Awaken The Millionaire Within

17th April 1966, a Sunday afternoon I was playing with my friends near my house. Back then, there were only a few houses scattered all over. I was living with my parents and three siblings in a place called Ramamurthy Nagar.

It was a vast open plateau. My house could be seen from almost a kilometre. There were two huge lakes-one on the eastern side of my house and the other towards the south-west. We had a full view of the banks of both lakes with a line-up of trees. A narrow mud road was the only main road that was connecting ITI colony and other nearby villages.

As I was playing, I saw a short, thin man with two well-built men walking on the bank of the south-western lake. Initially, I ignored them and continued playing. But, after a while I was sure they were walking towards my house, crossing the paddy fields. I quickly ran to my house and informed my father who was busy reading a weekly magazine. He dropped the magazine to the floor at just my description of the man.

He came out and on seeing the stranger, he froze. I could see his face turning pale. He looked at my sister and me as though he didn’t want us to know what was happening. My father walked up to the stranger and said, “Champak Sahib, please give me 2 minutes, I will get dressed, and we can go to the banyan tree and discuss” trying to prevent him from entering our house.

But, the visitor was curt. He said sternly, “Discuss what?” I saw my father shudder. The short man went on, “Rajagopal, I have come here to get you and your family out of this house. It now belongs to me.”
My father began to plead him. “Champak Sahib, I know I have not paid you for eight months, please give me some more time, I will settle all the dues.”

Champak said, “I have given you more time than I normally do but you failed. Now move out with your family. You have taken me for granted. I will show you who I am.”
By then my mother, who was listening to the conversation came out, spread a mat on the floor and requested the visitors to come in and sit. After a moment’s hesitation, the three men conceded. My mother offered them buttermilk and asked them to wait to say she would get back with the money. That calmed them down a little.

Once out of earshot, she whispered to me to bring my grandparents who stayed close by. I quickly ran to them and told them what was happening and ran back home. On my return, I found a mob of curious neighbors gaping at my house, only adding to the embarrassment of the situation.

My mother quickly took me to a pawn broker’s shop and pledged her jewels to get some money. Back home, she called my father and grandparents inside for a discussion. Then, she handed over the money to my father and told him to give it to Champak Lal and request for three more months.
Long story short, my parents eventually sold the house and settled all the dues to Champak Lal.

What I felt then cannot be expressed in words. We were homeless, helpless and vulnerable.
That night I couldn’t sleep. But, I knew one thing for sure-I wasn’t ever going to live such a mediocre life, physically or financially. Seeing my father shiver with fear, my mother hold back her tears as she pledged the last piece of jewelry she owned, their faces when we sold our only house - I knew. I knew then that I wasn’t ever going let money get the better of me. I would never become its slave. I was determined to find a way out.