The Shepherd of Readersburg | 6 June 2019: It is a beautiful sunny morning. Euco is perched in the middle of his garden, reading. Just then, Storyann barges in, ‘Hey … hey … Bighead ... there … he … pooh! … pah! …’

​

‘What’s it? Catch your breath first! You are annoying!’ Euco says, visibly annoyed, and still perched, unmoved.

‘

Bighead … fell off the cycle! He’s … he … here,’ she runs a finger on her own ankle and continues talking between breaths, ‘ … got a cut … here.’

 

‘What? Where is he?’

 

Their bigger concern now is to get Bighead’s wound nursed—the money to pay for the antiseptic and cotton.

 

‘The Money Social!’ they say together as it comes to them suddenly.

 

Last year, the Storyann and Euco decided that they would deposit 10 bucks each in a common piggybank.

 

Whenever any of them needs a big amount in an emergency, they would take out the required amount from this pool.

 

Bighead joined in two months ago. He deposited 10 bucks last month and 10 bucks this month.

 

They reached out for the piggybank. 700 bucks! Phew! They took out 200 and used it to buy a small bottle of Dettol and a few cotton wool balls.

 

You know what this is? It is insurance.

 

A person who buys insurance:

• Does thorough research

• Consults experts

• Picks up an insurance company that fits best in her requirements

• Transfers a specific amount to the insurance company at regular intervals

• Gets to use a large amount of money even she has contributed only once and a very small amount

 

The insurance is available in the form of policies—each policy has different features based on factors like:

• The amount a person deposits—this amount is called Premium

• The amount a person can withdraw in emergency—which is a few hundred thousand bucks at a time; etc.