MADURAI: IT has caused clashes at many a wedding in the rural TN and has provided comic relief in countless movies since black-and-white screens. Not a lot of people from the rural TN can claim that they do not know what moi is. The age-old custom, still prevalent in most rural areas, has upgraded to the new era through a mobile application developed by a mobile shop owner.
Moi is a monetary gift that one gives a friend or a relative when attending a ceremony at their house.
While gifts may be the giver’s choice, moi is a question of pride and people remember who gives how much. Giving somebody an amount lesser than what they gave during a function at your house is an act of disrespect and often end in harsh words in the middle of functions.
A mobile shop owner has found a way to prevent such altercations. He has given moi a life in the virtual world, with a software that records moi given by people, which even prints receipts!
The 33-year-old owner of C M Communications mobile shop at Checkanurani in Tirumangalam, Prabhu is no stranger to moi and the trouble it involved. “In Madurai and surroundings, I have seen people trying to record monetary gifts and sometimes this ends in fights if it is not properly recorded. A list of visitors, along with the money given to the relative, is saved as a pdf file and can be reviewed any time,” he said.
The receipt has details like place and date of ceremony, details of the guest and the amount given as gift. “This can be held as a proof to avoid fights,” said Prabhu. He tested the software out during an ear piercing ceremony in a relative’s house and the response was good.
Prabhu, who has a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration, has been interested in Information Technology for some years now. He said, “I learnt programming for a year, from a friend who works in an IT company and developed the software with his help.”