Our mind goes through varied phases of thoughts, feelings and emotions. No matter how strong the beliefs that it carries, there are moments, more than one when one can feel drawn to something that may have previously felt unreal.
Heavy rain had washed its way along the city. It had washed the roads, the trees, the houses, some worries from people’s minds. As the rain came to stop, the silence it brought came to an end and the sounds of the human world picked up its rhythm again.
An auto rickshaw came to a stop, and Sujay stepped out with an umbrella from which the occasional drops of water still fell, on his shoulder was a bag he carried to office. Sujay paid the driver and his eyes fell on the tea stall that was still open at 9:30 pm with the steam rising from tea being prepared. He knew the tea vendor, his name was Alok.
Sujay approached the tea stall and asked about the well-being of Alok before asking for a cup of tea, there was one more man there about to finish his cup of tea. They smiled at each other and referred to the heavy rain. Along with the tea, Sujay asked for a small packet of chips.
“Will you have it here?” asked Alok
“The chips? Yes,” replied Sujay not thinking much of the question
Alok opened the packet of chips, looked inside and shook it and then he proceeded to give it to Sujay. Sujay took it from Alok with a surprised expression, looked inside the packet of chips where everything seemed as fine as he had been seeing since childhood and he looked at the vendor, still surprised.
Have you found any money?” asked Sujay
“No, but my nephew found hundred rupees note in a packet of potato chips of this brand, he insists it is only found in packets of chips found at a particular place,” said Alok
“It would have been in an advertisement. There was a time when they used to advertise that you could win a car, cash or vacation. There is no such thing nowadays,” said Sujay, but he could see, Alok wasn’t quite convinced.
Later at home, while scrolling through reels, Sujay found some prank videos in which people were claiming to have found money for shop owners and others. They were opening the packet of chips and even other things and taking out money. It was just a simple prank. Sujay thought he would let Alok know about it the next day.
On the days when it was not raining so heavily, Sujay would take the bus, he would get down at the bus stop and walk to his rented apartment and on the way, he would walk by Alok’s tea stall.
One day when Sujay stopped for a cup of tea, there was no other customer, he prepared to let Alok know about the prank, he could see Alok carrying a bright smile and an expression of wanting to tell something.
“Looks like you found money in a packet of chips,” joked Sujay
“I did,” said Alok smiling even more
“You did? Really?” said Sujay quite surprised
“Yes, I have found eleven hundred rupees,” said Alok, “my nephew brought some packets of potato chips from that place, he did not mention where and I opened three, found money inside in all three of them. But it can only be found in a packet of chips bought from that place like he said.”
“He must be playing a prank on you. I have seen it online; people are making videos about it. It is just a prank,” explained Sujay
‘’He must be playing a prank on you. I have seen it online; people are making videos about it. It is just a prank,” explained Sujay
Alok picked up a packet of potato chips and extended his hand to give it to Sujay.
Sujay took the packet, looked at it thoroughly, even went through the written details on the packet. Everything felt genuine. There was no mark of resealing. He slowly tore open the packet and there it was among the chips a five hundred rupees note. Sujay pulled it out and checked the note, the formatting, the clean ink quality, the security thread, it was all there. Sujay looked at it with disbelief. He looked inside the packet, even ate a few chips, there was nothing indicating anything was out of the ordinary except the money.
“What do you think?” asked Alok
“It’s real,” said Sujay slowly
Alok handed Sujay another packet of chips, “This one is from me.”
There was a hundred rupees note this time.
But how? What is this place where your nephew goes to?” asked Sujay
“Who knows, he says one can find all sorts of things there,” said Alok in a serious tone, “now, make sure you don’t tell anybody about it and we will not talk about it again.”
Sujay looked at the packet of chips and the notes again. He knew there was something out of place here, but a part of his mind had started becoming comfortable with the idea of it being real. He looked once at Alok who was attending to other customers and Sujay walked away.
Sujay continued on with his life, he still went to Alok’s tea stall to have tea occasionally. None of them talked about the packets of chips again but Sujay thought one of these days, Alok might just burst out laughing and say it was all an elaborate prank and ask Sujay back for the money.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
