Nestled amidst the high mountains of the Himalayas was a small village. This village was surrounded byin accessible terrain on three sides, while on its fourth wasa vast lake. The only way to reach the village was by crossing the lake and more often than not, the lakere mained frozen. However, the village was self-sufficient and they had everything they wanted, and what they did not have they exchanged with each other through the barter system.
With the lake remaining frozen for eight months in ayear, the village was totally isolated from the rest of the country. Since they only traded or exchanged goods, the villagers had never dealt with money nor did they possess any. So much so, even in the 19th century, the villagers had not seen a single coin. They had not even heard a bout it! So, you can imagine the commotion that took place in the village when on a bright morning a villager came upon a silver coin. Actually, some bird that was flying overhead had dropped the coin accidentally. The coin had the face of their king on one side and a royal seal on the other.
The villager did not know what to do with it.
"Take it to the nambardar (village headman). He’ll know what to do with it," said the potter.
"Yes, he’ll come up with some novel way to deal with it," seconded the fisherman.
So the villager took it to the nambardar who was considered the wisest man in the village. He, too, was amazed on seeing the coin. The sudden appearance oft his new shining round metal had the whole village agog with excitement. They assembled in the village square and debated in detail about it. It was then decided that the nambardar would come up with a solution the nextday.
The nambardar pondered the problem all through the rest of the day and night. He spent a restless day anda sleepless night. At the end, the nambardar came up with his decision.
He appeared before the assembled crowd and spokeat length.
"Friends," he said, "this is the first coin we are looking at. It also has the face of our esteemed ruler." He then saluted the ruler’s image on the coin. His listeners also followed suit.
