It’s a quiet evening at the Heart pub in Camden, when a woman gingerly sits at the bar looking like her world has collapsed. Donny the bartender asks her what she’d like to drink and she quietly says that she cannot afford anything. Out of the goodness of his heart he offers her a cup of tea and conversation.
She suddenly brightens up and offers lots of information about herself: she’s Martha, a lawyer and she’s connected to many famous people. When she sees a disbelieving look on his face, she shows her phone which does indeed have telephone numbers of VIPs.
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She has a loud, uninhibited laugh. But that’s not all. Donny suddenly finds himself giving her a coke every evening, and being called baby reindeer and other strange names. In fact she says she’s busy but begins to spend all day at the bar. Friendship turns into an obsession. She shows up everywhere Donny goes including his comedy gig.
Although the repartee between them at the club is fun, his life becomes scarily difficult when she stalks him online and shows up everywhere including his home. What can he tell the police? The woman he loves?
This limited series show will keep you engaged and remind you of how to steer clear of unscrupulous financial dealings you might be tempted to make.
Buying a home? You will be requested quietly to top up that low EMI the builders accept if you pay ‘some part’ in cash.
Looking to pay for your child’s coaching class? Someone to guide you to foreign university admissions procedures? Then be ready to shell out cash.
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A wedding in the family? No matter how much you avoid cash payments, you end up getting strange chits as receipts for cash that fade even before you have blessed the newlyweds.
Cash transactions can either be small and miscellaneous, but the moment you try to get your hands on large quantities of cash, you find yourselves at the mercy of moneylenders – politely known as finance companies – who charge exorbitant interest from you. They catch you when you’re most vulnerable and really need that money and you just don’t know how to get out of the interest that keeps compounding.
Donny is stuck at a job behind the bar because he’s bombing as a stand up comic, when Martha shows up and laughs at all his jokes. Then he has to spend months looking over his shoulder and see Martha following him everywhere he goes.
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Moneylenders can get like that too in real life. They will bombard you with emails, text messages, send people over to your workplace, and even begin to harass your family if you are late paying up.
You have planned your financial life so well, you have put away something for unexpected expenses. But sometimes problems like Martha show up and then you have a tough time. So be prepared. Better yet, educate yourself with the fine print before you put your John Hancock on anything.
Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.
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Published: 20 Apr 2024, 10:37 AM IST