What a crisis this debt creates. Sometimes to meet his daily expenses, sometimes to satisfy the beyond reach desires of his, man tends to take loan. Small meagre amounts, he approaches his friends or takes loan from office. Loan taken from friends, are returned at free will. No interest charged. Loan from office also gets deducted from their salary. And a situation arises when their demand for finance goes beyond what can be contributed by friends or taken from office. Well, they ultimately go to the moneylenders. They borrow beyond their repaying capacity and this is where they get jammed. On one side is the moneylender insulting and disgracing them, making them squirm in shame. On the other side is the need to live in a society where one has to fake their status.
Similar is the situation when one pledges jewels to the pawnbrokers. The daily wage earners find it difficult to just meet even their daily basic needs. To meet their expenses, they approach the pawnbrokers with their jewels. The pawnbrokers charge such exorbitant rates of interest that these borrowers end up paying only interest, and the amount he pays by way of interest exceeds multiple fold the principal. To redeem his jewels and other items that he has pawned, he approaches another pawnbroker, who sure enough takes advantage of the situation and his rate of interest is higher than the one previously paid. But to manage the situation temporarily, the loan is taken. And the same follows, monthly payment is done only for the interest, principal amount remains the same and time out…. and so on it becomes a cycle.
A time arises when repaying only the interest becomes beyond his capacity. The moneylender soon comes tapping on his door asking for the interest or the principle, knowing fully well, he will get neither. It does not matter since the moneylender is fully aware he has got much more than what he gave and he still possess the jewels. So finally the jewels/other articles are given off in an auction and the moneylender leaves with his pockets full and the borrower with a hole. The increasing rate of inflation sure is most advantageous to the moneylenders/pawnbrokers/finance companies and the like.
There are times when the borrower is humiliated to such an extent for non-repayment of the loan that he resorts to the ultimatum – suicide.
And so it is true when it is said:
"The only man who sticks closer to you in adversity than a friend is a creditor." - Unknown
1 comment:
Pathetic but is widely prevalent even today.The poor has none to extend loans except thes usurious lenders.Situations arise like sickness,marraige,death when they are compelled to borrow and forced into doom.No solution is visble.Good that uou hv highlighted this bane.
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