From ABBA to SRK: 3 hidden money lessons from movies and music to bloom this Valentine’s Day 2024

The Beatles famously sang, 'Money can’t buy me love!’ but you’re reading this on a day where love and money intersect to create some marvellous opportunities to have a few laughs and learn important money lessons.

Yes, yes, celebrating Valentine's Day is giving in to the thousand marketing messages, buying exorbitantly priced red roses (or flowers she really likes), buying ghastly leather wallets for him (name inscribed for a thousand rupees more), getting away for a romantic holiday, and not to mention romantic dinners (helping the hospitality industry feed you heart shaped cutlets, cookies, panna cottas and more while you sit under heart-shaped balloon decorations…). ABBA got it right when they sang, 'Money, money, money! It’s a rich man’s world!’

Pose! Pose! Pose!

Start with the K-drama/K-pop induced poses with the thumb and forefinger to show that you ‘heart’ something or someone, and end up cupping your hands (thumbs joined to show the pointy part of the heart, and fingers bent and joined in a curve). If you’re Indian, and deal with money, the first gesture seems more like what we indicate when we’re talking about money!

Bless those teenage Instagrammers who will flood every timeline on social media with their own version of the ‘Titanic’ pose made famous by Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio in the James Cameron film from 1997. If you’re not dreaming about love, then the outstretched hands can only signify the answer to a question for an investor. ‘How much money do you want to make when you invest in this?’

How deep is your love?

The Bee Gees released this song in 1983, and since then, it’s been an anthem for lovers everywhere. And the lyrics are relevant for you as well: Cos we’re livin’ in a world of fools/breaking us down.

If you love your family, don’t just show your love on Valentine’s Day. Invest in them: give your children an education that will prepare them for work life, take them on holidays that will broaden their horizons (science and art museums today are immersive and fun, so are holidays where you learn to dive or climb mountains), and if you are getting children married, then pay the first instalment of their apartment instead of spending madly at the wedding. Or find an option the newlyweds will love.

Of course, a smart investor knows that planning ahead makes your money work harder. So you’ve booked those romantic getaway weeks ahead. And you know how to wrangle flight and hotel upgrades too!

Happily ever after

It’s not a song, but most of us have grown up to believe that to be true. Am not being cynical, but you need to be prepared in real life when love is gone. I mean literally. When people pass, they leave behind not just a grieving family but those left behind realise that they died intestate. So be smart, write a living will. It’s as easy as doing your KYC for your bank accounts.

And if your love comes with an expiry date, always ensure that you follow the laws and do the right thing. You never know when karma might show up at your doorstep and demand you close the accounts.

Pyaar baant-te chalo!

It’s a scene from the film Hum Sab Ustad Hain, in a train: young couples are doing the twist, and passengers that obviously belong to different religions argue and at fisticuffs, Kishore Kumar begins to sing, ‘Pyar baant-te chalo/Kya Hindu, kya Musalmaan/Hum sab hai bhai bhai…’ The film was released in 1965, but the message of love is universal and relevant.

Of course, there’s a money lesson there: don’t just sit on tips for investing in new financial schemes, share them with your money manager or your confidants. If you’re making a mistake they will make you see sense and stop you from getting into trouble.

Whether you are celebrating a day of love with one special person or your parents, remember that love is like Punjab Power where Surinder Sahni of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi works. It is, ‘Lighting up your life.’

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.