ચોપડાની ઈન્દ્રજાળ The Magic of the Ledgers (Chopdani Indrajal)

લેખક પોતાનું ગામ, ગરીબી અને શાહુકારની ધીરધાર યાદ કરે છે.

The writer recalls his village and childhood. Its poverty, the unpaid toil, and the lending from the moneylender's house all rise one by one in memory. The common villager lived under constant economic pressure.

વ્યાજ એટલું ઊંચું કે દેવું ભર્યા પછી પણ ઘટતું જ નથી.

The lender advances a little money to the needy poor, but the interest is so high that the sum swells fast. Even after the poor man pays something, the principal does not fall. The debt rolls on from one generation to the next - this is the first rung of the ledger.

ચોપડામાં ખોટા આંકડા ગોઠવી અજ્ઞાન ગરીબને છેતરવામાં આવે છે.

The figures in the ledger are written so cunningly that the unlettered poor cannot read them. With false arithmetic the account is inflated; even what is not truly owed is entered as debt. This trickery of numbers is the very 'magic' of the ledger.

ગરીબ આખી જિંદગી મહેનત કરે તોય દેવામુક્ત થતો નથી - એ જોઈ લેખક દ્રવી ઊઠે છે.

Seeing this deceit, the writer's heart melts. The unlettered poor man toils all his life yet cannot be free of debt; he suffers terrible hardship. Here the writer feels a deep anguish against the injustice.

શિક્ષણ અને જાગૃતિ જ આ શોષણમાંથી મુક્તિ આપે.

The piece says that ignorance and illiteracy are the root of this exploitation. If the poor learn, understand accounts and grow aware, the ledger's spell can be broken. Education and awakening alone bring true freedom - on this note the lesson ends.