📖 Chapter 9 of 11 · Smart Money Basic (Multi Indian Language) · Class 4–7
Chapter 8 · Giving and Sharing
There is one beautiful thing money can do that we sometimes forget — it can help others. When we share, even a little, the rupee changes lives, including our own.
Many ways to share
You don't have to be rich to share. You can donate a small amount to a temple, gurdwara, church or mosque charity box; help a classmate who has forgotten lunch; sponsor one notebook for a child who cannot afford one; volunteer at a langar, a community kitchen, or an old-age home; or plant a tree — that is sharing clean air with your whole town!
Story Time — The Langar of Amritsar
Harpreet · Amritsar, Punjab
Harpreet, age twelve, lived in Amritsar, Punjab. Every Sunday, his whole family went to the Golden Temple to help in the langar — the free community kitchen at every gurdwara, where any visitor (rich or poor, of any religion, Indian or foreign) can sit on the floor in one long line and receive a hot meal of rotis, dal, sabzi and water, completely free.
The Golden Temple langar serves between 50,000 and 1,00,000 meals every single day — more on festivals. The food is cooked by volunteers, the wheat is donated by farmers, and the money comes from countless small gifts of ₹10, ₹20, ₹100 — never one big donor.
On his birthday, Harpreet emptied his piggy bank — ₹350 — and dropped it into the donation box. “It is not much, papa,” he said. “Beta,” his father replied, “₹350 will feed nearly twelve hungry people today. Imagine if every child in India shared just ₹10 — that would be hundreds of crores. Sharing works because we are many, not because each gift is large.”
Solved Examples
Think first, then read the answer!
1. Harpreet donates ₹350. If one meal in a langar costs ₹30, about how many meals does his donation provide?
Show answer
Answer: Number of meals = ₹350 ÷ ₹30 ≈ 11.67. So his gift provides about 11 to 12 meals — enough to feed a whole family.
2. If 1,000 children each donate ₹10, what is the total? How many ₹30 meals can it feed?
Show answer
Answer: Total = 1,000 × ₹10 = ₹10,000. Meals = ₹10,000 ÷ ₹30 ≈ 333 meals. Small drops make a big ocean!
3. A school of 600 students shares 20% of their ₹5 canteen change each day for a meal fund. What is the daily total? And in a 30-day month?
Show answer
Answer: Per student = 20% of ₹5 = ₹1. Daily total = 600 × ₹1 = ₹600. In a month = ₹600 × 30 = ₹18,000 — from just one rupee each!
4. Anjali has ₹500. She donates 20% to an old-age home and saves 30%. How much is left to spend?
Show answer
Answer: Donation = 20% of ₹500 = ₹100. Saving = 30% of ₹500 = ₹150. Left = ₹500 − ₹100 − ₹150 = ₹250 — and the joy of having shared.
Check Your Understanding
Q1. Name three ways you can share, even without much money.
Q2. What is the langar tradition? Which community is it most associated with?
Q3. If a child donates ₹50 every Sunday for a year, how much will they have donated?
Q4. A village of 200 families each contributes ₹50 to clean the village pond. How much is collected?
Q5. Why did Harpreet's father say “sharing works because we are many”?
Q6. Plan a small “Sharing Day” with your class. Write three things you could do.
Check your understanding — Chapter 8
Tap an answer to check it instantly. These are for practice — nothing is saved or sent.
Q1. What is a langar?
- A free community kitchen that feeds everyone
- A kind of bank account
- A shop that sells sweets
Show answer
A. A free community kitchen that feeds everyone
Q2. If one meal costs ₹30, about how many meals does ₹350 provide?
- About 3 meals
- About 11 to 12 meals
Show answer
B. About 11 to 12 meals
Q3. Why does sharing “work because we are many”?
- Many small gifts add up to a huge amount
- Only one big donor matters
Show answer
A. Many small gifts add up to a huge amount
✎ Activity
Make a “Sharing Jar” at home. Every time you save ₹1 by skipping a snack you didn't really need, drop a coin in. After 6 months, donate the jar — to an animal shelter, an old-age home, or a child who needs school books. You will feel something money cannot buy.