Penny wise...

'In the tussle of morality vs. bargain, the latter won, or so I thought.'

Last winter, when I was sitting and enjoying the sunset, someone rang the doorbell at my house. I opened the gate and was greeted by a man carrying a small bag. He suddenly asked me if I wanted to purchase a fine leather jacket at a very low price. When he saw my reluctance, he unpacked his bag to show me some jackets, and out of them, one was almost my size. Now I was interested. I noticed that the jacket had the logo of a reputable brand. Noticing my interest, the salesman said, "This is branded and brand new. You can have it for a few pennies."

My wife also joined me, and she seemed happy with the colour of the jacket. I wanted to know why the jacket of a reputed brand was priced so low and was being sold on the streets. How did he get that? He was honest. He said he was a driver and was working for a transport company. The employer gave him a meagre salary, so he stole some articles from the consignments and sold them at low prices on the streets to make ends meet. This time he had to deliver these jackets, and he stole a few. I was convinced and decided to take advantage of the situation.

He quoted a price, and then the bargaining started. He asked for Rs 2000, and my wife started her bid with a thousand rupees. At last, both parties agreed to fourteen hundred rupees. I checked the price at one online shopping site, and the same type of jacket was displayed for eight thousand rupees. My better half and I were elated at the bargain we were striking, and in enthusiasm, she asked the man to get in touch with us if he had some useful domestic articles. It seemed as if she had discovered a treasure trove. The man took the money, thanked us, and left.

After a few days, I put on the jacket and went to my workplace. In the afternoon, I found that the leather of the jacket had started cracking. On the way home, I went to a tailor known to us to have the jacket mended. He took a look at the cracked leather and said, Sir, this is not an article of leather but of cheap rexine, so it cannot be mended." When I pointed out the logo of the brand, he smiled and said that I might have overlooked the slight change in spelling, the hallmark of duplicate maal.

Seeing me sad and cheated, he said, "Someone had taken advantage of your innocence." I left the jacket with the tailor to be given away to the needy. As I was walking back home, the words of the tailor were ringing in my ears, but my conscience knew that someone had not taken advantage of my innocence but of my immorality.