Life and Spirituality

King Midas of the Golden Touch M oney is what gets humans their essential needs as well as luxuries. Therefore when we hear of a person who is a billionaire or even a millionaire we tend to be jealous or envious. However, if you go into the depth of matters many millionaires and billionaires need our prayers and sympathy rather than our envy or Jealousy. My mind went to this subject yesterday when news channels announced that a famous billionaire of North India – Ponty Chaddah – and his brother had killed each other ( at least as initially reported in some of the media although it is being investigated ) in a shoot out in which their respective armed guards were also involved. It seems that there was a property dispute. The matter is still under investigation but the newspapers today reported that their unfortunate bodies were riddled with bullets. Yesterday the TV also showed glimpses of Ponty while he was alive. This is the first time I cared to look at him carefully.

Earl's Court, Nainital Today my mind went to a fundamental question – how much money does one need for a good life, perhaps the best possible one on the planet. The reason for this thought arose because of worries for a friend and class fellow (Rajat Gupta) who was until a few years ago amongst the richest persons in USA. Then he got involved in legal difficulties because of which not only did the sources of his income stop but he has also been fined and is paying exorbitant legal costs. The net outcome would be that his wealth will reduce substantially. However, on deeper reflection the cause of my worry disappeared as I deliberated briefly on what amount of money is required by a family or person to have a very comfortable and good life style, in fact the kind that much less than one per cent of the population of the planet is able to afford. I presently live in India and my estimates began from here. I arrived at the conclusion that a million dollars of net we