Sunday, August 01, 2010

The importance of Rupee 1 in my life

Incident 1:
It was a Saturday. I had visited the nearby temple in the evening and after seeking His blessings, I was getting into my car. That is when a beggar came along and said - "मालिक. भगवान् तुम्हारा भला करेगा. खाने के लिए कुछ दे दे!" I checked my wallet to find some change. And all i could find was Re 1. I gave him the Rupee. He looked at the coin, then looked at me derisively and said - "एक रुपये में क्या आता है? चाय पानी तोह दे दो!" I looked at him and said - "जितना दिया उतना रख, वरना यह भी वापिस कर दे. और अगर चाय पानी चाहिए तोह काम कर. भीख मत मांग!" The thankless and shameless beggar snarled at me in his local language and walked away slipping away the rupee in his pocket.

Many times, I feel sorry at the plight of beggars and I feel that we as a society should do something for them. But after meeting this one, I actually felt - "Bloody Mo-Fo, you deserve to be a beggar all your life."


Incident 2:
Petrol cost Rs 54.50 per liter. I asked the petrol pump attendant to fill 2 liters in my Kinetic. He set the electronic machine to fill 2 liters and after the job was done, the machine read that I owed Rs 109. I gave the attendant Rs 110. He put the money in his bag and said - "Sir I dont have 1 Rupee. Sorry." He then looked away and directed the bike behind to come ahead. I said - "What. You don't have a rupee. No problems." I opened the petrol tank and said - "Fill my tank with Re 1 petrol. Set your machine this time price wise instead of quantity wise and fill it up." The bike guy behind started laughing. The petrol pump guy condescendingly looked at me and said - "Sir, why you doing like this. It's just a question of 1 Rupee!" I said - "It's not a question of 1 Rupee, it's a question of work ethics. I should get what I pay for. Fill it up or give me my rupee!"
Believe it or not, he actually set the electronic machine for 1 Rupee and filled my tank with drops of fuel worth Re 1. My bike surely felt heavier than before.


Incident 3

The cashier at my office canteen is over smart. Whenever he had to return Re 1, he would give people 1 Eclair confectionery sweet each costing Re 1. To return Rs 2, he would give people 2 of those. People were visibly agitated by his 'forceful selling' tactics. I was also a victim of that a couple of times. Despite repeated haggling with him, he continued this practice of his.
One day, I went to buy a cup of tea and the cashier demanded "Rs 3 sir." I handed out 3 Eclairs and gave him. He looked at me bewildered and said "Change please sir. This is not accepted." I was waiting for him to say this. I snapped back saying "You can use this as a substitute for Re 1 and we can't. Bull shit. Better take this or we'll complain to the location manager." The cashier said "This time I am taking, next time, give me change." Sarcastically I replied "Same to you bhai."

Aah! The power of Rupee 1!!

17 comments:

Lazy Pineapple said...

hehhe great post...I would be using some of your tactics now :P
But I agree that work ethics need to be followed...

Abhiraj said...

good ones :) last one is the best :)

Bhavan said...

More than the rupee, its what it represents in each of these incidents that's insightful. Good observations.

Aboli said...

Liked the 3rd one. I refuse to take eclairs too :) Just let all the "1" rupees add up and then take the whole amount from from her :) But should try you method some time :)

Amudha said...

Loved the post.. You are becoming versatile.. and I am beginning to wait for your posts :D

Rajasekhar Kandalam said...

Loved this post. I totally agree with your point. Very good observation. Keep it up.

Dhiraj said...

haha... I have an experience with 3rd incident... I tried that in the canteen and it worked :)
Sometimes you need to play the same trick with them... :D :P

But, nice thoughts and nice article!!

Anonymous said...

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You nicely summed up the issue. I would add that this doesn’t exactly concenplate often. xD Anyway, good post…

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Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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Sudeep said...

Liked your tactic in the third one, should try it sometime :)

Anonymous said...

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