Stories
Invented people making believable decisions about money. The characters are fiction. The arithmetic beside them is not.
Waiting instead of borrowing
The Phone He Didn't Buy
Rehan had the pen in his hand and a salesman who called ₹3,771 a month 'one dinner'. He walked out. This is what the next 13 months cost him, and what they saved.
Small instalments, added up
The ₹999 Man
Paresh Solanki does not believe in prices. He believes in ₹999 a month. Then his wife lays seven warranty cards on the bed and asks him to count.
A short-term loan
One Missed Payday
Nandini's salary is twelve days late and her rent is not. Four doors are open to her. The one with no guard on it costs ₹1,050, and is not finished with her when she has paid.
Borrowing that pays its way
The Machine in the Front Room
Shabnam has stitched in the same room for sixteen years. An embroidery machine would change her work, and she can't afford it. A loans officer asks her one question, and she has been waiting a year for someone to ask it.
Being written
These are in draft. They will be published when the story is finished and its numbers and sources have been checked, not before.
The Wedding That Took Five Years to Pay For
A family borrows for three days of celebration because of what the neighbours will say. The neighbours say it was lovely. Then the instalments begin.
Your Number Is Busy
A man misses one instalment on an app loan. By Thursday his sister, his manager and his old cricket coach have each had a phone call.
The Job That Disappeared
Two salaries, one home loan, one car loan and a reorganisation announced on a video call with the cameras off.
New here? The fictional world explains who these people are, which institutions are invented, and why we teach loan maths with stories at all.