“Give me some more time please. I’ll return all your money in a week’s time,” Gauri pleaded. Her room-mate Kanika was unmoved. I’ve already given you enough time. I want my ten thousand rupees back, just now!”
“Kanika, you know I don’t have any money right now. Please do give me some more time. I’ll cajole my Mom to lend it to me without my Dad’s knowledge. You know how strict Dad is! He’ll blow his top if he gets wind of the fact that I’ve been borrowing money from you for my expenses. I’ll have to be careful even while asking Mom for the money. I’ll have to cook-up some story about extra tuition fees or some additional, unforeseen, college expenses.”
“I don’t care what you do. That’s your problem. You should’ve thought about all this before borrowing money from me. You’ve been conveniently treating me like an ATM! But now I can’t wait any longer. My boyfriend wants to urgently buy a new mo-bike and is pressurizing me for the money. Obviously, I want to please him, lest he leaves me for that bombshell Sujata!
Gauri stared helplessly at her friend. She recollected how she’d read somewhere that ‘money matters’ always spoilt friendships. She shouldn’t have ever borrowed money from Kanika. The otherwise sweet Kanika had turned into a mean and despotic tyrant when she’d realized that Gauri had no means of repaying her huge debt.
Gauri was studying for her MBA in a reputed B-School in Pune. She was staying in a hostel, while her parents and younger sister lived in Mumbai. The students wore a smart uniform of black trousers and white shirt with a grey jacket and black shoes worn with white socks for their classes. It was the evenings when they got to show-off their chic attire where one-upmanship was at its peak!
To be continued...
This story was published in Woman's Era magazine in its second issue of August 2012.
