178. Pawn Shop or Bank Locker?

Vajravelu raised his head and looked back at the glass cupboard fixed on the wall, behind his seat.

"The cupboard is full. There is no space to keep any new article that may be received for pledge" he told his accountant Kumaravel.

"How will there be space, sir? Either, those who have pledged their belongings should redeem them by repaying the loans taken by them, or we should auction the articles that have not been redeemed by the due date. Neither of these is happening" said Kumaravel. 

Vajravelu laughed, enjoying the sarcastic remark of his employee. "How could I have been running this pawn shop for the past ten years, if borrowers have not been repaying their loans and redeeming the articles pledged by them? Have I not been earning enough to pay the salaries and take home enough money, to meet my family expenses?"

"Sir! You are talking as if you are not aware of the way this business is run. No other pawn broker keeps the objects not redeemed by the borrower, for an indefinite period of time, without getting them auctioned and recovering the loan amount due."

At that time, a customer entered the shop. Kumaravel turned his attention to the customer. 

He looked at the receipt produced by the customer, checked the ledger, did some calculations using a calculator and informed the customer the amount of money he had to pay, to close the loan. 

After the customer had paid the amount, Kumaravel took out a silver lamp from the cupboard and handed it to the customer, after getting his signature on a document. 

The customer looked at Vajravelu, paid obeisance to him, by bringing his palms together and left.

"The promissory note got expired six months back. Our man Arumugam had been trying to reach him for the past six months, but couldn't get to him. The man has just repaid the loan and redeemed the silver lamp pledged him. He had had no fear that we might auction the silver lamp pledged by him!" said Kumaravel.

Vajravelu just smiled.  

"I don't understand how you are so patient with the defaulters, even at the risk of losing your money and your hold on the article pledged, with the promissory note getting lapsed."

"We are running the business of lending money for interest. If the borrower fails to repay the loan before the due date and redeem the object pledged him, we have the legal right to auction the object pledged and recover the amount due to us. But, I don't like to exercise that right. Though a borrower has pledged his belonging to us, it still belongs to him. I don't like to auction it and take the money due to me. After all, a person who has pledged his property will have the intention to redeem it. Therefore, acting on the faith that the borrower will repay the loan and redeem his property, sooner or later, I keep the property, without auctioning it."

"But, some borrowers may not be able to repay the loan!"

"Yes. It has happened. Maybe, it has not happened after your joining my firm. So, you may not be aware of such instances. After waiting for some time, I would call the borrower, hand over the object pledged by him to him and ask him to sell it and repay the loan. Some people have done so."

"Then, why are we taking something as pledge. We can lend money without taking any security!"

"Taking an object as pledge is only to create a sense of obligation for the borrower to redeem it, by repaying the loan."

"But, what is wrong in auctioning a pledged asset, if the loan is not repaid?"

"Nothing wrong. After all, it is permitted by law. But, I believe that our auctioning the pledged article, asking the borrower to sell the article and repay the loan is being fair to them. When the borrower sells the object, he gets to decide the price. But, when it is auctioned, the borrower may not get a good price." 

"Sir! As you know, before joining your firm, I worked in another pawn shop in this town. The owner of that shop was very strict. If the pledged object was not redeemed before the due date, he would auction it promptly, after giving a notice to the borrower. I have seen him getting good profit from his business. I think we should also be businesslike, since we are also running the business, only with the objective of earning a profit."

"Why did you leave that shop?"

"As I told you during the job interview, they were not paying my salary in time. My salary was pending for three months. That was why I left that firm."

"Why were they not able to pay your salary in time?"

"I don't know, sir. Though the business was making profits, there was a problem of cash shortage, most of the time. Sometimes, there was not enough cash in the shop to give new loans. Some borrowers had filed cases against the firm, for auctioning their properties. The firm had to pay the fees to advocates on frequent occasions, whenever the cases came up for hearing."

"You say that that firm was earning a good profit. But, it was facing the problem of cash shortages. I may not be earning a big income from the business. But, the capital I have invested is intact. We never faced the problem of not having adequate cash to give new loans. I have been getting enough income from the business, to enable me to lead a comfortable life. I derive my income from the interest paid by people, to whom I lend money. And, I have been running this business, by treating the goods pledged by people as the property of the borrowers and not as my property."

Another customer stepped into the shop.

"Two months back, I pledged a gold chain of my wife and borrowed money" he said.

"Are you going to repay the loan and redeem the chain?" asked Kumaravel. 

"No" he said, hesitatingly. 

He then looked at Vajravelu and said, "Please don't mistake me. We are attending a marriage tomorrow. My wife has no other jewel to wear for the function. If you can give me the chain, I will return it to you the day after tomorrow."

"Is this a pawn shop, or a bank locker?" asked Kumaravel.

"If I give you your chain, will you give me some other object for pledging, till the time you return the chain to me?" asked Vajravelu.

"I don't have any other valuable object, sir. If you want, I can give you my television set."

"No need. I trust you. We will give you your chain. But, bring it back day after tomorrow, without fail" said Vajravelu. 

He then turned to Kumaravel and told him, "Get a request letter from him with the promise that the chain would be returned to us on the specified date and give him the chain, after getting his signature."

'This is a bank locker, not a pawn shop. There is no doubt about it!' murmured Kumaravel.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 16
Bearing No Envy

Verse 178 (In Tamil)

ahkAmai selvaththiRku yAdhenin vehkAmai
vENdum piRan kaip poruL.

Meaning:

The mark of lasting wealth is shown by not coveting others' wealth.  

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'adagukkadai' by the same author.)

Verse 179 (Soon)
Verse 177