Pune: Money may make the world go round but it still can't tempt a 54-year-old man from Satara in Maharashtra to let go of his honesty.

Dhanaji Jagdale, who makes ends meet by doing odd jobs, is earning praise from all quarters after he returned Rs 40,000 cash lying at a bus stop on Diwali to its rightful owner.

While the grateful man who got united with his money wanted to give Rs 1,000 as reward, Jagdale only accepted Rs 7 for bus fare to get to his native Pingali village in Satara's Maan taluka, as he only had Rs 3 in his pocket at the time.

"I had gone to Dahiwadi for Diwali for some work and returned to the bus stop. I found a bundle of notes nearby. I asked people around and finally found a man distressed and looking for something. I soon found out the cash bundle belonged to him," Jagdale said.

"He told me the bundle contained Rs 40,000. He had collected it for his wife's surgery. He wanted to give me Rs 1,000 but I took only Rs 7 as the bus fare to my village is Rs 10 and I only had Rs 3 in my pocket," Jagdale said.

Jagdale has so far been felicitated by Satara BJP MLA Shivendraraje Bhosale, former MP Udayanraje Bhosale and several other organisations, though he refused to accept any cash award.

Rahul Barge, hailing from Koregaon tehsil in the district and currently living in America, made an offer of Rs 5 lakh, which too was refused by Jagdale.

"I think by taking someone's money, one would not get satisfaction. The only message I want to spread is that people should live honestly," he said.