Making the Fast Buck!

Can't really blame anyone! It's a universal tendency of the Sapiens to covet for the fast buck and try to make it by all means anytime anywhere. However, in the digi-modern era this tendency has become fully class barriers neutral--meaning all from the micro/petty operators to the biggest of all tycoons and also including even government agencies and PSUs tend to make hay with the fast buck. Although individual profit or commission has been the real motive, greed of the lowest order has mostly penetrated the urge, making it overpowering for the makers and scarily irritating for the gullible customers. 

Even if you are a regularly-paying good customer the agents from the paanwallahs to the giant service providers keep on pestering you to consider various 'offers' that help them make the fast buck and irritate you to no small extent. Asking for 'feedback' is another way to egg you on. You may think you've paid full for the service and have no time to entertain them with inanities unless there's a serious issue; but no! Even if you ordered a biryani dish two years back, you can still expect a lady's call with a sweet voice asking you, "How did you like the dish, sir/ma'am?" 

When you lodge a complaint with the main provider and get the time & date of the attending appointment, you're sure to be flooded with calls from numerous agents who'd want to come to you immediately. Sometimes, you'd be forced to lodge another complaint for such unsolicited intrusions. To no avail as such. The fast buck urge prevails all the time. 

Do we need to talk about the banks or the financial agencies or the credit card/loan issuing marauders for their ceaseless calls? I don't think so! Frauds are in-built in this fast-buck syndrome! 

We'll take bigger examples that involve large institutions and even governments. Smoking is one of the cardinal sins. No doubt about that! And so justifiably, governments impose bigger what they call 'sin tax'  that obviously yields bigger revenues too! Now, suppose the governments announce a crushing sin-tax rate at a particular month, giving effect say two months hence. And you'll continue to behold the same MRP on the packs, but the vendors/shopkeepers will go on charging you 20/30 bucks  higher a pack, citing most ludicrous reasons. The moot point is that till the manufacturers decide to print the new MRP all the stakeholders including public authorities have amassed the fast buck in huge quantities. If, righteously, you are not a smoker you can watch the same 'drama' unfolding on various other products too, sinful or not. 

Nowadays, if you want to book a railway ticket the waiting list numbers will haunt you whatever time of the year you choose, not necessarily the known 'seasons'. Why? The obvious solution is Tatkal or Premier Tatkal that make you shell out bucks in hundreds of extra. Not to forget about the so-called dynamic pricing that doesn't necessarily give you better service. Here I know, specifically, of a case involving a premier train, namely the Mumbai-Howrah Duronto express. This train is always late--from 5 hours to 15/20 hours daily, unfailingly. However, the 'dynamic pricing' remains the same or even more, unfailingly. I've also observed TTEs on board ignoring inconvenienced passengers' requests to adjust their berths when few berths remain unclaimed or vacant, and eventually you observe such berths 'sold' to passengers who board the train without a ticket or reservation. A newer fast-buck phenomenon called 'on-board ticketing'! Nothing to write home about the air ticket surge pricing where you need to purchase seats too after purchasing confirmed reservation.

In the just concluded ICC Men's T20 World Cup-2026 that India won repeating & defeating history, the concerned cricket boards coveted for the fast bucks by somehow getting in India & Pakistan in the semi-finals, most preferably in the Final. Unfortunately, New Zealand defeated their designs; but they still had India against NZ, earning huge revenues anyway. Undoubtedly, cricket is one of the fastest routes to the fast buck.

I have to cease here, on this apparently ceaseless fast-buck syndrome! If you happen to have your examples/experiences in this regard you can diligently put those up in comments.