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Activity:  9 comments  161 views  last activity : 08 09 2011 16:14:28 +0000
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TURNING POINT
A Different Kind of Pyramid Club

An Article by Fred Edge
Published in Readers Digest, November 2002
 

More years ago than I care to remember, I became a member of a very special kind of “pyramid club”.

A teenager on summer break from high school in Ottawa, Canada, I got the urge to see more of my country.

I hitchhiked, landing a few odd jobs along the way – picking apples or chopping firewood for a meal and permission to bed down in some farmer’s barn. Finally I ran out of money and jobs.
It was late in the evening when a very old car chugged up the road; it stopped when I thrust out my thumb.

 

The driver was a middle aged man worn work clothes – a local farmer. When we came to where he was turning off, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a two-dollar note “Here” he said “Take this”. 
 

Two dollars was a useful amount of money back then. A chocolate bar or a soft drink was about five cents; a hot dog, ten; a hamburger, 25. “No, thank you” I protested “I’m fine”

 

“Take it” he said “It’s a loan. You can pay me back by giving two dollars to a young person a few years from now – when you have it and they don’t”

 

I have never forgotten that man. Over the years, I have returned the loan many times over, periodically raising the amount to account for inflation. Each time, I asked the recipient to pass it on to some other young person when he was able, along with instructions on how to pay it back.

I wonder how many others have benefited from the unique pyramid club that farmer started, all those years ago, with two dollars.

 

 
9 comments on "Turning Point"
  Commented by  Munshi Ramchand, Chief Muni/CMD/CEO, Agastya Muni Inc    | 08 09 2011 16:14:27 +0000
This is the same bunch of people who had been lamenting that all the ills that india is facing is due to the west. Yet, it is the same bunch of indians who want to start the western notion of 'pyramid club' - Double standards at its VERY BEST - shameless Indians!
  Commented by  Munshi Ramchand, Chief Muni/CMD/CEO, Agastya Muni Inc    | 08 09 2011 12:52:52 +0000
@Srinivas - Did the govt tell you to be on time for work? Did the govt tell you to be a member of toostep? Did the govt tell you not to harass anybody? The answer is a 'no' to all the questions. You are the one who decides what the outcome to the above question be. So, let us not speak about 'civic sense'. You guys are getting together to form a pyramid club - why don't you all get together and teach others some civic sense...about how to stand in a queue(for anything).?
  Commented by  MS_Pi, Top Management, Confidential    | 08 09 2011 08:21:16 +0000
Dear Mr Muralidharan/ Ms. Sujatha: I just thought of sharing a real life experience. A medico discontinued her studies in the second year due to shortage of funds. Her college principal financed her rest of the education saying that "You need not repay the money to me but try to help a needy person". She completed MBBS and won Gold Medal. Presently, she is a renowned doctor at Guntur in AP. Her son told me this.
  Commented by  ujjwal, LLB Hons. student, university of lucknow    | 08 09 2011 08:08:39 +0000
i am ready to join this club !!!!
  Commented by  Sujatha srivastava, Associate/Senior Associate, AT Kearney    | 08 09 2011 07:16:22 +0000
Thanks for sharing. Such stories/incidents want to say something but the message just remains in our mind and it does not travel nor do we try to follow. Lets not wait for its arrival in India lets begin it in India. I will as soon as I find the right needy person.
@ Munshi, you just cant blame the people. Its the failure of the Govts. to foster that civic sense. Yes. Mr. Murali said it right. Thank you very much Mr.Pi for this good information. With similar story line we have Telugu movie "Stalin" starring Chiranjeevi. A good piece of information.
  Commented by  Munshi Ramchand, Chief Muni/CMD/CEO, Agastya Muni Inc    | 08 08 2011 15:36:56 +0000
"...In 64 years of Independence, Mr. Pi, had we Indians joined the "Pyramid Club", we would have alleviated poverty, educated our mass...."

Our culture is different, our attitude is different - this type of "pyramid club" will not work here. People here don't even have the common sense to stand properly and orderly in a queue (be it the queue for buying a train ticket or aeroplane ticket or getting into a bus etc). Pyramid club is NOT for Indians.
  Commented by  Ardhendu Pal, Upgrading Knowledge Base, Researching in Computer Software/Hardware    | 08 08 2011 14:49:09 +0000
Wait and let us witness someone does the same in our country too where each individual is just an individual with no servitude to mankind and who are sleeping till now in the ocean of selfishness.
Thanks for sharing sir hope and pray for the day when I'll be able to initiate this effort.
  Commented by  S. Muralidharan, Head, Project Planning/Strategy, Knowledge Foundation    | 08 08 2011 13:18:47 +0000
In 64 years of Independence, Mr. Pi, had we Indians joined the "Pyramid Club", we would have alleviated poverty, educated our mass and would have given true meaning to "Right to Life"!  Thanks, Mr. Pi for posting this mind-stirring post!  
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