Jhere is always the question of whether owning expensive cars and mansions makes you rich, or whether it is the ability to find happiness in everything. We see social media stars and influencers living extravagant lifestyles, but are they really rich? The prospect of dying in poverty scares people more than anything else. But does money really make you rich?

It was a May afternoon in the heart of Mumbai. I ventured down the alley in the shade of decrepit roofs, with houses piled on top of each other in the slums of Mumbai, a place where I found my answer.

It is our duty to see such places and experience such places. It would be an exciting place to witness something unknown. If you ever go to a slum, you can anticipate the smell of burnt tobacco permeating the alley. The walkways are often wet, which is probably due to the fact that sunlight rarely reaches the ground in the slums, or perhaps due to the drainage pipe right next to them. The houses are small, barely big enough for two people, but shared by eight family members.

I continued my journey and came across a group of children playing marbles in the center of the slum on a small piece of land. The game seemed fierce, with each participant receiving an equal number of marbles on their side. It was a thrill to see the excitement on their faces as they played marbles in the damp streets of Mumbai’s slum, near the gutters. What made them so happy, so drenched in ecstasy that it was contagious?

After a moment of staring at them, one of the kids saw me, and I was close enough to catch their eye. He was a slender young boy with neatly oiled hair cut to the side. “Do you want to play,” he asked with a wide smile on his face. His smile smeared the hardships and drudgery these children lived in. The smiles on their faces were not due to owning a vast estate or an exquisite automobile, but rather the few marbles they owned, which made them so rich and happy.

We are so absorbed in consumption that we have forgotten that the real wealth is in us, and not in something material. Meeting these kids helped me realize that wealth isn’t just defined by the amount of money in your bank account or the number of items you own; it can also be having events in your life that bring you tremendous joy. How about a close friend? Nothing beats a good friendship. Being wealthy in terms of relationships rather than possessions makes more sense. I define wealth as being caring, joyful and alive.

And thanks to this incident, I made new friends who thought that I was the essence of life.

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