The loan I could barely pay

Lets take a ride on a time machine again, this time I am going to take you to station you fondly remember as childhood. The drop location is not exactly at main station (main childhood), but the outskirts of the station(early childhood) we have travelled to.

And its finally the lunch time,  what better time it could be to deboard the train.

An enthusiastic child of probably 7 to 8 years, waits for this bell eagerly. The excitement is not particularly about whats there inside the box but what awaits after you are done with the business with whatever was inside the box. It was a play time.

It was school which hardly had 100 students, every class combined, almost everybody knew everybody else, and most probably everybody knew everybody else's parents as well. 

After we complete eating whatever we bring for the lunch, we got a time to play. 30 to 35 mins of time, 50 to 60 people in a vast open field, chasing a big football. If your luck is good on a particular day you would be able to kick the ball once or twice, and for the remaining time its you behind the ball with 59 others (Unlike a facebook post, here there were literally 59 other people involved and present at the scene).

Since there were abnormally large number of people playing the game, we must have some rules into place for it remain a game. And we all had a rule, a rule that there are no rules. Just see the ball and hit the ball, hit it on anyside you like, and then chase the ball with others. Keep doing the same thing unless the teachers call you back into the class.

Nobody played to win the game, so naturally nobody can ever be successful at cheating. Nobody was in anybody's team, and this was the everyday ritual that everybody waited for. The game was played for the pure joy of just playing it. Since the game was never scored, nobody lost the game, and we all returned after the game with the pride of winning.

Food has never been digested so well ever after I left that school. 

The life was good, until the day we had a new player on the ground. His game was selling the pani puris, and he set up his stall beside the school ground. As the time went on, he gained a significant market share from the footballer community. Students had now something else to look forward to, 

apart from the game. 

Intially I didn't pay any attention to him, I was fully focused athlete with football topping my priority list. But as the time passed I couldn't help myself from getting hypnotised with the aromatic fragrance coming from the pot where the holy congregation of tamrind water, with farm fresh aroma of mint leaves, freshly roasted Cumin powder, and chilly flakes. Even the mashed potato with boiled matar was seducing me to whole another level. It radiated such a cosmic wave of flavours that you couldn't help keeping your senses under your control.

And here I was, a child of merely 7 or 8 years, it would be a challenge in itself to find somebody more suseptable to this devine world. 

But "Luck, thou art a heartless bitch" (😝 source: Dr. Sheldon Cooper)

My small pants had a even smaller pockets, and smallest budget.

But the heart wants what it wants, and an 8 year old heart wants what it wants immediately.

I was admant on trying the pani puri from the stall that day, and in the pursuit of mercy I went a asked the vendor can get a plate of it, and i will pay for it the next day. He rejected the crazy idea outrightly without even a second of thought.

I was highly disappointed, and more highly salivated, but seeing no option at hands. I had to give up my deep desire. I started walking back towards classroom, without taking part in the game that day. It seemed like the worst ever day of my life.

But here comes the twist, one of my senior who knew me, and probably saw me coming back from stall empty handed, offered to be my saviour. He had a five rupee coin which he offered me. He seemed to come straight down from heaven to help me. With that five rupee coin I could get ten pani puri's with one papdi extra. Finally I could complete my long awaited dream. I took the money from him, and went to the stall in full confidence, and asked him for a plate with little arrogance in my voice. He served me, and I came back contended to the football ground.

When he gave me the 5 rupee coin that day, he had one condition that I instead of 5 rupees I return double the amount to him on the next day, to which I readily agreed. With a lot of difficulty and tragic outcomes I was able to repay his loan.

My cravings for golgappas has kept increasing ever since then,

and so have my knowledge on interest rate calculations

It was just 5 rupees extra interest, my mind calculated 15 years ago,

Its 26,278% per annum my mind calculates now.

Have you ever taken a costlier loan than this.