Long, long ago, in an obscure village in central India, there
used to be a man named Haiyya Joos. He was a poor farmer, probably the poorest
in the village. In a time where his fellow villagers boasted of multiple cows
and buffaloes, Haiyya owned just a goat.
To add to his woes, the goat did not even give milk
properly. Moreover, the money spent on feeding the goat was quite high. In total,
life was not good for Haiyya!
Being a single parent, Haiyya’s only glimmer of happiness
was supposed to be his son Kan. We say ‘supposed’ because Kan never could
relate with his parent’s poverty. Instead, Kan always longed for toys and other
forms of amusement. Which, obviously, Haiyya could not afford.
One day, a fourteen-year-old Kan asked his father to buy a
car. Haiyya was amazed at how stupid his son was. They had been in a persistent
state of poorness. They always struggled to get the required number of meals a
day. And here, his son Kan wanted him to buy a car.
At first, Haiyya thought that his son might be joking.
However, Kan repeated the talk about buying a car the next day. And then Haiyya
thought Kan had totally lost it. Probably, Kan had always been a retard and
just that Haiyya did not notice. Haiyya explained to Kan that they did not have
that kind of money and Kan should make do with whatever his dad gave him. Kan was
disappointed.
Days passed by and the usual routine followed in Haiyya’s
house. Haiyya worked very hard every day to earn just enough to provide
himself, his goat, and his son some food. He always had the regret that he was
never able to get Kan to go to school. Kan’s days were usually spent playing
around the house. And even spending his daily allowance on something or the
other. Kan would never save any money.
One day. Kan returned home from his play and ran straight to
Haiyya. And the next thing he said made his dad’s jaws drop big time. Kan asked
his father for money to buy a house. This was becoming extremely crazy now.
Haiyya said “sure”. He took Kan inside and asked him to fetch a stick.
Then, what followed was brutal assault that one would never
wish for anyone. Haiyya hit Kan real bad. Then, Haiyya made him make a promise.
Kan, almost dizzy and shit scared, agreed. The promise was that Kan would never
spend money until really required. Moreover, Kan was to try and save money in
whatever form possible. And this way, Haiyya thought Kan would be better
prepared for life.
Years passed! The same village now boasted of residing the
biggest miser of all times. It looks like Haiyya’s beating took a real effect.
Kan would just not spend! He helped his dad with his work, earned little, and
saved. But Kan did not spend. There would be days when Kan skipped meals just
to save some food. He had become a maniac.
In the village, whenever someone behaved in a stingy manner,
people referred to him or her as Kan. Such was Kan’s fame.
One fine day, Kan fell ill. He ran a very high fever. Very,
very high. He told his dad he would not be able to help him that day. Haiyya
wished him well and left for work.
Kan needed a medicine badly, but he decided to save it. He
just lay in his bed the whole day. Also, he ruled out visiting a doctor completely.
At least, not until he had some more complaints such as cold, headache etc. That
way, he could get treated for multiple things with just one fee to the doctor.
Such was his desire to save… rather, NOT spend.
And this is the untold story about how the word “Kan-Joos”
came into being.
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This post was written by me as a part of Blog-a-Ton. I felt the idea behind the post was very good, but the execution was very poor. The ending was quite abrupt and the idea got wasted. Excuse: did not get time to write. Ha :) The post fetched me two votes, two more than I expected :)