#Upside Downside upside down
The 100 Rupee Note
It was only half a kilometer walk to the Metro station from their college, yet they used to take a cycle-rickshaw daily. For a frail man in humble clothes and worn out chappals, riding a rickshaw a few kilometres was also a troubling sight. Yet, there he was, earning his bread by doing some work rather than begging. This was the sole reason they preferred taking his rickshaw. He was earning with dignity, they were trying to help him do it. Both Paridhi and Amita, despite their diametric natures, were very particular about righteousness.
But one day in a rush to make it to a meeting they were already running late for, they sat behind a much younger and well-built rickshaw-puller and asked him to hurry the cycle up. The man however stopped midway with a jolt. He’d found a 100 rupee note lying on the road. He picked it up, pocketed it and sped the rickshaw even before they could ask the reason for this sudden halt.
Paridhi felt strongly against it. “How can he do it? This is so bad. He should have looked around for someone who might have dropped it!” she exclaimed. Amita was perplexed, “But somebody else would have falsely claimed it in that case. How can you trust the others around here?”
“Oh come on, it doesn’t need a genius to figure out who’s being genuine and who’s not. And no matter what you say, one fact is clear, This man is bad. It's people like him only who make us skeptical of trusting anyone else. I am never going to sit in his rickshaw again!” declared an annoyed Paridhi.
They reached the college. Amita was still wondering aloud, “You know, I once participated in a debate in class 11, the topic was ‘Chance Favours the Bold’. Perhaps he too is bold enough to take advantage of his chance, after all he is poor and must be having a family to look after”.
“Oh damn its 11:20am! Hurry up Ami, we’re late already. We'll get back to this discussion later.”
Grab the Chocolate! It doesn't come easy.
Two years later. On Phone,
Amita: Hey Par! Did you check your mail? The project we helped Prof. Dayal with is getting published! They're putting our name too in there.
Paridhi: “Oh! Wow! Awesome! Yae dude, finally we’re getting rewarded!”
Amita: “But it's disturbing me. We didn’t do that much work on this one. We don’t deserve this.”
Paridhi: “What crap! Don't you remember how that ‘Fraudy Shyamareddy’ had stolen our work and gotten it published without so much as peanuts to us for acknowledgement? And how he had hidden the fact from us for full one year! We are getting repaid for what we lost then. It comes back. Don't you worry. God takes things away. It's his way of giving it back.”
Amita: “But, this is also not right. We know we didn’t work enough. Prof. Dayal knows it too. How can we face him. I’ll feel ashamed of myself.”
Paridhi: “Haven’t you read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roahld Dahl? Would Charlie have earned the Chocolate factory had he not picked up the chocolate on road? You’d say he did the wrong thing, but even you can’t deny that if anyone ever deserved to win the factory, it was him. (Mischieviously) So dudette, what do you do when you see an unopened chocolate bar?”
Amita: “Hmm, you’re right. I’m only over-reacting. (Cheerful all of a sudden) Yeah, the chocolate bar? We grab it and eat it; we finish it off like no-one deserved it more!”
Both: “Ha ha ha ha....”
The laughter and a fresh gust of cool air from the balcony made them push the issue to the back of their minds.
Afterthoughts
What is morality? How much of it is right? Because after all excess of everything is bad. Grab Opportunities they say. Life is a game of Snakes and Ladders. Would you be a fool to leave the ladder and pursue the road the hard way? Then what justifies the snake-bites?
And if Parmita’s name appearing in the research paper is justified then what was that rickshaw-pullers fault? Wasn’t he right in taking that 100rs note? Wasn’t this a way of God helping him?
What is righteousness really?
Interesting post..!
ReplyDeleteDidn't get to know much of "Par-mita" back in the days but these posts make a good medium to get familiar henceforth..
Loved the writing style, esp. the ending..
Looking forward to more of these.. :)
Thanks Avval :)
ReplyDeletebtw, these posts are partly fictitious too ;)
WRT Paridhi and Amita, it is wrong to "judge" whether the piece of work they have done is "less" or "more" significant. It is the decision of the Prof, whether to put in or let go her name. She has done some work and the Prof felt it as significant enough to put in her name. It is better to not analyze trust the Prof's judgement. Else, they would just feel miserable about a good achievement in life. Of course, they might ask the professor to remove their name. :-P
ReplyDeleteWRT the rickshaw puller, we don't know what he has done with that 100 rupee note. What if he had donated it? Unless we actually know what he had done, the judgement is incorrect. If we really are keen on judging, well; we would have to follow him, ignoring our own duty.
Okay, I should rather put the two problems as follows:
ReplyDeleteWhat if Paridhi and Amita are given a choice? They are asked if their name should pe put or not?
They were deceived earlier, is it right to take it as a compensation for that?
And, what if we assume the rickshaw-puller's family is very poor, and he uses it to buy food for his little children?
Its necessity vs morals for him.
How much righteousness is acceptable? I remember reading about one Hindi Poet 'Deenbandhu Nirala' who used to give away all his belongings to those who asked for them, whether poor or rich. He died an absolutely poor man. He used to give away even his pillow and mattress, slept on floor and went without food for days just to help others.
Is this okay? In fact, is this the ideal behaviour? :)
>What if Paridhi and Amita are given a choice? >They are asked if their name should pe put or >not?
ReplyDeleteWell, they never had a choice. They only are supposed to do what they are supposed to do i.e; complete the work whatever their Prof has given. If they are really asked, they should just say, "Sir, we don't think we are good judges of the work we had done. Please put in if you feel the work is significant". Decisions are better left to elders/scholars whose thoughts aren't immature.
>They were deceived earlier, is it right to take >it as a compensation for that?
Its the mistake of both the deceiver and the deceived. It would have been ideal to talk to the person who deceived them and get what they feel as appropriate for their work.
>And, what if we assume the rickshaw-puller's >family is very poor, and he uses it to buy food >for his little children?
>Its necessity vs morals for him.
Its "Aapat-dharm"(Righteousness in Crisis). Check out http://goo.gl/ulBhZ
>How much righteousness is acceptable? I remember >reading about one Hindi Poet 'Deenbandhu Nirala' >who used to give away all his belongings to >those who asked for them, whether poor or rich. >He died an absolutely poor man. He used to give >away even his pillow and mattress, slept on >floor and went without food for days just to >help others.
>Is this okay? In fact, is this the ideal >behaviour? :)
Daanam is a very good deed, may be one of the best deeds. In this case, giving away what one feels as excess is a good thing. May be Deenabandhuji felt, everything he had was excess and would best serve the purpose of others. Its all about defining that "excess" part, which varies from person to person. Check out http://goo.gl/Admn3
Very nicely written... does force the reader to think!
ReplyDeleteand as far as the above debate is concerned, I feel that having their names in the rsrch paper as a compensation of the previous mishap is wrong, but missing out on an opportunity, too, is wrong. I agree with Sasidhar here that they are no-one to judge, neither their own work, nor the rickshaw-puller.
Also, it really doesn't matter what he did with that 100 rupee note. He just got an opportunity which he didn't think he should miss!
Morality is a fuzzy concept and it holds a different meaning for every person. Same goes for idealism. Every one has his own definition for both, and you really can't judge a person for his beliefs!
@Sasidhar and Doze - Points well taken. Perhaps its the 'Karma' that we need to actually focus on. Rest is all out of our reach to control.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for reminding about Lord Krishna through those links. Theres a lot one can learn from his preachings about righteousness and idealism.