The Restaurant Owner

 

I was sitting in a restaurant and after a while I noticed that the owner at his desk was speaking to someone on phone in an unusual way. When I paid attention, I understood that he was talking to some bank employee who was asking him about the loan EMIs which he had stopped paying. It was getting into an endless talk, and then the restaurant owner said that if the bank guy did not stop calling him, he would commit suic*de. I was shocked and after a while when I went to make the payment, I asked him about the phone call. He told me the whole story.

He told me that he had bought a flat just 2 months on home-loan before the Corona outbreak and Lockdown. After the lockdown, business was destroyed while he still had to pay rent of his shop, pay salaries to his employees who were working there, and still had to pay EMIs of his home loan. Even after a year, business was still not like before and hence his finances had gone for a toss. He had taken a few other loans to cover liabilities and now he had several loans with not enough monthly income to pay the EMIs. So, he had stopped paying EMIs over last few months and would pay along with penalties only when he can afford to pay. He said he blocked any bank person who called him on phone, and now he got only few calls whenever the bank guys all using a new number.

I realized the mess our country is going through due to the Covid crisis. I also thought that the bank agent’s job would also be on threat. If a lot of borrowers do not repay their loans, the bank employees will lose their jobs and the bank will get bankrupt. So, the problem being faced was a “systematic” problem.

If he closes his restaurant, jobs of 4-5 of his employees will also be lost. That is how economic crisis works. Things are all related with each other.

I also realized that men like the restaurant owner are under lot of stress. Perhaps his family does not know about the kind of stress he is under. His children would perhaps never understand, no matter what. His family and relatives will judge him harshly if he tells them about his financial problems. So, perhaps he would be suffering all alone and it was sad.

There are no easy solution to many problems. While I could empathize with him, I could not do much. But I suggested him not to argue with loan recovery agents, but just tell them that he would repay the loans very soon and end the conversation. I told him that it was only a matter of time before economy gets back to pre-Covid days, and he has to bear with it for a few more months.

Since that day, there has not been any repeat of this incident. But when I look at him, and empty seats in his restaurant, I feel a bit sad every time.

- Rahul Tiwary