No one has mastered the art of saving money quite like us Indians. It’s no wonder that the world has been reeling from economic meltdown a few years ago but because of our saving habits, many of us sailed through it. Saving for a rainy day is almost second nature to us. We’ve thought of an after use for almost anything we buy- how to stretch things that extra mile.
Who hasn’t grown up with that old T-shirt becoming a duster? Or old clothes being exchanged for utensils. Mothers are often the masters of recycling and reinvention. Most old stuff ends up being used as household stuff. The great Indian ‘jugaad’, we love taking something and getting maximum mileage out of it!
Remember having guests over and the leftover ‘party waala khaana’ meant no cooking for at least two days. You may have started paying your own bills but at the end of that dinner in a restaurant, the food you couldn’t finish is packed to become next morning’s breakfast. Whole new meals have been reinvented just by leftovers. A bit of this and a bit of that from odds and ends in the fridge can make a whole new meal. Leftover rice becomes ‘pulao’, and paneer becomes ‘paneer paratha.’
Who hasn’t lined drawers and shelves with old newspaper? Long before recycling became a buzzword for environmental consciousness, we Indians were inadvertently proving our ingenuity by killing two birds with the same stone. Recycling old things by selling to the local ‘kabaddi’ and making a quick buck! All in a day’s work.
No one blinks when you bring old ‘dabbas’ to office. It’s almost crazy to think plastic containers will be thrown out after one use. That takeaway ‘dabba’ has multiple uses man! Flowerpot, tiffin box, fridge container, jewellery box, the list is endless. Even old teapots become flower pots!
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