Never Borrow, Never Lend

There are occasional posts on facebook about people borrowing money and never returning. Not an uncommon phenomenon, I am sure most of at some point or other in our life would have gone through this agony of lending money and never seen it returned. In Odisha it is called HATHA UDHARI ( hand loans), i.e., money normally passed from hand to hand at 0% APR interest purely based on faith. Invariably no kind of paperwork is involved. There was this guy who came to my place in 1992 asking for Rs. 5000 for his sister's wedding. He literally cried in front of me. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder he said " MO BHAITA PARA ( you are my dear brother). You have sisters too, so you can understand my pain. I will return the money in 2-3 weeks." We are champions at expressing fraternal love at the time of need, which rarely stays the same after the deed.

 

His gesture melted my heart. Without hesitating further I grabbed whatever I had and settled for Rs. 3000. It was a substantial amount for me then which was pretty much equivalent of my monthly salary. Weeks and months rolled by. The promise was never kept, the money was never returned. One day I stopped by his place and asked if he can return at least a part of his hand loan procured through filial love. I could instantly sense that his overflowing brotherly love during our last meeting has considerably dried up like river MAHANADI bed during summer. Needless to say I returned empty handed with the solace of recovering Rs. 7, Rs 2 for the price of two ALUCHAPs (Potato cutlets, a popular snack in Odisha) washed down with Limca priced at Rs.5. Rest Rs.2993 assured washed down the drain as far as I was concerned.

 

I have interacted with many here and haven't heard of any story of hand loans gone bust, but some use hand guns to procure them. In that case there is hardly any expectations for getting it back. Alas back home when money is lent purely based on trust there is hardly any barometer to measure it. The lure of easy cash can easily turn a person of trust to BHRAST (spoilsport), ruining the goodwill  and eventually the relationship. I wish I had listened to my father who often says

" If you want to keep a friend,
  Never borrow, never lend."