Money holds value but it's valueless. Money exists with mankind but mankind ceases to exist without money. Money is just a perception but perception changes with money. ITHOM therefore concluded that money is a riddle. A riddle which will remain unsolved till the destruction of mankind. We come across innumerable quotes on money saying, "One can't buy happiness with money". Yet we know money is somewhere a part of our happiness and none can deny this. But to understand money we have to re-visit an old village of America back in 90s'.
It is said that this story is famous, but still is lot more meaningful than you can ever imagine.
A tourist visited a village in which every financial affair had been coffined. The poor economy left the village with no penny. The social affairs were all at halt. Market was just a cold place with no sign of human. The surprised tourist searched for a hotel and rang the bell at the reception.
The well dressed, stout, gentleman, sitting on a chair at the extreme right corner of the reception travelled back to his consciousness, no sooner he heard the bell and shouted, "It is a visitor, after a long time". The visitor was startled to hear the voice coming from the poorly-lit, dark corner of the reception. In a blink of an eye, a stout gentleman appeared at the reception, enquiring, "How may I help you sir?"
The tourist couldn't understand his excitement over seeing him, but ignored it and said, "I am looking for a room in your hotel for one night. Could you please walk me through the available rooms?" The receptionist replied, "Its good to see you sir. I am the manager of the hotel. We have plenty of rooms available, categorized into superior, deluxe and suite. Which type of room will suffice your requirements?"
The tourist ran his fingers across his forehead back to the head and said, "Well! a suite will be my preference, but I would like to check the rooms first". The manager replied, "Of course Sir! The rooms are open to visit, but we have a security policy".
"What is that?", the tourist questioned."You will have to deposit 2000$ before you take a look at the rooms". With an astonished expression, the tourist shouted, "2000$ for a visit to your rooms. But why? "The manager smiled and replied, "Once you are back I shall refund the amount if you don't find the rooms up-to mark". The visitor agreed to the manager's condition and ambled around the colossal property.
Within no time, the manager reached out to the meat seller in the village and paid him 2000$ for the all meat supplied to the hotel in last 6 months. On receiving the money, the meat seller contacted the butcher who had an animal husbandry and used to sell the meat to the meat seller. The meat seller handed over the money to the butcher.
No sooner, the butcher received the money, he ran to the nearby brothel. He called for the lady, whose services he had taken couple of months back. The butcher paid her 2000$ for the service, she rendered to him.
The prostitute was very happy being paid for her services since she had to pay for the hotel, where she served the butcher. So, she ran to the manager of the hotel, who had a visitor after a long time. She bowed to the manager and paid him his due. The lady left the hotel and the visitor reached back to the manager saying, "I liked the rooms, but I have changed my plans. I have to travel back to my place. Can I have my 2000$ back please?"
The manager smiled and took those 2000$ out of the reception drawer. He then generously handed over the money to the visitor, bidding good bye to him and requesting him to visit again, whenever time permits.
The tourist smiled and descended the hotel stairs with a carry bag in hand.
The Wikipedia definition of money is "Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context."
Still.. money can’t buy happiness