Money story

Wonder what this farmer is shown doing! Watch closely, you’ll likely conclude he is stuffing papers inside a bag. Well of course that is so but going by the TT story, the man is actually shoving in hard cash. [Image left courtesy TT]

The incident is bizarre because of several reasons. First is of course that despite having crores in their homes, there has been no reported attempts of get-rich-quick thefts. The reason may be that many in the village were flush with money and so there was a strong bondage of camaraderie.

The IT sleuths however came calling soon and were stunned to see such huge accumulation of cash in some homes. Here is the second bizarre happening.

According to TT, as cash was everywhere in the home, the farmers stopped cooking out of fear the notes might catch fire. For the past month or so after they got the money this financial year, the farmers have been getting food from outside.

The taxmen counted the cash, deducted capital gains amount, and advised the farmers to deposit the costly papers in the bank before leaving.

Crossing over to our next story, also about a poor person but this time a polio-affected beggar, it surprises me to see how such stories fan out faster than air.

Lakshmi Das started begging at age 16 near Hatibagan, and had this unique habit of saving from whatever alms she would get. Today, at age 60, she intends calling it a day but not before having her tidy sum counted and taken in the bank.

For the Manicktola Central Bank of India officials, counting the 4-bucket full of coins weighing 91 kg has proved formidable.

Lakshmi though preferred not to budge or take leave while counting was on. Her sister Asha who lives close by says, “She is very possessive about her coins and never allowed me to touch them.”

While Lakshmi’s account is no doubt startling, prompting the bank’s manager to reminisce the golden theory, “Her efforts show that you can save even if you earn a pittance”, what also amazes is how people in other parts react to the story.

I’ve looking at this article in Get Rich Slowly (how apt..!) that has attracted no less than 28 comments at the last counting, many of which look really concerned.

[Lakshmi’s image at right courtesy BBC].