Price is what you Pay, Value is what you Get

Zoomm !!! As the rickshaw driver made his way through the city traffic, taking sharp turns, we swinged from one side to another. I couldn't help, not looking out. We were traversing the same old route from college to train station and I could still identify with shops on both sides of the road, quickly picking up on the new ones.

The occasion was an informal gathering with old friends. Meeting them after two long years and still sitting with one of them inside this rickshaw, reminded me of the good old under-grad days.... made me feel nostalgic. It was a full four years since then, having studied engineering... one of the best times of my life. We would study in groups, attend college fests and most of all, play cricket bunking the morning class most of the days.

But now it was different. It had been a month since I had come back to India after completing my MBA, an expensive one. Recession was still at its peak, stock markets had fallen off a cliff, layoffs were rampant and there were no signs of jobs till far off. In short, times were tough. Life seemed to have come to a standstill. The atmosphere was gloomy, my mood.. sombre.

Suddenly my friend interrupted. It seemed to him as if a small plastic bag had fallen off the rickshaw from the open end at the drivers feet. Not wanting to come out of my now 'Resigned' flow of thoughts, I just ignored it and asked him to do the same. But this guy would not budge.

In the next instant, he was asking the rickshaw driver, if he had a bag along. The rickshaw came to an abrupt halt. Indeed yes. There was one, which the driver couldn't find anymore and he seemed to be grossly disturbed about it. Amidst all this, we had gone a good distance forward and the first words that came out of the drivers mouth were to keep an eye on the bag if we still, could see it. A quick U-turn the next moment, and before we could understand the situation, the rickshaw was speeding in the opposite direction, desperately trying to get to that bag.

Having reached the bag finally, picking it up, the driver expressed a sigh of relief. While I felt proud of my friend, the driver went on explaining how this bag was so important for him. What it contained was... a newly bought bedsheet and a towel - in all costing some Rs 150 (US$ 3) but more importantly, the fruits of a whole days labor of driving that rickshaw.. from morning to night.

He kept talking on and on about it, thanking my friend time and again till we reached the station. As for me, I was feeling guilty not just for ignoring the incident, but for something much more deeper. I was thinking about how I walk into a restaurant and blow up Rs 200 on fast-food (the Doctors have a better term for it - Junk Food). I felt sad, not for the rickshaw driver but for myself.

Truly indeed, Price is what you Pay, Value is what you Get....