Re1/- Shopping

When was the last time u shopped for just 1 rupee and were the most satisfied customer?

This question popped up in my mind when I was wandering through one of the local streets of Goa with some of my best pals.  One of my friend stopped by near a local shop to buy some tomatoes. While we were managing to spend the meager hundred rupees that we were left with after spending all the money travelling across Goa, I saw a 6/7 year old kid coming towards the shopkeeper and asking for a “center fresh” chewing gum. He took out a 1 rupee coin from his short pants and exchanged it with the gum. The moment he got that gum he was euphoric and he went back jumping with feelings of achievement.

It was at that junction of time that I realized how inflation in our lives has shadowed the essence of a Rupee. And all of a sudden I was lost in my childhood days when possessing a single 1 rupee coin or note was like being Bill Gates of the locality. I was even reminded of a shop which used to give toffees for as low as 10 paisa. It was like the whole movie of my childhood days was flashing across my mind full of the images of my first pen, first notebook, first chocolate,  first whistle and all the other trivial details of me being a contented shopper.

Those were the times when I actually felt the satisfaction in buying simple 1 rupee things but now even a thousand Rupees seem insufficient for our needs. Obviously the inflation has escalated the prices but than our wants too have sky-rocketed. Living in a world with easy access to money through credit/debit cards, ATMs, etc., we seem to have got entangled in the pricey world of brands.  Where is that satisfaction which we had when we used to buy a chocolate as a child but not in today’s world full of all the possible varieties and multi-national brands ?