408. The Garbage Problem

"This is a small place, but there is so much of garbage here. I wonder where  this garbage comes from!" lamented Subbiah.

"In towns, they have a system of collecting and disposing of the garbage. Who will do this in a village? The village Panchayat Board cannot do this, using its limited income. Nor does it have the human resources for doing this" said Dhanapal, with a sense of resignation. 

"In the place I had worked earlier, they have a gas generation plant for converting the garbage into cooking gas. The cooking gas so generated is distributed to the households in the village. We may implement this idea in our village also" said Balamurugan, a school teacher, who had come to that village recently, on transfer.

"Oh! Is there a scheme like that? Will the government implement such a scheme in our village also?" asked Subbiah.

"If you approach the government, they may say they don't have the money for implementing this scheme. People of this village can raise the resources and invest in this venture" said Balamurugan.

"Barring one person, the people of this village are of poor means. They may not be able to contribute even a small sum towards this venture."

"You said 'barring one person.' Maybe that person can invest" said Balamurugan.

Subbiah and Dhanapal looked at each other and giggled.

"Okay. Let us go and ask him. You may also come with us" said Subbiah, looking at Balamurugan.

The three of them proceeded to Sakthivel's house.

Subbiah told Sakthivel, "Sir! As you know, in our village, we have the problem of garbage disposal. Mr.Balamurugan says that in the place he had worked previously, they have set up a plant for generating cooking gas from the garbage. He suggests we can set up such a plant in our village too!" 

Balamurugan explained the scheme to Sakthivel.

"How much will it cost? Who is going to invest?" asked Sakthivel.

"This project will require an investment of rupees two lakh. We will get some subsidy from the government. I will find out how much subsidy we will get. But it may take some time for the government to sanction and release the subsidy. In our village, many people have been using cooking gas. The cost of the gas produced from the plant will be only about half of the price they have now been paying for the gas. Therefore, they will buy the gas produced by us. We will get a good profit and we will be able to recover the investment in three years. I will take you to the place where they have been running the plant. You can get more details from them" said Balamurugan.

"Just a minute. Why should I come to that place?" asked Sakthivel.

"Sir! We have come here to request you to invest in this project" said Subbiah.

"Oh! That is the point. I have been wondering why the school teacher has been telling me these details" sad Sakthivel, laughing aloud, as if he had just understood a joke.

The other three remained silent.

Sakthivel turned to Balamurugan and said, "Mr. School Teacher! I am not an educated person. The only business I know is money lending. I have been lending only small sums of money to the people in this village. The sum mentioned by you is quite high. Ok. I will invest two lakh rupees. But, you have to pay me the interest on this sum every month, at the rate specified by me. You can return the principal whenever you are able to. But, if you keep paying me the interest every month, there will be no problem!"

"Sir, it doesn't work that way. It may take at least six months for income to be generated. When you invest, the plant belongs to you. The entire profit is yours...."

"I don't need these details, Mr. Teacher. Just answer this one question. Can you pay me interest every month?" asked Sakthivel, pointedly.

After the three of them came out of Sakthivel's house, Balamurugan said, "If this gentleman had had even a little education, he would have tried to understand what we were trying to tell him. But he is adamant about not listening to us at all. It is pathetic that God has entrusted wealth with people like him!"

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 41
Lack of Education

Verse 408 (in Tamil):

nallAr kaN patta vaRumaiyin innAdhE
kallAr kaN patta thiru.

Meaning:

Wealth, gained by the unlearned is more pathetic than the poverty which may come upon the learned.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kuppaiyil irundhu erivAyu' by the same author.)

Verse 409
Verse 407