brother of a patient said, "I have noticed that you have got no money with you?"
P1 We were sitting outside a hospital where one of our relative was admitted in
Emergency Ward. Until now we could not arrange our own boarding and that was the reason
we were sitting under a tree in front of the hospital.
P2 My daughter and her two daughters were also with us. Both were playing with me and
ultimately both demanded milk. I went to my wife and demanded some money from her so
that I could purchase two bottle of Verka milk from the shop functioning in the hospital itself.
She gave me some money and I took both the girls to the shop.
P3 When I returned and started talking to other people assembled there, Mr. Lee, the
P4 "Yes, I do not keep money with me. All money is kept by my wife. She manages all
the cash in the house. I get just pocket money daily."
P5 Mr. Lee was surprised to know that I am the only breadwinner in the family, but I
don’t keep money with me. But somehow he kept silence for some time. I wanted to know
his reaction. "Is my way of functioning on the right path?"
P6 "Yes, you are a wise man. Now I could understand as to why you both are happy and
are having good health. On the other hand I and my wife are not happy and we both are not
having good health too. She remains sad and I also always remain in worries we have made
our life hell. I have learnt a lesson from you."
said Mr. Lee.
P7 I was surprised to note as to what lesson Mr. Lee had learnt from my answer. I feared
that he would utter some adverse remarks on me. He would call me henpecked husband or a
slave before my wife. But he added, "In our house I am the man who earns for the family and
therefore, I keep the whole cash with me. I feel that this is my right to keep cash with me. But
today I have learnt that I had been wrong. I should have done the same as you. You are
handing over all the cash to your wife and it means she administers the whole family affairs.
She is proud of the fact that she is the custodian of all the money in the house. She is happy
that her husband has got faith in her. She has got all the discretionary powers in the house and
is not living like a slave who cannot purchase even simple clothes for herself. On the other
hand, you are also happy that after handing over cash to your wife, you have got no worry to
run the family. You are happy. This fact has made you healthy and worriless."
P8 I was surprised to hear what he had said. Until now, I had never thought of the things
like this. Actually, I had always been weak in mathematics and therefore, I thought it was
better to hand over all the cash to my wife and ultimately the present observation from a
relative raised my position.
P9 Mr. Lee had admitted that all bad things in his house had been happening only
because he had been keeping the cash with himself and his wife disagreed with this when she
had got no pocket money with her.