The One Rupee...

Following on Kesh's what one rupee can buy, here's my story on the rupee.

I was at this bhajji shop for a evening snack. There was this guy beside me who looked like a daily wage labourer. He had another guy with him. He gave the shopwallah 4 bucks and asked for a plate of mirchi bhajji. One plate(4 pieces) costed 5 bucks. On learning the cost, he mused for a while and settled for half a plate and collected his Rs.1.50 back. I don't know. He probably could have haggled for the rupee. But he seemed too proud to do that or to ask his friend for one. I'm sure he'd have come up with another rupee if he'd digged his pockets. But I guess he thought the rupee would be better spent elsewhere. As he bit into his bhajji, I knew how much he relished his hard earned money.

With me, one rupee is usually the change left after buying a king lights. It sits in my jeans pocket somewhere, or left on my table ignored for days together. Until someday I see that I got only a 100 or a 500 note and the need comes for 'the one', when 4 of those go up in smoke again.