Family Moral Stories | It's not a gift, if it's not expensive!

In the plush area of Mumbai, a boy named Vinay lived with his parents. His elder sister, Tanvi, was married and lived in Delhi. Vinay was reckless and lacked ambition. His life was only about partying and socializing.  

One day, Vinay lost his parents in a road accident. Vinay and Tanvi grieved for days.  Eventually, they had to move on. Days passed, and Tanvi became very busy with her household. Vinay decided to take responsibility for his dad’s business empire. Tanvi’s husband, Suresh, was pleased with Vinay’s decision. But Tanvi had a different opinion.

‘Not mature enough to handle business,’ assumed Tanvi.

Tanvi was against his brother's decision to work for his dad’s business. Vinay joined the company as Managing Director. She knew Vinay would initially show enthusiasm and then again drift to partying. She instead wanted Vinay to appoint a deserving person as Managing Director. She wanted him to concentrate on writing books. She knew Vinay had excellent writing skills.

Suresh encouraged Vinay. Initially, Vinay showed enthusiasm and concentrated on work. Ultimately, he lost interest in the business. He started partying again and spent a lot of money! Tanvi and Vinay met often. Every time they met, Tanvi asked for an expensive gift from Vinay. Suresh was against Tanvi’s behaviour.

‘Don’t I treat you with enough gifts? Why do you ask Vinay for gifts?’

‘He is my brother; he can afford to pamper me with gifts,’ replied Tanvi.

‘Okay, fine. I understand that Vinay is your brother; you can ask him to give you gifts. But why always an expensive gift?’

‘Because it's not a gift if it's not expensive.’

Suresh disagreed.

Years passed, and Tanvi used to demand expensive gifts like gold or diamond jewellery from Vinay each time they met. Vinay was suffering huge losses in business, but he still pampered his sister with costly gifts. He didn’t tell Suresh either that he was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was stressed. 

In trauma, he lost control of his car and met a bad accident. It took him months to recover. 

One day, while he was still recovering at Tanvi’s home. Tanvi and Suresh walked into his room. Vinay was very depressed.

‘Here are your savings!’ said Tanvi, giving him an envelope.

‘What?’

‘I said here are your savings.’

Vinay opened the envelope. It contained a bank statement detailing a balance of Rs. 25 lakhs. He looked puzzled.

‘You remember, I used to demand expensive gifts from you. I used to sell them and deposit money in a bank account in your name. Because I know that you don’t save and spend unnecessarily. Savings hold you during bad times and help you start anew.’

Both Vinay and Suresh were amazed. Vinay had tears of joy in his eyes and couldn’t thank his sister enough. Suresh apologized for doubting Tanvi’s intentions. Vinay was happy to have a sister like Tanvi.

Moral: Be the right person, but don’t waste time to prove it.

Happy Reading!

Check out Nisha B Thakur's highly appreciated novel, The Unexpected Trail.