So how much do you earn?

A normal train journey, overnight and Lucky would be back to city he chose for his education and subsequently for job, some sleep and some reading was all that he needed to pass the time and he had the goods, mom's own recipe Paneer(Cottage Cheese ) chilly for dinner. To add to the perfect night, 2 perfect girls walk in, together! Only if forth occupant had been some nice guy, or even better some old person or another woman, it would have been better than perfect night, but it were not too be so!

There walked in a brute guy, who was wearing cheap imitation clothes, and fluxed his muscles more than his brain, and soon girls decided to turn in, to ignore his over probing questions. Well! None should ask "So, are you virgin on any date!" Certainly not the first question! That finished any chance of knowing them!

Next, this guy, who calls himself as "Myself Gobind!" turns to Lucky, and starts chatting up. Lucky thinks this guy is impossible to stop, and forget girls, no reading is going to be possible here, and to avoid questions like: "So what have you invested in?" takes a cue from girls and follows suit.

And sleep it is, though it is only 19:00 O'clock for now it is aided by slow gazals, almost lullaby kind of music plays in background on Gobind's cell phone. In backdrop of music and closed eyes, a thought crosses lucky's mind, before sleep: This guy is never going to earn more than me, not even what i earn in a month, would he make in an year!

Suddenly, in dead of night, tap....tap....sound starts and gets louder, and ends with a tap on Lucky's back and wakes up, to see TC-Ticket Collector. Lucky gets up and finds the two girls are also up and next see's the police in cabin! Lucky thinks he is dreaming, but then crying girls and inspectors questions drill in the reality. Gobind has vanished with all their luggage, girls have lost their cell phones too and it is only 21:00 o'clock, in just 2 hours, Lucky's perfect night had turned into unluckiest one!

Girls had their home number, on memory, and Lucky had his cell phone and purse, that helped inspector verify their identities. Finally at 22:00 O'clock girls get to call up their respective parents, and a bigger scam surfaces, both their parents got an SMS, asking for debit card pins and their parents, knowing and loving their forgetful daughter, replied with every pin number via SMS! Resultant, bank accounts were drained off of by total of 2 lakh rupees (INR 200,000)!

Lucky, being a finance professional made a total summary of amount that Gobind could make by selling all the stuff (3 latest laptops-1IBM think pad, 2 Sony Vaio, two 32GB I-phones, jewellery worth INR 100,000, branded clothes, 3-I pods, designer bags, make-up box!) All added up to 600,000 INR! That's about 200,000 more than what Lucky makes in a year, all gained in just a day of work!

This is stupidity!

It was one of those days when you wake up and just want to get away from all of what is there on your plate, aaahhh, on second thought one does have those thoughts on every working day! But this was different! It was already a holiday!

So I wake up, not so early, actually not at all early and certainly not on wrong side of the bed, you see my bed has only one side, I have blocked the wrong side by a wall, walk around lazily, going through morning chores and its lunch time.

And a brainwave occurs on lunch table, I say it out loud:"I am going to Kolhapur!" and my parents only question is "Why Kolhapur?" I have no idea, so I say:"I am going to meet a friend over there." In totally unconvincing voice of all.

So I am on bus, going to Kolhapur when passenger next to me starts chatting, at first I am annoyed, after all I was reading Sidin's Dork, but then his story became interesting. Here it is, as told by him.

"I am an engineer in LG Mobile on floor, and I earn about 15k per month, as such I am married but I am unable to keep my wife with me because she can not get a job in Pune, but she has one in Kolhapur. You being a finance person, can you advise what should I do to quickly overcome my poor state?"

I was taken aback at this question, no one would discuss ones financial status with a complete stranger, and that was my first advise, but he persisted. So I asked him whats his Investment status.

"I have an investment of Rs.2 lacs in various large cap companies in share market, my parents had taken care of insurance so I have enough of it. Thats all!"

Me: "Thats pretty good, so where is the problem?"

"I have a loan!"

Me:"How much?"

"The loan is 4 lacs Rupees, as personal loan."

Me:"Why did you take out personal loan? It has highest interest rates, about 20% interest in any bank."

"To invest in share market! Unfortunately market fell after that and now its value is half the original investment!"

Unfortunately, I could not utter a single word, knowing that average returns from market over the years had been 20%, this way of investing did not make sense in any way I looked at it.

My advise to him was, to take a loan on his insurance policy and pay off most of the sum that was remaining of loan from bank, first of all this will reduce his EMI burden as interest rate on life insurance policy is 10 to 11%, thats nearly half the interest on bank loan, next plus point is that, it gives an increase in tenure, as he was facing deadline and did not have money to pay up.

And that was the most meaningful thing that happened on that trip, think that was the only purpose of whole journey.