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My starting days from the mine:I am now an old coin, and have been in circulation for many years. But

I can still remember my early youth. My active life began when I was paid

over the counter of a bank, along with other new rupees, to a gentleman who

cashed a cheque. I went o jingling in his pocket but I was not long there, as

he gave me to a shopkeeper. !he shopkeeper looked pleased, and banged

me on the counter to see if I were genuine. !hen he threw me into a drawer,

with a lot of other coins that have remained motionless prior to my arrival.

"urprisingly, when I went in, they made a certain sound of cheer and

applause as if they were happy to see me come in with them. #nother year

of waiting with my fellow mates gave me enough time to remember my days

of being a small bundle of joy among glistening ores of iron. !hen one day,

I felt a few rumblings beneath my feet and in a moment of surprise, I was

lifted as a I bid farewell to the ground I stayed sleeping for so many years.

!he rumblings continued for days and weeks. I was lifted in shaking jars andthen and drenched in water. I knew I was being changed by a force of labor

and weathered to be a fruitful piece of delight. A newly minted coin; paid out from a bank $hen I was %rst made, I was a shining new coin. #lthough I could

hardly see myself, I liked the sound that my fellow coin members were

making. $e were handled by a human whom I hardly seen before take me

and lace me on top of another and place us in racks. !he mint in which I was

made was a very busy place and after a while, I was shoved into a sack.!hen along with other sacks, I was thrown onto a cart. &art rides are never

comfy for a coin and soon, I was jostling about uncomfortably in my sack.

"oon after, our cart stopped. I heard someone say, '$hat are you carrying in

your cart(). '&oins), I heard the cart driver answer. I heard the other man

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grunt. '"ee, Ill show you*) said the cart driver. I heard the screeches of

un+ip to my sac and saw the ones above me getting displaced. !his was the

%rst time I saw my fellow cons. !hey were all glistening like the moon, I

usually saw at night before I became a coin. #nd then in a moment, I saw a

rushing hand come in t bring us out. I came out with the hand. $hat an

ehilarating feeling, it was**** I was one among the many coins he showed

the man. !he man sounded satis%ed and moved out of the way so the cart

could pass. $hen the cart driver stued us back in, I went tumbling out of

his hand and landed on the dirt track. I tried pushing myself, but no, I

couldnt even budge. I lay there, waiting for someone to pick me up.

!hankfully, I heard footsteps coming my way. # grubby hand picked me up.

'$hy, heres a nice shiny coin* !odays my lucky day*), said a rough voice. I

saw a peasant holding me. -h, great* -f all the people I could be picked up

by, I was picked up by a peasant. In mixed company in a shop-keepers cash drawer. I do not remember, the number of times I had changed hands. verytime I

could feel a new epression of delight when I changed hands. !he rooms I

entered were always shining and I forgot to mention that I always had the

smooth aroma of a leather wallet where I was kept after changing hands.

!hen one day, I was bottled up in a trunk and was dispatched to go to the

city. !he city where every day the coin stays busy, everyday, the coin

remains rolling thats what I had heard from an old coin whom I met when I

got misplaced from an new rag to an old one and met a coin who said he had

stayed in a roulette can for years before being brought back to be a molded

to a new coin again. An actie life; better than life in a misers strongbox.

I waited patiently for my turn to be shown to the city. I was no longer a

petty coin who was grasped by both hands in the mint and then among the

peasants. !he peasants have thought of bringing me to the city. !he peasant

continued walking, humming, and tossing me up and down. I was half afraid I

would be lost again. $e reached the city after ages and ages. !he city was

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very busy and crowded. !he peasant made his way into the market and

bought some milk and bread with me. !hen, with the change, I saw him go to

the net stall to buy some vegetables. !he shopkeeper put me into a dusty

bo. I was already feeling rather dirty, even though I was made only today.

#fter it was dark, the shopkeeper took me out of his book and went and

bought some %sh and chips in a nearby stall with me. !he %sh and chips

seller threw me carelessly into a bo but he missed and I landed on the /oor

nearby. I was very dirty because, as the seller swept his /oor, I was swept

out with the rest of the dust. !he net day, a woman came to sweep the

streets. "he saw me, picked me up, and rubbed me clean. I stayed in her

pocket for the rest of the morning. !hen, she ran all the way to her ram0

shackled house and placed her broom in a corner. "he then took me out of

her pocket and then walked to a nearby house. "he knocked on the door. #

well0dressed lady answered the door. !he woman gave me to her and said,

'1ere maam, heres the coin I owed you), then she left. !he woman was this

ladys servant, it seemed, and the lady kept me in a purse, where I stayed for

a long while. I soon found I was in mied company. I took no notice of the

greasy copper coins, as I knew they were of very low caste. I was

condescending to the small change, knowing that I was twice as valuable as

the best of them, the half cent pieces, and ten times better than the cheeky

little pennies. But I found a number of coins of my own rank, but none so

bright and new as I was. Most were old coins, dull and worn0as I am, also* to0

day. I could not understand what was happening, why was I misplaced. !hen

someone took me and put me in a weight bo machine. #s I went in, I felt the

push of a spring get through my hurt and lock me inside a dark chamber. I

stayed there for days. I could cout the tick tock sound every time someone

came near me and pushed someone like me inside. very time I was kept

waiting and was desperate to come out. My time %nally came. I could not

count the days but it came.!ost in the gutter; life among the poor.

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!he man who took me out put us again in stacks and gave it to some

old boys who barely had the time to see me. !hey indulged in games. -ften

throwing me on the ground, as if intentionally doing and repeating the same

with %lth and desperation. I kept rolling but never escaped from them. !hen

one day , a person was kind enough t take me with him. 2ow I was bruised

and battered, not because I have learnt so much, but because I wanted to

rest in small hands that would keep me without valuing my worth and

thinking me as a metal that cannot be sold. I started developing a brownish

tinge and that is when people started saying that I was a becoming an old

coin and they dd not want to have me for the day. I loved this idea. I would

not be thwarted, I could stay like ths without bothering about the days that

have passed or that are coming for me and would be safe.An old rupees adice.

"ome of old coins were jealous of my smart appearance, and made

nasty remarks. But as a very old coin I was kind and adjusted to the small

change in their place. '# coin is always a coin, however old and worn.)!hen

the drawer was opened and I was given in change to a young lady, who put

me into her purse. But the purse had a hole in it3 and as she walked along

the street, I fell out and rolled into the gutter, where I lay for a long time. #t

last a dirty boy picked me up3 and for some time after I was in low company,

passing between poor people and petty shopkeepers in dirty little streets.

But at last I got into good society, and most of my time I have been in the

pockets and purse of the rich.I have not time to tell the hundredth part of my adventures. I am

proud to have lived an active life, and never rested long anywhere. #nyway, I

have had a better life than a coin I knew who spent all his time locked up in a

misers strongbo. $hat a dull life*.

I would like to thank the writing "he #indu : Autobiography of a one rupee coin

published in the #I$%& for giing me insights to write on this topic.

http://www.thehindu.com/2000/01/15/stories/13151103.htmhttp://www.thehindu.com/2000/01/15/stories/13151103.htm

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