14th March, 2008
I was in a place called Uthangarai – a remote hamlet in a corner of the Krishnagiri District. It is on the crossroads between what used to be 2 very busy trucking routes in Tamil Nadu.
Over the years, the significance of the place on the state map has gone down. The roads have deteriorated and the locale remains one of the least developed in Tamil Nadu in terms of infrastructure and industry.
Public transport is very bad or is not well connected. So people have to go in for their own means of transportation. This area remains one of the top rural markets for taxis and vans for ferrying people to Vellore, Salem and Chennai – 3 places where the many business interests of the people here lie.
I had stopped in Uthangarai to meet a customer of ours. I was leaving to Chennai and I had run out of cigarettes. I stopped by at a small shop and asked for a pack of Gold Flake Kings cigarettes.
I handed out a Rs. 100 bill and the shop keeper didn’t have stock, so he walked over to another shop and got it for me. The pack costs Rs. 38 normally. In villages you get it for Rs. 40. But this guy gave me change of Rs. 55 – meaning the pack had cost me Rs. 45.
He gave me a statement before he handed me the change – “Sir, the amount of money you spend on this pack of cigarettes can buy 20 kg of rice from a government fair price shop”.
My casual reply was, “Nothing can be done about that”
Then I asked him, “Why does this pack of cigarettes cost Rs. 5 more?”
He says, “That is the rate the other fellow gave it to me for”
I reply, “If you don’t have the stuff in your shop, how can you buy it for me at a cost higher than the normal cost?”
He says, “OK sir, since you are so concerned about the money, I will return the material and give you back your money”
He returned the money and I asked him, “Why do you think this Rs. 5 is not so important to me? Do you think people make money without working or do I look like a fool?”
He mumbles something and just goes away.
As I was driving back I was wondering – it was a new thought to me that one pack of my cigarettes is worth more than 20 kg of food grain in our country. Is it that the food is cheap or is it that the tobacco is costly?
A man who buys rice from a ration shop buys it at Rs. 2 per kg. I am not eligible for this scheme because I make than Rs. 10000 per annum. I have to buy rice at Rs. 22 per kg from a normal grocer. I bet the guy who tried to make Rs. 5 from me did not know this.
4 comments:
you idiot?????????? it is place where the business activities are heavy. it lies in the busy cross road connecting bengaluru city and pondicherry. and chennai with kovai. have you ever heard about s.v.m.m.h.s-UTHANGARAI. IT IS RANKED AS second leading generator of engineers and doctors in INDIA.
FOr a useless cigar, u r commenting on a entire place itself!!!!!
The same cigar will be sold much higher (Rs 5 cigar ll cost Rs 7 or even more) in road side hotels in other place....
Shamelessly u ll purchase d puff tat!!!!!!!!!!!!! by that time u won even open ur mouth to them.. bec they ll harass u..
Being people r quiet in tat area, u think tat u r smart enough d comment on tat place... I believe by this time u ld be vanished from this world bec of the amt of cigar u took inside.
dear vimal - i have not stated anywhere and neither do i believe that people from any one place behave like this. yes, i buy cigarettes from many places, and if they sell like this, i refuse to buy everytime, be it a cigar or rice or petrol. i have tried to portray the difficulty of a middle class person, on how he has to endure and spend more compared to an ordinary person. thanks to your powers of comprehension and writing skills, u have reduced me to a person who hates the social class which is different from mine. i am directly opposite to this. i have named it on the place because it happened there and i felt like writing. of course it happens everywhere, even in mumbai or chennai. it, in fact, happens more in cities man. read thru my post slowly once more. i am not a snob! no harsh language please!
Dear Mr Vinodh..
If my blog hurts u, i m sorry fr tat.
If u can really show ur resistance everywhere, then tat is a welcome sign.....
Since i was focused only with the specific meaning in ur blog, i used to use singular d filthy language..
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