Cheater And The Greedy
(A moral short story)
by Vaman Acharya
That morning, I was alone and my husband Suryakant was expected to return home at lunch time. Suddenly, there was a sound in the drawing room. I went there to see what had happened. The sound of a pet cat crunching down on a framed certificate of excellence.
It prompted me to remember the unforgettable memories I had a decade back.
It was on Monday at ten am in Ragahavpur town, myself, Sneha and Sangeeta were standing before the Paradise novelty and waiting for the shutters to open.
"Avantika, Why is the shop not yet open?" Can you call Sardarji over the phone?" asked Sneha.
I tried to call him, but there was no response.
We had been there to take delivery of the refrigerator, color televisions and other electronic equipment. Out of curiosity, Sangeeta enquired a marwadi in the next shop,
"Sir, can you tell me why this shop is not yet open?"
Marvadi hesitated to reply. After repeated requests, he replied,
"Madam, dal me kuch kala hai. Akalmand ko ishara kafi. I don't want to tell you more than this."
We three were doing business with sardarji to the tune of thousands of rupees without the knowledge of our husbands. I was seriously thinking of informing my husband and advised other friends to follow. Interestingly, my husband Suryakant was a police inspector in the same town. Sneha' s husband was a lawyer and Sangeeta's husband was a doctor. We left the place with disappointment.
After some time, news of Sardarji with his family fled away with the huge amount collected from the customers spread like a wildfire in the town.
In the evening, a group of women customers of the shop belonging to elite, middle class and poor families were agitating in front of the store. All these women decided to lodge a complaint with the police.
Suryakant was surprised to see a group of ladies coming to the police station. Suguna, who took the lead, submitted the first information report against the shop owner Manjog Sing Ahluwalia, his wife Amritpreet and their daughter Anureet and three sales executives. All these persons together cheated the customers by dumping thousands of rupees from the hundreds of customers.
Suryakant patiently heard them and said,
Your complaint is registered. I assure you that we will make sincere efforts to arrest the accused within twenty four hours."
The complainants left after taking acknowledgement.
Paradise Gift And Novelty Collection Centre opened four years ago and exclusively meant for ladies. First year the business was dull. Sardarji thought why not introduce Innovative ideas like various attractive schemes with discounts to boost the sales. An advertisement for recruitment of lady sales executives with packages was published in the prominent newspapers. Out of ten applicants, three lucky ladies were selected. Due to the excellent performance of these sales executives, there was tremendous progress in the business in just one year. On the fourth anniversary of the shop the business level increased beyond the expectation. Kitchenware and electronics equipment including computers and televisions sold quickly. The membership has increased day by day. The schemes were designed by the owner with the help of sales executives. The installments were recorded in the Individual passbook issued to each member. Toffees were kept in a beautiful open big jar for kids at free of cost.
Manjog Sing Ahluwalia started door delivery of the materials at 50% discount. The members failed to understand the crooked-ness of the owner.
After six months, as per the plan, one day in the early morning Manjog Sing escaped along with his family and the shop was locked.
The customers, who burnt their fingers, tried to find out the shop owner and the sales executives.
It was not possible for the police inspector to arrest the accused persons within twenty four hours. He was successful in bringing them back to the sales executives, who were on a tour to north India. Summons were already issued to all the accused. Three ladies attended the inquiry. Everybody in the office was surprised to know that I and my other friends were accused. The detailed enquiry was over. Syuryakant entrusted this work to his assistant for impartial inquiry. On the basis of our statements and evidence, the police officer gave his opinion that we were innocent and not involved in the cheating.
In the meantime, Sardarji and his family met with a car accident in Jalandhar, Punjab. Sardarji died on the spot. His wife and daughter survived with minor injuries. Sardarji's wife felt very much and realized that God had given them punishment for the sin they had committed.
The good sense prevailed on Sardarji's wife and daughter and rushed Raghavpur after a week and surrendered to the police. She expressed her desire to refund the money to those, who were put into loss.
The families of Suryakant and his friends were happy for the good development. The certificate of excellence was issued to me by Sardarji's firm.
I learnt a moral lesson. Sardarji, who was a kingpin in cheating the public, lost his life. We housewives were greedy for earning money and had lost the respect in the society.
I stopped remembering past memories, when the pet cat was jumping up on the kitchen platform to drink the milk. In the process, the vessel containing milk fell down and spread on the floor.
