The MONEY PARADOX
To be content with little is difficult; to be content with
much, impossible.
— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (Echoing
Stoic Thought).
TRUE.
Nothing happens sans money.
Yet, money is not all…..
Popular lyrics….
…"மெத்தை வாங்கினேன் தூக்கத்தை வாங்கலை,
Each month at least on one day, I am used to visit a book stall, to see what new ones are on shelves, let alone buying one.
This evening I went to the stall. Saw a book, a memoir written by a popular retail shop chain owner. While browsing the last chapter fag end, he quoted Krsna’s , karmanya vatikaraste, ma phalesu –
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा
ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि
B G Chp 2.47 – meaning we have right only to do and let not our focus be on fruits.
He narrated a story, an incident in his personal life.
He along with his investor was returning back to airport from a hotel after a meeting. While both were on way to airport, they were in deep conversation on the meeting and all else. When landing at airport and heading to security checks, the retail shop chain gentleman suddenly checked his pocket. His mobile was not there. Shocked, he called the hotel receptionist and told, “I must have left my phone in the cab you arranged to reach airport, have forgotten to take the phone from the cab while alighting at the airport, could you check up with the car rental agency and let me know.”.
The time ran fast, they were asked to proceed to the aircraft. They went in and got seated. The captain announced, “We are closing flight doors.” Just then an airhostess reached the shop chain gentleman and told him to reach the exit gate in the flight. What a surprise.
An airport flight staff was waiting to hand him his mobile.
In the interregnum, the receptionist alerted cab agency, the agency in turn called up the cab driver to rush back to the airport and hand over the phone to the flight officials at the airport with the request to pass on the phone to the Shop Chain Gentleman.
Shop Chain Gentleman thanked the very helpful receptionist and requested her to convey his hearty thanks to cab agency and more particularly to the cab driver. He also wanted to compensate the driver for sparing his precious time. The Driver politely refused to take any money back.
While in many places – be it in any ஆட்சி – still things happen only when palms are greased, it is heartening to see there truly are people to whom the word greed is not in their lexicon.
