My Friend Lent ₹2 Lakhs to a Guy Who Might Be Emotionally Using Him
(Formatted with AI for better readability)
Here’s an interesting story about a friend of mine who may or may not be getting scammed/used. Let’s call him Nithin, and the other guy Mahesh. Read through this and tell me honestly — is Mahesh genuinely an asshole, or is he just someone whose life circumstances make him look like one?
I want to compile the opinions under this post and show them to Nithin 😩
So, several years ago, Nithin bought an exotic sportbike in Kochi and posted about it in a WhatsApp group. Mahesh privately messaged him after seeing the post, welcomed him to the group, and they started talking. Mahesh soon found out that Nithin was settled abroad, which naturally gives people the impression that he earns well.
Mahesh then told Nithin that he had stage 3/4 cancer and was recovering from it. (According to Nithin, Mahesh definitely did seem to have genuine health issues when they eventually met.) Mahesh would often talk about how people had emotionally betrayed him, and over time he formed a very “brotherly” bond with Nithin.
Eventually, they met in person. Mahesh would occasionally ask Nithin to bring him small things from abroad — usually worth around ₹3k–₹7k 💁🏻♂️
Fast forward two years. Nithin decided to sell his bike. By this point, Mahesh was heavily in debt due to credit card expenses, mostly related to his health issues. Since Nithin wasn’t in town, he asked Mahesh to help handle the sale.
Nithin found a buyer, left the bike with Mahesh, and told the buyer to coordinate with him. The sale went through successfully. Mahesh then asked Nithin how he wanted the payment.
And this is where Nithin made the mistake 🤦♂️
He told Mahesh:
“Bro, keep ₹2 lakhs from it for now. Clear your credit card debt and pay me back monthly.”
It has now been THREE YEARS… and not a single payment has been made.
Whenever Nithin asks about the money, Mahesh talks about his financial struggles, health issues, bad luck, etc. Meanwhile, Mahesh still occasionally asks him to buy things from abroad — once even asking for a laptop worth ₹25k. Nithin eventually stopped doing favors like that.
What really irritated Nithin, though, was this:
Nithin bought a Samsung S23 Ultra. When he came to Kochi, he used Mahesh’s bike for commuting during those two weeks. Almost immediately, Mahesh started suggesting that they “exchange” phones — Mahesh had a regular S22, not even the Ultra version.
At first, he said it jokingly. But over time, he started seriously pushing the idea. He would say things like:
“You can always buy the latest phone anyway… why not give this one to me?”
Apparently, he tried really hard to normalize the idea, but Nithin didn’t budge and brushed it off.
The following year, Nithin upgraded his phone and gave the S23 Ultra to a family member instead of Mahesh — though he never told Mahesh that.
By this point, Mahesh had quit his job, lost his house, sold off his bike cheaply, and according to him, his health had worsened further. His newly married wife also left him, saying he never worked properly and was “all talk.”
Mahesh constantly discusses “business ideas” with Nithin and throws around massive projections involving crores in profits.
For example:
At one point, Mahesh claimed that a startup involving him was valued at ₹300 crore, but they refused to sell because the valuation was “too low.”
A few months later, the same guy called Nithin asking if he knew any buyers who would purchase it for ₹2 crore.
Nithin was internally like:
“Hello… what happened to the ₹300 crore valuation from before?!”
And here comes the CRAZIEST part 😂😂😂
At one point, Mahesh casually claimed that he was starting to develop the ability to read people’s minds.
My poor friend Nithin initially reacted with:
“Aano?! 😱”
Then a few seconds later he realized who was saying this and thought:
“Damn… is this how dumb he thinks I am? 🥲🥲”
Apparently, Mahesh says random unbelievable things like this quite often, completely forgets about them later, and never brings them up again. He has also had long-term issues with his parents and siblings.
At this stage, Nithin has mostly distanced himself because he’s almost certain he’ll never see that ₹2 lakhs again. Still, he occasionally meets Mahesh whenever he’s in Kochi because:
- He doesn’t want direct confrontation.
- He doesn’t want to fully cut ties in case there’s still some chance of getting the money back someday.
So what do you guys think?
Nithin is my close friend, so I know the full story. He isn’t completely naive, but I think he underestimates how manipulative and cunning some people can be. Since he’s spent most of his life outside Kerala, he isn’t as “street smart” as some of us here.
He strongly feels Mahesh has been trying to take advantage of him because he sees Nithin as someone easy to emotionally manipulate. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to completely dismiss Mahesh in case there’s still something genuine about him.
P.S. To the motorheads here — I can’t reveal the bike model because it could expose their identities if there are mutual contacts here. The bike is technically worth around ₹3.5 lakhs, though due to hype people usually ask ₹4–5 lakhs for it. One reason Mahesh held onto it for a long time before selling was because there weren’t many buyers willing to pay that price for this particular mode
Have you guys had any such Mahesh in your life.?!!
(Sorry for the long post 😬)
TL;DR:
My friend met a guy through a biking group who claimed to be recovering from cancer and slowly built a “brotherly” bond with him. Over the years, the guy kept asking for favors and money-related help. My friend eventually trusted him enough to let him keep ₹2 lakhs from a bike sale temporarily to clear debts — but it’s been 3 years with zero repayment.
Meanwhile, the guy keeps making questionable claims, asks for expensive things despite owing money, talks about unrealistic crores-worth business ideas, once tried convincing my friend to give him his S23 Ultra because “you can always buy the latest one,” and even claimed he was developing the ability to read minds 💀
Now my friend is conflicted: is this guy genuinely struggling with health/life issues, or is he a manipulative person taking advantage of emotional sympathy and kindness?
