest priority in life. A miser is concealed in each of us which comes out at unsure times. Each time we are asked to spend money, we are like oh-god-I-am-going-to-be-broke-soon.

Phew! Sometimes I feel why did there have to be something called currency followed by the mad race to absorb more of it which never seems to stop. The word m-o-n-e-y can actually make you do some of the most craziest things which made you wish you never had to do them.

Well, one day when destiny thought it was smart enough to teach me a lesson to stop being a miser, the very day also happened to be the most embarrassing one for me. It was a lesson which also taught me the dangers of skating on thin ice which can be avoided with the use of little brains.

I was new to Chennai, a city in southern India which welcomed me with a huge culture shock with regard to food and climate. As they say time changes everything, I somehow got the habitual bug inside me and I was in sync with the city. Weekends were usually spent with few of my new pals whom I had befriended in a short while.

One evening it so happened that I was travelling in a local train after the meet out with friends. I knew I had enough brains but on that particular day, I think I had too much of it. I purposely boarded the train without a ticket thinking it was fun to be a little mischievous at times.

Happily, I hopped out of the train at my destination feeling proud of my naughty achievement for the day. As I walked, I got the shock of my life when I spotted a man checking the tickets of the passengers who were making their way outside the station. I froze unsure of how to react. I fumbled in my bag pretending to look for the ticket with fear gripping the insides of my ribs.

I visualized me being harassed by the man if he found out that I had been travelling ticket less. This was the worst thing a girl should face in a station, I thought depressingly.
“Oh yeah, it is because of your stupidity”, a voice inside my head told me and I realized it was true. For the millionth time, that minute I told myself I should have bought the ticket. Over smartness really pays off.

With a teary eye, I approached the ticket checker and told him stories of how I lost my ticket and that I was a loner in the city. To my utter surprise, he fell for my bare lies. I rushed to the entrance feeling like a free bird after the trauma. That was it. Since then, never ever have I tried travelling without a ticket because I realized it is really not worth being greedy at times. Being smart is good, over smartness is being silly.