Shantanu Thakur
Different strokes
Noticed the new kid on the block? He was discovered by the GoI hiding in piles and piles of files and he popped up when the EPF accounts were suddenly dug up. It has now been revealed that about 20 HNIs were coolly amassing a total of around Rs 825 crores of money in their individual accounts! And that too, tax free. The names of these smart operators have not been disclosed, but so what? We LNIs need not crib about it.
First, let us unravel the mystery of the acronym. As you might have guessed, HNI stands for High Networth Individual. Hence, it’s fairly easy now to learn that we plebian republicans have been LNIs all along – Low Networth Individuals. Whatever be the never ending veil often spun by these abbreviations, this one at least, is not so difficult to crack. Triglycerides often sounded like Tyrannosaurus Rex – yes, one specis of dinosaurs – and their different kith and kin, not to speak of the need to rake up the thesaurus to digest all this.The acronyms – B-1/B-2 and H-1B relate to matters concerning visas, but, HbA1c is about your blood sugar levels; something you should understand, if you have done a LFT, or, a KFT! No wonder these HNIs could hide so easily from the taxmen.
But, the incident at the bank last week takes the cake. The queues at the counters were lengthening and patience was wearing thin. The men at work were equally harassed. A rather healthy man towards the back wanted to push through to the front and get priority: ‘I should get priority, you know, I am an HNI’, he claimed. Some smart guy in the premises called out for everyone to hear, citing a popular commercial ad: “the gentleman doesn’t seem to know his real worth, will someone please tell him who he is – just one in the queue?”
There was a brief silence, then someone laughed and it was normal again. The LNIs also have their day.
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Different Strokes
Anecdotes full of wit and humour with a finishing punchline having a word count of 360 words may be sent to [email protected]
