Shrinking values: Who cares for a crore any more?

What is a crore of rupees these days? Once upon a time, it was an amount that short-circuited a former telecom minister’s political career when it was found in his house, inelegantly stuffed in a motley collection of receptacles. The number of zeroes now needed to mobilise a minister has apparently gone past that 1990s’ figure of seven.

It helps when there are neat numbered accounts in salubrious climes that preclude the need for cumbersome storage facilities. Some 18 years ago, a crore of rupees could be touted as inducement enough for a prime minister to be benevolent towards a crooked bull operator.

Indeed, the idea of such an ‘enormous’ sum being lugged about as a political sweetener was met with such incredulity in those innocent times that it took a theatrical Ram Jethmalani to prove that it could be done, by dramatically stuffing a case with the requisite moolah.

By 2008, such was its devaluation that a crore each apparently got just a few MPs to change sides during a vote of confidence, that too stuffed in crass leather bags. Come January 2011, a crore is allegedly barely enough to grease the palms of a mere superintendent in the central excise and customs department in Pune.

Soon, judging by the way food inflation is rising, it may be just about enough to buy a few sacks of potatoes and onions.

India no longer disbelieves that a crore can be fitted into a container — appropriately shrunk from a suitcase to a briefcase. Now that gameshow crorepatis are a reality, no one was surprised that bossy Salman Khan did a Jethmalani with a crore and a container for the benefit of a wide TV audience. Only, the intention was not to shock but to tantalise and tempt.'