The Best Friends

“Sir, Will you be going to Silchar?” the conductor of the Sumo asked me while I was standing outside the University gate. It was the first week of March 2015 and the time was around 5.40 pm. I would have accepted his offer on any other day but that day though I had to go to Silchar but could not accept his offer. The reason was that I was not having the money to pay the fare. The staff bus of the University had also departed by that time. It sounds astonishing that a person of my stature was not having even Rs. 20/- to pay the fare, but it was the hard reality on that particular day. The distance was around 20 kilometre and need to commute by some vehicle. 

I joined back at Assam University on 31^st July 2014. I came back from IIIT Allahabad. At Allahabad, I had to file a court case in Allahabad High Court against the cancellation of my appointment along with 15 other colleagues by the Board of Management and for that, I had to pay a lot of money. Whatever I had earned in the last three months, before joining Assam University, were paid in the court cases. When I joined at Assam University, my joining was not accepted there due to some misunderstandings and due to the wrong allegations levelled against me. I was trying to explain the authorities the situation and reality but it seems that everybody in the world had closed their ears to listen to any of my words.

A committee was framed to investigate my matter and that committee also could not come up with any constructive solutions. During that period, my expenses had increased manifold, one due to the court case which was going on and another due to the maintenance of two setups – one at Silchar and another at Allahabad. On the other hand, my income from salary was nil because I was not getting a salary from the last 10 months.

Last week, I withdrew some money from my account and paid the house rent, sent some money to my wife who was stationed at Allahabad with my children and bought some groceries. After all this, I was left with only Rs. 150/-. I had a little money left in my account also and I was also worried that I had to run the entire month with that Rs. 150/-. A little money was left in my account and next month also there was no hope of getting any money, according to the situations prevailing at that time. Those Rs. 150/- also finished within a few days.  

But at the same time, I was thinking that in the past also this kind of situations arrived and God had helped me in coming out of those tough situations. Six months before also I was in an almost similar situation, then the next day I found that my account was credited with Rs. 6000/- as dividend from my some investment.

  

I am a regular investor. I never fail on paying my life insurance premium or any instalment of my bank's recurring deposit account. I have some investment in the stock market also. For making an investment, I believe that one should not wait for the right time because every moment is the right time, or one should not wait that he/she will be investing only when he/she has accumulated a considerable amount to invest. Meaning thereby, one should invest, if permissible, at any time and with any amount. I remember, I started investing when I was in class six and since then I am a regular visitor to a bank and insurance companies premises. During those days, I used to deposit even Rs. 5 (though difficult to believe, but it is true). Those petty savings and investments grew over a period of time and in course of time, I started to have my regular income too and all this had made my investment portfolio considerably bigger.

I am a regular investor in the stock market also, both as direct investment in equity and through mutual funds. But in the stock market, I only invested that part of my income which I think that loss of which can be borne by me though I rarely incur any loss in the stock market. I have identified a few stocks and every month, I generally used to buy one or two shares only. These one-two shares invested regularly has at present become around 300-500 numbers of shares of those companies.

Thus, every year I used to receive a considerable amount as dividend and interest. I also used to get some royalty for being the author of some textbooks.

For the last 10 months, though my expenses had increased and the salary was stopped, so these are the only sources of income I was having. I remember the saying of Warren Buffet that never be dependent on a single source of income, make the investment to create another one. At that juncture, I was finding this saying very relevant and true from the core of my heart.

But that day, I was not having even Rs. 20/- in my wallet to pay the Sumo fare. I went to nearby ATM, but it was showing 'out of cash'. I called a few people who were residing in the campus, but the mobile phone network was also exceptionally bad on that particular day. It was getting darker and darker with every passing second and there was no one near the University gate at that time.

I also thought to board any one of the Sumo and after getting down I would withdraw some money from nearby ATM then pay the fare. But the next moment I apprehended if I could not pay the fare due to non-functional ATM or delay in paying fare due to any reason, the Sumo driver might misbehave me. But now it was completely dark and this thought also could not be materialised because Sumos were not coming which would be going towards Silchar on that day. 

Since I joined back, I used to commute the distance to the University by the car of one of my colleagues. Thus, during those hours of darkness giving me lift on his car was a great financial help for me. He was not only giving me lift but also fought for me with the University administration to settle my case. But today he had also left earlier due to some work at home.

Now the problem with me was how to spend that winter night. I had a few options like to went to some of the colleagues who reside inside the campus of the University and ask for the financial help, but that was not allowed by my inner conscience. Secondly, to wait up to 8 p.m. for the university bus which would go to Silchar. If I opted for waiting for the university bus, it means I had to stay near the University gate for two more hours in the winter night and that might be sufficient to make me ill and moreover, simply sitting for two hours without any work was also not acceptable and justifiable. Moreover, I usually avoid meeting people during those days because the moment I used to meet anyone they started to ask about all the problems and show unnecessary sympathy which gave me a kind of embarrassment. My decision of not going to any teachers' house or not waiting for the University bus was also governed by this. It was due to this reason, I also avoid University staff bus because entire faculty and staff would start asking questions which would be embarrassing for me.   

Finally, I had taken a strange decision. I started to walk towards Silchar town. I thought if on the way, I could get the vehicle of some of my colleague who was also going to Silchar from University, I would ask for the lift.

While I was walking, a cloud of thoughts was coming in my mind. I was thinking that at the same time in the last year, I was getting a monthly salary of around Rs. 1,00,000. Though I still had sufficient investment in my portfolios, that day I was not having Rs. 20/- to pay the fare. I was walking continuously. Whenever I found that some vehicle was coming from behind, I used to turn in hope that it would belong to someone known to me and I will be getting the lift, but all in vain. It seems that everyone known to me had departed for their home. The street Sumo, as I told earlier, were also not very frequently coming because it was already night and during the night the frequency of these vehicles reduced substantially. I found two Sumos crossing me, but there was no space in those Sumos. 

Gradually, I was approaching towards Silchar in dark night, hilly roads with turns and twists with no human settlements on most part of it. After a few kilometres of the walk, I started enjoying my walk and stopped turning behind upon hearing the sound of any vehicle. Though it was a mild winter after sometimes I stopped feeling cold and in fact, it was a warm feeling. I was enjoying my walk. I was thinking that I was able to walk, enjoy my walk and had the confidence that I would be able to complete my walk up to Silchar was due to the fact that I was in a good health.

That day, I realized that apart from the other things, the two most important friend in our life are money and health. It is true that money cannot buy happiness but it is also true that lack of money can definitely buy miseries for anyone. It is blamed that people generally forget the other people and the whole world if they have money but it is equally true that the whole world forgets the person and their worth if they do not possess money. I also belonged to the league of those people who advocates that money is not the solution to all the problems of life (baba type people), but on that day I was realizing that one should have enough money before thinking such nonsense and it is always better to cry in BMW car than to cry on a bicycle.

The health of a person is another best friend. We can enjoy this world only if we have good health. Dalai Lama once said about the criticality of human behaviour that human being loses its health in the initial years of their life for earning money and later on spent that money in regaining their lost health. Thus, it is important to maintain the equilibrium between money and health. If these two things are properly maintained then only one can enjoy this mortal world and the company of people who may be their relative, or their family members or their friends.

Other thoughts were also coming in my mind like that of the case going on at Allahabad High Court then the thoughts of the whole matter of Assam University. Then I found the network signal on my mobile phone. I had taken out the earphone and put it in my ears. I started talking over the phone. As I had to make so many calls like calling to my wife, mother, brother, my colleagues at Allahabad for court case related matter and some of the friends with whom I usually share my griefs, I had subscribed to the scheme of making unlimited free calls anywhere in India from the cellular company. Therefore, the mobile bill was not at all the point of worry for me. 

First I called my mother and talked for a while, then called my wife at Allahabad and talked to my daughters as well who were also staying with her. Then I called a few friends of mine with whom I used to share all my worries but on that day I didn't tell my friends that I had to walk because of not having money. In fact, I had not told this to anyone with whom I talked on that day.  

I was so engrossed in talking that I forget about my walking and after two hours when I put down the call I found that I reached Silchar town. Then I realised the saying ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’ and here though the persons with whom I was talking were not physically present with me, talking to them made me engrossed in the discussion which I started enjoying and could not realise the pain of walking. Moreover, I was confident that I would be able to survive in such a critical situation was also because of these people only who had extended their help during the hours of crisis.  
  

After reaching Silchar, the first thing I did was to find an ATM and withdraw some money because the next day again I had to go to University. I reached my home safely and I was in a perfect condition and then again I thanked God for giving me good health, giving me some wise thought so that I could invest some money and also for giving me the persons in my life who love me so much.

Years have passed of this incident but the lesson that I learnt on that day is still fresh in my memories. It gives me confidence in tough times that I had survived even tougher times than this.      

Maybe that was a testing time for me and the difficulties were testing my 'difficulty facing index' and finally difficulties realised that how difficult I am to deal with and from the next month my salary was started to be credited into my bank account and after a few months we won the case also at Allahabad High Court.