Earn Ten Thousand In Just Three Hours…

These words catch our attention for at least a few moments (usually found on compound walls and on those small posters stuck in buses). There is no denying this fact. I notice them too, but I never had any idea of what they do there, most importantly, what they want you to do.

Recently, one of my friends invited me for a “seminar on career planning”. Yeah, those were the exact words. And as I had already listened to one of them the previous week and had found it highly interesting, I politely excused myself by saying I wasn’t interested. But as all my old friends, whom I hadn’t met for several long years (not really, just 8 years), had agreed to come, I was asked to come too, for the sake of meeting them. I was promised that we didn’t even have to get inside the “seminar” hall; we could just use it as a meeting place. So, on a lovely Sunday, which I would otherwise have spent in reading a novel, I found myself in front of that hall. I met the others, and was forced to register my name and go inside.

Once inside, we were asked to maintain silence and switch off our mobiles. And so, I waited for some guy to start ranting about IT sector and all that. But to my surprise (and most of the others’, I later learnt that they were tricked into coming too) six to seven people in complete formal attires started talking about some product of their company (which came up to some seven thousand rupees).

All this was okay, but then, they started about this “Multilevel Marketing”. After buying their product, we have to bring people to the same hall, convince them to buy the product and at least two should. We get some money for that, and then, the people who were doomed to buy their product because of us, bring two others and this goes on. Each time someone joins our team, we get money.    

They showed proof for their genuineness through the checks some of them had obtained. And by this time, almost all of us were brainwashed (completely or partially). Next started their session on teaching, “how to get money from the parents for this product”. “Lie that you have to pay your semester fee”, said one. “Take without their knowledge”, said another. “Never tell them the true reason”, was their advice.     

At last it was over, we were permitted to go. I said I had to think about it and somehow got myself away from that place. When my friend (who had lied that it was a “career planning seminar”) asked again whether I would buy it, I almost said yes, but on second thoughts, refused.      

I thank my stars that I had the sense to refuse, because, not long after this happened, I read about these people who trick others into joining these multilevel marketing businesses and was horrified to know that they were all tricksters. I don’t really know about the genuineness of some of these companies, but don’t you think it is better to just stay away from such “money-making ideas”?