Greed is Evil : Defeat it Smartly
It was a usual heavy traffic Monday morning last week, when the driving on the roads of Delhi is a painful experience, specially during the office hours every major road in Delhi NCR region becomes a highway to hell. Bumper to bumper traffic, non-stop honking, people on short fuse.
A relatively less crowded stretch becomes a F1 circuit, every vehicle trying to beat the other, recklessly. In this crazy environment, a Toyota Etios suddenly applied brakes after getting out of the jam near Nizamuddin Railway Station, in full speed. The gap between the vehicles is so less during the peak traffic hours that even after applying the full breaks and trying to swivel around it, a minor bumper to bumper touch could not be avoided by a Maruti Suzuki Swift car which was behind it.
It was a bit amusing to see the old Suzuki car Maruti Swift (lets call them Swift guys) not getting impacted at all but a bigger, newer Toyota Etios‘s (Etios Gentleman) bumper getting off its locks. It didn’t seem like a major damage to any of the car but the Gentleman from Toyota Etios was bent upon creating a scene in the middle of the road. The traffic was getting blocked, the honking from the drivers getting stuck in the jam was reaching higher and higher decibel levels. Apologizing for the accident the Maruti Swift guys asked the Etios Gentleman to move the car on the side lane so that the rest of traffic can move on. The Etios Gentleman threatened to call the cops but didn’t. Finally better sense prevailed, he moved the car and indicated a desire of settlement by getting the car repaired. Swift guys agreed to compensate the minor damage to bumper, but he refused to accept cash at the moment and insisted that his car must get repaired fully.
After some discussion on the amount of damage to the car, the Etios Gentleman revealed that he is actually working as Sr. General Manager – Service for a Toyota Showroom in Delhi. So its given that he must have had a very good idea regarding the extent of damage and the approximate cost of repairs. To avoid any further wastage of time in useless debate, discussion, Swift guys gave their contact details, told Etios Gentleman to get the car repaired, inform about the bill which they will come over and pay at the service center.
The Etios Gentleman didn’t call throughout the day or even in the evening. Finally he called up late at night and started a new story altogether about the extensive internal damage to the car. This was now too much to handle for the Swift guys. Finally the Etios Gentleman confirmed his greedy intentions, that he’ll be claiming the repair cost from insurance and asked the Swift guys to pay ~100US$ in cash to settle the matter. Basically, that was his game plan from the start, to make some extra money out of a stupid incidence on the road – wanting to have his cake and eat it too.
His deception and lies clearly visible now,there was hardly any damage to the car or its bumper, the repair of the same would cost not more than 50US$, and Etios Gentleman being the Service head at a Toyota service station, it is very much possible that he would get it repaired free of cost. or pay very nominal charges. It was clear that Etios Gentleman is just trying to take the Swift guys for a ride and make some money out of a stupid incidence on the road. The only way to deal with greed and greedy person is not by accepting all their conditions. As the greed will only grow bigger and bigger. The best way to deal with it is to smartly demonstrate it the the people that Greed is Evil but it can be destroyed by smartness.
The Swift guys, knew that Etios Gentleman is now getting greedy, it no use to any reason or logical with him. So they agreed to make cash payment next day. Send someone else with ~50US$ (which is a reasonable amount, sufficient for covering the repair cost) to Etios Gentlemen’s office and leave it there.
The Etios Gentleman was furious, as he was expecting more money, and called again asking for more money wherein he was curtly asked to go and take a hike. He raged and ranted for a while but realize it is futile.
This true story of last week reminded me of a Panchtantra story about a Greedy person and how his friend got the better of him by using brain.
Panchatantra
The stories from Panchatantra are traditionally Indian stories, a great source of understanding moral values and highly entertaining for the children. Each story is based on a specific theme or a moral lesson.
It is believed that these stories were complied as a set in 2nd century B.C, by Vishnu Sharma, though most of the stories were in public domain even before that and were only complied by Vishnu Sharma to implant moral values and governing skills in his young students. The original text of the stories is in Sanskrit language and most of the stories are set up in forests with animal as main characters.
These are some extraordinary tales which have survived the test of times, entertaining and educating us for centuries now. Even in today’s modern world, these stories have survived and are able to catch kid’s imagination through animation and real action movies. The themes and lessons from the story are not restricted to a specific age group or geography, they are universal in terms of education and entertaining value that they offer for people of all age group and cultures across the globe.
Panchatantra stories
Panchatantra stories
Greed is Evil : Defeat it Smartly
Long time ago, two friends Ram and Shyam lived in a Village in India and studied together. Ram belonged to a rich goldsmith family whereas Shyam’s father was poor farmer family engaged in agriculture.
When they grew up, Ram inherited the Jewellery shop and became the richest man in the village, while Shyam got the small piece of land to carry out the agriculture activities. To get his sister married, Shyam needed few gold ornaments, and since he was not having much saving, he turned to his old friend to borrow the money.
Ram had eyes on the fertile land and good harvest which was there which was the result of Shyam’s hard work. He gave him the gold ornaments based on a promise that Shyam will pay the price of it within six months from the date of buying on credit, or Ram will take over all his properties. Shyam was confident of having the money from his next harvest by that time and he had no other option but to agree to his friend’s demand in order to get his sister married.
Barely few week had passed, Ram started initiating his evil plan into action, he asked Shyam to return the money immediately citing an urgent need of the same.
“You know, I am a poor man,” said Shyam. “How can I make the payment so soon. Moreover, if I remember correctly, I had already told you that I shall be able to pay you back after the harvest season. My crops will be ready in few more weeks and I will pay you after selling them off in the market. Please give me some more time as we agreed initially and I’ll pay the money.”
But since Ram had evil design on Shyam’s properties, he asked Shyam to handover his land, crops, house and other properties against the money he owed Ram for the purchase of gold ornaments. Shyam pleaded with Ram again and again regarding his helplessness, but Ram was adamant on his demand and insisted that they should go to the King’s court to resolve the dispute.
Now Shyam had no option but to smartly tackle Ram’s evil design. Seeing no way out Shyam said to Ram, “How willi go to the court? I don’t even have a horse to reach the court”
“You can take my horse to ride to the court” said Ram.
“I don’t have decent clothes to wear to go into the King’s court” said Shyam.
“I will give you my clothes to wear” said Ram.
“I don’t even have shoes to wear” said Shyam.
“Take my shoes” said Ram.
Now Sohan agreed to go to the court. He put on Ram’s expensive clothes and shoes and rode to the court on his horse. When they were called inside the court for the dispute resolution, Ram explained his side of the story and asked the King to ensure Shyam hands over all his property to him. King asked Shyam for his side of story.
Shyam said, “My Lord, I want to ask Ram few questions, please listen to his answers and then you can give us the justice.”
“Go ahead” said the King and ordered Ram to answer to the questions put up by Shyam.
“Tell me, Ram” asked Shyam, “to whom do these clothes, I’m wearing, belong?”
“They’re mine” replied Ram.
“To whom do these shoes, I’m wearing, belong?”
“They’re mine” said Ram.
“And the horse that I rode to the court?”
“The horse too belongs to me” shouted Ram.
The people present in the court began to laugh.
Shyam said to the King, “My Lord, you can yourself judge the mental state of ram. He thinks everything that I possess belongs to him only.”
The King also laughed and dismissed the case saying that Ram had lost his mental balance and has started thinking that everything that Shyam owned belonged to him. He ordered Ram not to harass Shyam anymore and aked them to immediately go back to their villages.
Back in the village, people came to know about the King’s order and Ram did’t had the power to go against the King’s orders and harass Shyam anymore.
In the greed of possessing his friends property, Ram lost the money he genuinely deserved for his gold ornament and more so the friendship of a childhood friend.
Thus, Shyam foiled Ram’s evil designs by his wit.
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