I've lived in Chennai since my birth. But I‘ve got very few opportunities to travel in our city buses. I've always wondered how people don't suffocate inside those packed vehicles.
Fight for balance
One day, I had to get into one of those crowed buses to reach Porur from T.Nagar (Eeek! God must have decided to punish me for stealing a chocolate from my sister's bag, that morning.). Well, as I didn't want to pay a fine of Rs. 500, I decided to buy my ticket. I handed the conductor a 20-rupees bill and got my ticket, worth Rs.7. Then, he carried on with his work. But where was my balance? I literally shouted from one end of the bus to where he was standing. Everyone in the bus was staring at me while he didn't even react.
Few minutes later, when I realised that I was nearing my destination, I went near him and asked for the balance. He gave me a 10-rupee bill and a two rupees coin. Where is my Re.1? His answer was that he had no change and it was ‘just a rupee'. When I asked him again, he said angrily that no one asked him for just one rupee when he didn't have the change. But as a citizen, with full rights to ask for ‘my one rupee', I started arguing with him, talking about all that I knew (and a few that I didn't know too!) about consumer rights. Then with a smile of victory, I received my one rupee that he smashed into my hand. (as if I was asking for 100 dollars from him! ).
Not only in these city buses but also many retailers make use of the technique of giving a chocolate for the value of the change to be returned. Many customers don't take it as an ‘issue' because it is ‘just one rupee', for them.
Just imagine, you lose one rupee at each place you pay, may be Rs. 5 per day; that makes it Rs. 35 per week; Rs. 150 a month and finally around Rs. 1800 each year! That's really a great loss! So, don't let it go as ‘just a rupee'. After all, one rupee is still a rupee!
Hepsiba is a Std IX student at Swamy's Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Porur
