'Loss of business far better than daily torture'

Ramachandran (name changed) is one of the many fruit vendors one would come across at the busy Koyambedu market. Just like in any other trade, timely availability of capital is crucial for procuring quality goods.

Ramachandran (name changed) is one of the many fruit vendors one would come across at the busy Koyambedu market. Just like in any other trade, timely availability of capital is crucial for procuring quality goods.

But a lesson he has learnt the hard way is that losing a business is a much better option than risking an encounter with the kandhu vatti gangs. For a loan of Rs 1 lakh he availed to procure fruit stock, Ramachandran says, he lost nearly a year of his life fighting the gang, which wanted him to pay back four times the principle amount. “For nearly three months, I had to go underground and live like a wanted criminal. When they learnt that I owned a piece of land in Tiruvallur district, they wanted me to sell it off and give them the money,” Ramachandran says.

It all began in 2009 when one of Ramachandran’s business partners told him about a cheaper fruit stock available with an Andhra trader. Since he had no ready cash to purchase the stock, Ramachandran approached a  moneylender.

For a loan of Rs 1 lakh, Ramachandran was told that he must pay a monthly interest of Rs 22,000. Confident of generating the amount, Ramachandran agreed and put his signatures on a host of papers. “The venture turned out to be a nightmare. The lorry transporting the goods got struck near Nellore and the fruits started rotting. The produce reached Chennai 10 days late,” he says.

“I was not able to pay the interest for two months. In the third month, I managed to give the lender Rs 1.5 lakh. But he said I owed him Rs 2.5 lakh more.” The lender who was until then very reasonable changed his colours when Ramachandran objected. “He soon started visiting my house along with a dozen other men. On one occasion, they opened cupboards and fished out documents for my land saying my debt would be discounted if I gave him my land.”

The lender also kept a watch on Ramachandran’s movements. “One night they forcibly took me in a car and made me stay in a house for the whole night,” he recalls. “Fearing the gang, I went to a relative’s house and stayed there for three months. My business partners, meanwhile, approached a local heavyweight within the ruling party. After his intervention, the gang agreed to end to issue, but only after I paid Rs 50,000 more,” Ramachandran says.

After the bitter lesson, Ramachandran put up a board in his shop, which reads: Kadan Anbai Murikkum (debt ends affection). Lesson well learnt.

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