Money is a Lot Like Water

One day while in my senior high school, I was walking with a classmate in my sleepy little town. We stopped at a coconut water seller's stand on the roadside to quench our thirst. Bargaining over the price with such humble little sellers is quite commonplace in India. Having finished our organic drink, Anticipating the inevitable bargaining in the offing, the seller quoted a rather inflated price but surprisingly enough, my friend paid the amount in inexplicable haste despite my protest. On resuming our walk, he said, "Look, while teaching Pascal’s principle our science teacher said: water always flows down seeking its own level. Money is like water; it should always flow down: from the rich to those who are less rich. I said to my friend, ‘But you are also quite poor.’ He quipped in the same vein: …money should flow from the poor to the poorer.