Pehle Aap

By Abhijeet Madhusudan Ghule

Uddhav, a simple common man and a farmer, who lives in a village, is feeling like he should have a tractor to ease his work, for he is getting closer to his sixties. He shares his thoughts about the same with his son who lives in the city and is employed in a corporate company, who also agrees to buy a tractor. Together they go to a bank and apply for the loan.

One fine day, Uddhav gets a call from the finance institution that he has won a lottery and his tractor would be free, as a gift from the institution. But, despite the call and the lottery had been genuine, Uddhav is reluctant to believe the same, as he firmly believes that there are no free meals. When the discussion goes to another level, and Uddhav asks what he needs to pay, the executive tells him that he needs to deposit zero rupees in the bank account.

Uddhav being a very simple man, goes to the bank, told by the executive and deposits a cheque of zero rupees in the account number given to him by the executive. The bank employees are puzzled to see this kind of a transaction for the first time in their life and chose to ignore it.

Time passes and by the time it is time for the farmer to use the tractor, the free gift is still not delivered to his place. The farmer calls the bank and enquires about his loan case and also about the lottery, but gets no satisfactory answer.

The matter is then taken to the courts of law where the bank in which Uddhav has his account is also dragged, for not having the entry of the cheque he deposited in the account that the executive had told him. The other bank manager is also called and the courtroom drama begins.

The struggle of that simple farmer with the institution to take necessary actions to get his work done, is put on hold for every party is asking the other to do their task first, “Pehle Aap”.

What will be the verdict of the court on this matter? Will Uddhav get his tractor in time? How his son will pull the strings from behind the scene?

By Abhijeet Madhusudan Ghule