Value of a penny

I would like to recite an interesting experience which I had during my stay in Japan.

As many of you would know, the highest denomination of the Japanese currency is 10,000 yen and the lowest is 1 yen. Now, it so happened that once during my initial days in Japan, when I had not received my credit card, I went shopping in a super market with only cash in hand for purchasing. When making the payment, I was falling short of 1 yen for my 2000+yen bill. I started to hunt my bag for that 1 yen, at the same time hoping the lady at the counter to simply give me a concession for that 1 yen. Astonishingly what I got back was a cold look from her which was turning into a rather disapproving look.

As I became panicky, I would say it was my sheer luck that I finally found that most wanted 1 yen in the corner of my purse.  I handed it over to her with a big relief, but the moment I stepped out of the mart, I thought to myself how could a rich country act so stingy. Having an Indian mentality, I would assume the shopkeeper to simply let go off my 1-rupee liability back in India.

But, my perspective totally changed for the good about this wonderful country as I stayed longer there and got familiar with the country’s own values and culture.

To counter my first experience, I was lucky to have another one in the days to come.

Once a group of friends, almost 12 of us, planned for a short-day trip to a nearby sightseeing place. We planned to go for a cable car ride. One of my friends booked the tickets for all of us. The instructions on the ticket were all written in Japanese. She told us that she had booked tickets for a one way ride and for returning we will have to use the walking trail. We all enjoyed the one-way cable ride and as instructed by our friend we took the footway for alighting.

After we crossed half the way we had to stop by a ticket booth to get our tickets checked again. The lady at the counter suddenly gave a shocked reaction and looked aghast as if we had violated some serious law. And to top it all, language is a big barrier in Japan which is more profound when you are away from the main city. She was trying to communicate to us animatedly in broken English with a mix of Japanese. One of my friends who understood little bit of Japanese tried to decipher her mixed language. Finally, in the end we understood that the ticket which we had booked was in fact a two-way ticket whereas we availed only a one way tour!! So, all this fuss was because we had paid “extra” for our ride! We all exclaimed to one another “Welcome to japan!”

She made sure we waited for the refund, while she went inside the office to get back the change for us. It was approx. 176 yen per person as my memory tells now. However, she seemed to take too long to get back. As we became restless, we finally saw her lean figure step out, with a small pouch in her hand. And then what came next was unbelievable! She handed each one of us the exact amount i.e. 176 yen, counting each one of them, not to miss that 1 yen to add up to exact the 176 yen! This entire process took a lot of time, but it just left each one of us spell bound. We could not take our eyes and mind off from the honesty, simplicity and integrity which she demonstrated there. It was a representation of the characteristic of each individual native to that country

It undoubtedly answered my question to the behavior of the lady at the counter in the super market.

The people of this country not only respect the 1 yen which belong to themselves but also which belongs to ‘others’. Maybe it’s simply because for them 1 yen has the same value as a 10,000yen. And to understand its value we need to look beyond the number which that money holds. Even a 1 yen is valuable to them, because they respect the value of the hard-work and efforts which goes behind earning that money.

As Indians, it may be quite tough for us to get such a value system ingrained in us, but the day when we start understanding and respecting others time, their arduous work and efforts, we will understand the value of 1 rupee which they have earned!