It was just another usual day. Managing to get up from bed as early as 8:30am, he had bought some time for a cup of tea before his corporate bus ride.
He dodged his way around the dogs and men to reach his tea shop.
"Boss, half tea".
"Okay"...
The shopkeeper poured him a cup of tea in the small dispensable cup. As he started drinking, he over heard a small conversation between two guys sharing the small space in front of the tea shop.
Man1: "I really screwed that ICICI guy man"
Man2: "Why what happened?"
Man1: "Arey one of the representative there signed on my behalf!!!" Laughs...
Man2: "You mean he forged your signature? Oh my gawd... Why? For what?"
Man1: "Arey these ICICI guys have that prudential kuch insurance na....They have this offer by way of which, you pay a small amount from your ICICI account and you get some insurance."
Man2: "What about that?"
He had finished his tea by that time. He still had some more time. He asked for another tea and also a cigarette. He had to listen to this interesting conversation.
As he lit the nicotine inhaler, he heard Man1 continue with his interesting story...
Man1: "Arey when you open the account you have the option of going for this insurance... You have to sign on one part of the form that you are submitting.
So this intelligent fellow ha, signed for me. Since it is a very small amount it is hard to track"
Man2: "Even though it might be small... Just imagine how many more he may have cheated this way... But how did you come to know?"
Man1: "Come on man, it is not easy to fox me... What did they think? I compared all the account statements and figured out that this amount is missing from my account. This is how I got to know about this scrupulous act."
Man1 inhaled his cigarette and had this 'I am the best' look on his face... He stood there watching Man1’s face in amusement...
Man1: "I told them that I am going to file a case and stuff like this"
Man2: "So what do they say?"
Man1: "This issue has reached the top management also man..." Laughs...."Phat gaye hai unke (They are scared to death)... The Manager had called up.
Was saying sorry and pleading that I don’t take any action unless their Regional Manager meets me"... Again gives that 'I am the best' grin...
He looks at his watch and decides that he can spend another 6 to 7 minutes as he can run to reach his bus stop... He really didn't wish to miss this interesting conversation...
Man1: "See... I have made them dance right"
Man2: "Ya... But you don’t leave them man... Lodge a case...You will get your money back na?"
Man1: "Money they are ready to give back man... That I will get anyway...But you know what the manager was saying... He said that it was done by the people at the bottom part of the hierarchy and that the managers were unaware of this... Also if I complain then 3 people who are directly responsible will lose their jobs"
Man2: "So?"
Man1: "Arey come on... He also said that it will be a problem for me..." Man2 suddenly interrupted
Man2: "You mean they are threatening you?"
Man1: "Hyaa.... Abe Phat gaye hai unke... No way... But you also have to think na... Three jobs at stake yaar... I will be getting my money back also anyway..."
Man2: "Nahe nahe... You will get more if you go to the court... You can get some settlement yaar"
Man1: "But the three guys will lose their jobs... So I was just giving it another thought..."
Man2: "So what... they need to be...."
It was time for him to leave... He had got the major gist of the conversation... He ran to catch his bus which he did finally....
As he placed his butt on the seat of the "Corporate" bus, he just couldn't help but think about what he has just overheard....
He recalled the words of Sashi Tharoor in Midnight to millennium, “Discussion is an art form practiced in India… [whose] vitality is attenuated by its own irrelevance”… So he thought he should attach more relevance to the discussion that he had just overheard…
He failed to conclude what exactly was the nature of the reaction of that man, or rather the victim of the fraud…
First he thought he was complacent; complacent due to the fact that he wasn’t really acting in the strongest possible way against the injustice that had happened…
But then his thoughts wandered again to the statement made by Man2; "You mean they are threatening you?"… With this in mind he thought that perhaps the man is like the helpless common man of R.K’s cartoon… He is afraid of the corrupt Indian system and is not really ready to take the risk of filing a case in the Indian court which rather has a very sad track record.
He thought yes that must be the case and was about to put an end to the relevance drama he has spun, when he recalled yet another interesting fact…
Man1: “… 3 jobs are at stake….”
He realized, maybe he was just acting humanitarianly, for he knows how hard it is to get a job in India. How many gods let alone people have to be pleased before one gets a job… Perhaps he also must also have gone through many hardships in getting a job in DRDO as his proud batch proclaimed. Moreover he was getting his money back and that the bank was apologetic, so there was no need that three people lose their jobs…
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh…… sounded the “corporate” bus brakes… It was time to get down and get back to the routine of his own life…
He hadn’t yet reached a conclusion. His virtual palimpsest was full of contradictory facts about the discussion for which he had been a mute spectator… The contradictions arouse mainly because of the pluralism of the conditions that existed around him.
Whether the man acted out of Humanity, Complacency, Helplessness…
Suddenly…“Meeting in 10 min”…
He: “Ya… I’ll grab a coffee and be there”
He was an artist after all… a person who loves discussions…
He dodged his way around the dogs and men to reach his tea shop.
"Boss, half tea".
"Okay"...
The shopkeeper poured him a cup of tea in the small dispensable cup. As he started drinking, he over heard a small conversation between two guys sharing the small space in front of the tea shop.
Man1: "I really screwed that ICICI guy man"
Man2: "Why what happened?"
Man1: "Arey one of the representative there signed on my behalf!!!" Laughs...
Man2: "You mean he forged your signature? Oh my gawd... Why? For what?"
Man1: "Arey these ICICI guys have that prudential kuch insurance na....They have this offer by way of which, you pay a small amount from your ICICI account and you get some insurance."
Man2: "What about that?"
He had finished his tea by that time. He still had some more time. He asked for another tea and also a cigarette. He had to listen to this interesting conversation.
As he lit the nicotine inhaler, he heard Man1 continue with his interesting story...
Man1: "Arey when you open the account you have the option of going for this insurance... You have to sign on one part of the form that you are submitting.
So this intelligent fellow ha, signed for me. Since it is a very small amount it is hard to track"
Man2: "Even though it might be small... Just imagine how many more he may have cheated this way... But how did you come to know?"
Man1: "Come on man, it is not easy to fox me... What did they think? I compared all the account statements and figured out that this amount is missing from my account. This is how I got to know about this scrupulous act."
Man1 inhaled his cigarette and had this 'I am the best' look on his face... He stood there watching Man1’s face in amusement...
Man1: "I told them that I am going to file a case and stuff like this"
Man2: "So what do they say?"
Man1: "This issue has reached the top management also man..." Laughs...."Phat gaye hai unke (They are scared to death)... The Manager had called up.
Was saying sorry and pleading that I don’t take any action unless their Regional Manager meets me"... Again gives that 'I am the best' grin...
He looks at his watch and decides that he can spend another 6 to 7 minutes as he can run to reach his bus stop... He really didn't wish to miss this interesting conversation...
Man1: "See... I have made them dance right"
Man2: "Ya... But you don’t leave them man... Lodge a case...You will get your money back na?"
Man1: "Money they are ready to give back man... That I will get anyway...But you know what the manager was saying... He said that it was done by the people at the bottom part of the hierarchy and that the managers were unaware of this... Also if I complain then 3 people who are directly responsible will lose their jobs"
Man2: "So?"
Man1: "Arey come on... He also said that it will be a problem for me..." Man2 suddenly interrupted
Man2: "You mean they are threatening you?"
Man1: "Hyaa.... Abe Phat gaye hai unke... No way... But you also have to think na... Three jobs at stake yaar... I will be getting my money back also anyway..."
Man2: "Nahe nahe... You will get more if you go to the court... You can get some settlement yaar"
Man1: "But the three guys will lose their jobs... So I was just giving it another thought..."
Man2: "So what... they need to be...."
It was time for him to leave... He had got the major gist of the conversation... He ran to catch his bus which he did finally....
As he placed his butt on the seat of the "Corporate" bus, he just couldn't help but think about what he has just overheard....
He recalled the words of Sashi Tharoor in Midnight to millennium, “Discussion is an art form practiced in India… [whose] vitality is attenuated by its own irrelevance”… So he thought he should attach more relevance to the discussion that he had just overheard…
He failed to conclude what exactly was the nature of the reaction of that man, or rather the victim of the fraud…
First he thought he was complacent; complacent due to the fact that he wasn’t really acting in the strongest possible way against the injustice that had happened…
But then his thoughts wandered again to the statement made by Man2; "You mean they are threatening you?"… With this in mind he thought that perhaps the man is like the helpless common man of R.K’s cartoon… He is afraid of the corrupt Indian system and is not really ready to take the risk of filing a case in the Indian court which rather has a very sad track record.
He thought yes that must be the case and was about to put an end to the relevance drama he has spun, when he recalled yet another interesting fact…
Man1: “… 3 jobs are at stake….”
He realized, maybe he was just acting humanitarianly, for he knows how hard it is to get a job in India. How many gods let alone people have to be pleased before one gets a job… Perhaps he also must also have gone through many hardships in getting a job in DRDO as his proud batch proclaimed. Moreover he was getting his money back and that the bank was apologetic, so there was no need that three people lose their jobs…
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh…… sounded the “corporate” bus brakes… It was time to get down and get back to the routine of his own life…
He hadn’t yet reached a conclusion. His virtual palimpsest was full of contradictory facts about the discussion for which he had been a mute spectator… The contradictions arouse mainly because of the pluralism of the conditions that existed around him.
Whether the man acted out of Humanity, Complacency, Helplessness…
Suddenly…“Meeting in 10 min”…
He: “Ya… I’ll grab a coffee and be there”
He was an artist after all… a person who loves discussions…
