By Shikha Tailang

(AI generated translation of : वर्गीज की रिटायरमेंट पार्टी)

Varghese celebrated his retirement with great pomp and show. Be it the office or the neighbourhood, his retirement party was the talk of the town. He had spent a lot of money. DJ, PowerPoint presentation, and dinner at a three-star hotel. Around 100-150 people came to enjoy the party and he also received a lot of gifts.

Before this party, Varghese used to discuss PF, its interest rates, pension, etc., in the office all the time. He used to tell people about the benefits of PF and often said that when he retires, PF will be his biggest support.

At that time, Vijay used to get very upset after listening to him. He did not give importance to all these things. It had been a year since he started working. The accounts people used to ask him for an Aadhaar and PAN card again and again to open a PF account. But Vijay did not pay any heed. Sometimes he would pass the time by making some excuse or saying that he had forgotten about it and would keep postponing opening a PF account.

After more than a year, the accounts people stopped talking to him about PF. The money that had been deducted in the name of PF was also stopped. His salary decreased further.

When Vijay saw that his salary was not sufficient, he would take loans to run the household expenses. When he had just joined the office, Varghese had tried to explain to him a lot, ‘Brother, start getting PF deducted and deposited, otherwise, there will be a huge loss. Currently, banks, post offices etc. get the highest interest on PF. According to Rule 72, due to compound interest, the amount will double in only about nine years. Then there will be job security. The boss will not be able to fire you easily. At the time of retirement, you will get a good amount and you will also get a lifelong pension.’

But Vijay heard all this with one ear and let it out from the other.

One and a half years passed like this. Then coronavirus started spreading in the country. Vijay’s company started incurring losses due to the closure. Now the boss started layoffs to compensate for the losses. He asked his PA to make a list of those people whose PF was not being deducted. The accounts people also added Vijay’s name to that list. Just a few days after this, the boss gave 15 days’ salary to those who did not get their PF deducted and let them go. Vijay also lost his job.

Now he kept regretting remembering Varghese’s words. He kept thinking that if only he had started deducting PF by following his advice, then the job would not have been lost so easily and even if he lost, he would have got a good amount. But now regretting, when the birds have eaten the crop!

Moral of the story: It is good to complete your beneficial work on time. Otherwise, you get nothing except regret.

(Fictional Story)