Tuesday, March 11, 2008

My lost dollar

I used to love my langauage classes during school days. Both English and Tamil. Especially the poetry sections. Not the grammer, like any other 'normal' student. The english text book was put together in such a way that both English Medium and Tamil Medium students can learn it without much of a challenge.

There are few lessons that I still remember from my middle school days. One of them that left a deep mark in me was titled 'My lost dollar', if memory servers right, it was taken from the works of Stephen Leacock.

The story is in first person and it is all about ONE dollar. Our hero has lent a dollar to his friend to pay for taxi, as he travelles to some other place and he expects that his friend to return this. He receives a letter from friend on his arrival to the new place. Now our hero is all eager to get back his One dollar and sees 100 mentioned in the letter..but only about the temperature in this new place. Once the friend returns he continues to think that he should get back that one dollar. But this doesnt happen and he is sure to remember his friend for his life, if not for anything but for the lost dollar. The narration was really funny and I loved this lesson.

Time to time this short story pops up in my mind. When I borrow money and I forget for long, and if my friends remind me... I keep thinking if my friends would remember me as a person to whom they lost x rupees..i hate that thought..nay i dont want to be tagged that way :).

Then there is another place when I get to remember this. When I feel I am cheated ..."trivial but important to me". Oflate this has been happening to me too often.

Recently, my doodh wala ran away leaving 160 rupees worth of milk coupons which are no use now...it feels like lost dollar , actually lost 4 dollars. Then my iron-wala dint return change and he owed me 60 rupees. I was left with the pain of my lost dollar and also had to hunt for alternate iron-wala.

Another one happened two years back. I remember that kid who used to give Jasmine flowers daily and he stopped coming one day & owes me 40 bucks. I keep wondering where he disappered, what bothers me more is a remote possibility that he ran away from the house with the money he took from me. If that were true...my lost dollar is his mom's lost dreams. Hope it is only my nt mare.

The list goes on the 25 rupees a autowala owes me. A ten pound I got cheated in UK souvenier shop, a pen I lost in a train...all these make me think of my lost dollar.

Trivial but important. So next time you borrow remember to return...you never know how you have been tagged.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I was searching to find the author name of "My Lost Dollar" for writing it as an analogy in one of my Blog Posts and hit upon your post. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Stephen Leacock😂

Hareshwar P Singh said...

Sorry to correct you. "There are few lessons that I still remember from my middle school days." OR
"There are a few lessons that I still remember ...?"

Hareshwar P Singh said...

Sorry to correct you. "There are few lessons that I still remember from my middle school days." OR
"There are a few lessons that I still remember ...?"