Moral Quandry

A casual comment by Monthi Serrao yesterday yielded a double bonus today. Geeta Sardana brought the prasad of not one, but two temples from her trip down south. It is another matter that she does not remember which temples they were (“I visited so many temples, I just cannot remember!”) or their location. But then, as they say, god resides equally in all temples and more importantly within us. So it was imperative to feed the god within us and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Another casual throwaway by Monthi yesterday (see post), got Sitaram Hivarkar agitated today. He had brought along his Club identity card and a copy of the membership list to prove that his name was not Sita Ram but there was a Hivarkar attached to it. Srichand Arora instantly held his ears and apologized on behalf of the Club, if there was any misunderstanding. But Arun Patil, who knows better, engaged Sitaram in tracing his ancestry, including village name and finally conceded that he was indeed a Hivarkar.
But these were minor matters compared to a moral quandary the Club management has got into.

Sitaram Hivarkar with Arun Patil 

A senior member (name withheld) reported today that he has lost his mobile phone and now wants to withdraw his share of subscription money from the Club kitty to buy a new handset. Out of respect and sympathy, Arora is inclined to gift this gentleman a new mobile, but is being stonewalled by a few committee members. Their general argument is that this would set a bad precedent and we cannot afford to play favorites.
“What happens if I lose my spectacles and want the Club to pay for it?” asked one.
“My maid has left me,” said another. “Will the Club find me a replacement?”
“At this rate, if someone’s wife runs away, should we go around finding him a new wife?” questioned a third.
The counter-argument, as forwarded by Arora, is that we cannot be heartless when a fellow member is in distress and seeks help. After all, a basic mobile does not cost much and if push comes to shove, those who want to help can individually chip in and make do the loss. But here is an opportunity to help a person in need and given his seniority and stature, we should gift him the mobile. For people his age, a mobile is not a luxury but a necessity.
It is now for the Club management to take a call.
Srichand Arora:
Friends, I am in favor of helping our members if the problem is genuine. Where does the question arise on paying for spectacles, finding a maid, etc. I suggest you all think this over and have your say.
Jagmohan Papneja:
* There is no exercise better than helping our own colleagues in distress as far as possible.
* I've got an interesting fact to share. You can track your mobile, should you lose it if you had dialed *#06# from that mobile. Your mobile would show a unique 15 digit number. Note down the number somewhere as this is the number which will help trace your mobile in case of theft. Once lost, you just have to mail this 15 digit IMEI number to cop@vsnl.net. Your mobile will be traced within 24 hours via of GPRS and Internet.