Chasing the cash van to weight gain: How India Today staff braved demonetisation
As serpentine queues outside ATMs all across the country become fodder for TV news and the cash crunch throws more than half of the country's economy - particularly the informal one - completely out of gear, how do journalists themselves cope with Narendra Modi's "surgical strike on black money"?
Cash or no cash, journalists must report, edit, write up accurate stories; commentators among us must opinionate, debate and discuss the cash crunch. But who gets to stare at their pockets, or e-wallets, as they salivate at ATM vestibules, freshly en-cashed, or completely run dry, while they merely take TV bytes or quotes for news stories, without themselves availing any of the rather diminished facilities.
We asked around and requested our in-house busybodies to narrate their experiences, harrowing or not. What they had to say will make you shake your head with shock and awe and occasionally roll on the floor with uncontrollable laughter. It's not criminal to tickle your funny bone as you wince a bit too much in collective grief.
Read on.
1. Prerna Kaul Mishra:
It feels empowering to exercise some control.
You can laugh this away if you like but the past few days have given me a somewhat enlightening (and rather satisfying) experience of being frugal and astute.
I seem to be at peace with myself because I know there is a blanket ban on giving in to temptation. There has been no impulse buying since I know my supply of Rs 100 notes is very restricted and I may as well save them for the benefit of buying things as unexciting as potatoes, tomatoes or a bread loaf.
Honestly, I do not remember the last time I gave so much thought to buying a pint of juice where I could just do with a glass of water. It feels empowering to exercise some control.
With supply being short, I am absolutely loving the way the kids are taking to these restrictions. This would probably be the first week in their lifetime where their wish is not my command.
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| Costs of cash rush. (Photo credit: PTI) |
There are no unreasonable demands and for the first time, they have probably spared a moment to study the Rs 10 note and coins with due respect. My daughter stopped throwing a fit about her "not so cool anymore" white school uniform and told me she would wait till things get better with the currency. I was amused but proud. Compromise does not come to this generation naturally.
In fact, I was forced to do a surgical strike on my daughter’s piggy bank and my son’s savings to make sure there were small notes to help the house maids. And they opened up the coffers without hesitation to help people who have been helping them all this while.
All in all, this will be an experience of a lifetime for them. Don’t know if they will, ever again, get a chance to register the dignity of small denominations.
This has also been their initiation into learning to give away some surplus to help poorer people who are not online to tide past this difficulty. The esoteric impact apart, it is for these tiny-miny reasons of my own that I am delighted with the demonitisation drive.
2. Bhavneet Singh Aurora
I have not one but two incidents that I'd like to share:
Aunty's pink pyjamas and 11 debit cards.
I was returning home from a night out around 11:30pm on Saturday evening when I spotted a line of banks near my home. I didn't expect any of the banks' ATMs to have any cash.
But I saw around 20 people lined up in a queue outside one bank. Thinking that this was a good opportunity to withdraw some cash, I parked and joined them.
About four people ahead of me was a middle-aged aunty wearing a bright pink tracksuit. I noticed something curious about the woman. She was repeatedly looking at the palm of her left hand. My wife and I didn't think anything about it at that time, but a couple of minutes later, when it was her turn, it became apparent what she was doing.
The woman had the pin codes of about 11 cards written on her hand. She'd got the cards of her entire family - husband, kids, maid, father-in-law, mother-in-law, you name it, she had their cards, I think.
Of the three ATM machines which were working, she used all of them one by one and withdrew about Rs 22,000. Loaded with all those Rs 100 notes, she happily - and literally - danced her way out of the kiosk.
The rest of us who were standing in the queue wondered if she'd left any money in the machines or not. Fortunately, we got our share of the money. Not as much as the woman did, but enough to last us a couple of days.
Chasing the cash van
Monday evening, while returning from work, a cash van overtook me when I was almost home. Some trivia: There are about five ATMs near my home. The cash van was heading towards one of them.
Considering the traffic and multiple connecting roads on the road at Kanhai Gaon, I was driving slow. As soon as the cash van overtook me, I saw some people running on the road.
Initially, I didn't pay attention to it. But when more people joined in, I realised that all of them, with more and more people joining the mad rush, were running after the cash van.
And sure enough, even before the men from the cash van could load the ATMs, there was a cue of huffing and panting men waiting their turn outside the ATM in an orderly queue. I didn't stop to see, but hopefully, they all got their money, all Rs 2,000 worth of it in crisp Rs 100 notes.
3. Geetika Sasan Bhandari
Selflessness wins in the end.
I'll be completely honest. Ever since the news about the demonetisation of notes broke, on November 8, to be precise, I haven't felt any sense of panic or the need to add to the snake-like queues outside ATMs. This is primarily because I don't buy the groceries or the basics in my house, and that had been sorted out thanks to my mom-in-law who went to the bank and was escorted inside by the manager himself. It's the senior citizens privilege, you see, and thanks to that we managed quite OK.
For everything else, there's MasterCard (or whichever card you have). From ordering food to filling petrol, to paying for dry cleaning, the card was pretty much accepted everywhere. Until Saturday morning, when I had some work in the market and decided to survey the situation at my bank-HDFC-which is in the same area. No sooner had I parked that I saw huge lines, and met a friend outside, who said they were issuing counters and her number was 235. Within a split second my plans to queue up were discarded and I went about my work.
Cut to Sunday night, when a neighbour saw me outside trying to get a glimpse of the brightest moon, and told me the ATM at Corporation Bank in the market closest to our area had just been replenished with cash. It was 8 pm. Armed with the cards, I quietly snuck off in my car, only to find others had got the wind of it too. So I decided to get into the queue and was the seventh person in line. But my luck ran out soon enough and the cash finished before my turn came. The only other functioning ATM there was of Standard Chartered, but that had over 30 people already. My plans thwarted, I went back home.
Then, this morning, while I was chatting with my driver on the way to work about the hardships people are facing in wake of the new policy, he put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, new Rs 2,000 note. It was no use to him, he said, since no one was willing to accept it. They didn't have the change to give. If he bought vegetables for Rs 200, how was the vendor to return Rs 1,800? He gave it to me and said maybe I could put it to better use.
A noble gesture must have some benefits for the giver, I'm sure. And so, at lunch, I got a call from him saying the Yes Bank ATM at our office had just got some cash. I asked how many people there were, to which he replied, just a few. Quite sure the line would swell, I ignored it and went back to my desk. Another 10 minutes later, I got another call saying he was standing in line for me and was now at No. 5.
I rushed downstairs to see a queue of over 150 people. I promptly went in and stood at No. 5 and told my team that I could give all of them some money each to get by for the next few days. The machine, said the people ahead of me, was responding very slowly, and each person was standing with at least three cards, some their own and some of their friends. I have never seen people openly telling others their PIN numbers. And so, I went in, and in less than three minutes, was richer by Rs 6,000. Oh wait, make that 4,000. After all, Rs 2,000 (in pristine Rs 100 notes) belongs to my driver. He started the morning selflessly, by handing me his money. It's only fair the day should end on a good note.
4. Ananya Bhattacharya
Hmrph! I gained a kilo!
After lunch yesterday, I got on the weighing scale after a week. The needle oscillated left to right, went past my more-or-less constant weight. And settled.
The reading was a kilo more than what I weighed last week. And I'm a few kilos above my 'ideal' weight. I had ditched the office elevators for the stairs; I had cut down on my sugar intake per day. And the scale wasn't faulty. This shouldn't have happened. While I calmed my racing heart, my head began analysing the possible reasons behind that one extra kilo on my body.
Before November 8, my dinner every night would generally be soup or puffed rice or something light. The stuff you get in stores by paying cash, you know.
When Narendra Modi announced his surgical strike on black money, I checked the purse to see what I was left with. 12 Rs 100 notes, a few 10-rupee notes, and some coins. I stashed three of those 12 notes away, and lent someone five of them. Rs 450. That's all my purse said on Wednesday evening. I take an Uber to work and back, and PayTM takes care of that.
I had to switch completely to food-ordering apps because there was no question of spending those 450 rupees on dinner. The lunch in the office cafeteria doesn't accept online payment, so that money needed to be spent there. I haven't yet been able to muster the courage to stand in a queue outside an ATM or a bank.
On Zomato, among the restaurants that deliver to my house, a caesar salad costs about an average of Rs250 (plus taxes + delivery charges + packing charges) AND is of dubious quality. A pizza or pasta (with a LOT of cheese), or a quesadilla is a better, tastier and cheaper, choice. The result: 7/8 days of stuffing my face with mostly junk food has equalled a kilo of weight. Thank you, demonetisation!
5. Karola Koerber
I felt like a billionaire!
I recently discovered a new hobby in which I find some guilty, sarcastic pleasure. It's called "ATM hunting".
My friends and I would spent hours to drive around the city in the middle of the night, jumping from one ATM to the next to find one which would work. Most of them didn't, or after hours in the queue they went out of cash or simply out of order in front of our eyes. The struggle was real. I actually calculated the time I have spent in queues in the past seven days: I counted 10 hours.
So yesterday, at the 11th hour, the magic happened! I patiently waited in a queue, only to see the ATM machine going out of service right in front of my eyes, like so many times before. So I chose obedience to higher powers and left the queue. All of a sudden a very resolute young lady appeared out of nowhere, grabbed my wrist and literally pulled me past the queue into the bank building, placed me right in front of the ATM machine and told me to wait for just 10 minutes. The bank assistant shut down and restarted the machine.
The magic worked. After the longest 10 minutes of my life I was the first in the queue to withdraw cash. Just to be sure, I counted the money. Rs2000! I felt like a billionaire.
6. Tanisha Sangha
I couldn't believe my luck!
After what was probably the most frugal weekend of my life, I was convinced that living cashless wasn't nearly as difficult as standing in a queue for three hours for a few thousand bucks. I was simply not ready to go near an ATM after what I had seen in the news for the past few days. So, when I walked past a Central Bank ATM that didn't have at least a 100 people waiting outside I knew it had to be out of cash. Right? Wrong!
In what can only be described as a whisper, the guard outside the abandoned ATM said - 'Madame, aapko cash chahiye? Abhi Abhi daala hai.' No way! I walked in - half expecting to turn back in 30 seconds. After all, this has to be a joke. Itne achche din?
I inserted my debit card in the machine with bated breath. This was the moment of truth. Out came Rs2000 in crisp 100 rupee notes. That's right. 20 of them. In went another card. Out came another 2000 rupees. I looked around. I was alone. I was rich. Seriously rich!
In the next five minutes I had called my parents, three of my friends and four relatives to tell them about this jackpot ATM in the heart of south delhi.
"Leave everything and come here."
"After all, what could be more important?:
"Rs4000 rupees - can you believe it?"
"The party's at my house tonight."
By the time I had convinced everyone that I wasn't hallucinating and walked back to the ATM I could almost not find the narrow door leading to the cash haven. There were over a 100 people that had emerged from nowhere and were now looking like they had been waiting for over an hour to withdraw cash! All in a span of seven minutes.
I held my handbag a bit tighter, felt inside for my wallet and opened it in anticipation. Still there! 40 of the most beautiful 100 rupee notes. Alas, it wasn't a dream.
So here are some hacks on how to get cash-rich this demonetisation season - from someone who still can't believe her luck:
- Never assume an empty ATM is broke.
- Talk to the guards - they know more than the news channels!
7. Rahul Ghosh
Dollars save the day!
Us motoring journalists are a weird lot and prefer the road rather than a comfy airplane chair. So with a recent invitation in Chandigarh we decided to take the road. Looking at the current cash crunch in the country, I must admit that this is the first time in a decade that I am doing this that I am left with Rs25 in my pocket.
By the time we reached Ambala, our stomachs were screaming more than usual for some grub. With the ultra-famous "Puran Singh ka Dhaba" coming up we decided to try our luck. While they refused to take debit or credit cards, the manager showed us the way to three ATMs nearby.
Not surprisingly they were all shut. We returned with the bad news and perhaps we had to reach Chandigarh to get some nourishment.
However, I did have a five dollar (US) bill in my pocket and hesitantly asked the manager if he would accept it and feed us. Sure, he said and in came multiple plates of mutton curry and straight-out-of-the-tawa rotis!
He even threw in a cola for us! And just as we were heading out after a sumptuous meal, he did say that he would have taken Euros too.
No cash! Dire consequences! Paid for lunch at #puransinghdhaba in #ambala in #usdollar #CashRush #CashCrunch pic.twitter.com/wjNqXWCExr
— Rahul Ghosh (@bulletcompany) November 16, 2016
8. Panini Anand
Three women at the ATM
While standing in the queue at an ICICI Bank ATM in Lajpat Nagar, I saw three women, who must be in their 50s, enter the ATM at 11.15pm to withdraw cash.
Strangely, after withdrawing the cash, they didn't come out, and asked others to withdraw the money. By the time my turn came, it was already 12am and I could see how anxiously the women had been waiting for the clock to strike 12.
The three women, on my asking the reason for their excitement, said it's 12am which means it's a new day. So they could use their cards again and there will be no need to stand in the queue for the next day.
However, this was not to the liking of others waiting in the queue and they started objecting. But the women didn't budge and asked the others to shut up.
After I had withdrawn my money, the three ladies lined up to get their money, again, and with their pockets full, left for home happily.
After the announcement of demonetisation, it has become difficult for me to even survive with such shortage of money. Seeing the serpentine queues in front of ATMS and banks, I couldn't muster the courage of visiting them. Meeting daily expenses has become difficult, and suddenly one day you check your pockets, and find you're left with Rs 20 cash.
So, with no money to even meet my basic necessities of food and water, I decided to face the music I'd been trying to avoid for many days and finally visited the ATM on Sunday .
Rs 1,900 not 2,000
While I was waiting for my turn, different thoughts came to my mind, such as what if I insert the card and the ATM runs out of cash? People standing in front had 3-4 cards in their hand which caused me much annoyance.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, I managed to reach the ATM machine, inserted my card and thought of entering 2,000, but a sudden thought crossed my mind: what if they surprise me with the new Rs 2,000 note? So, taking no chances, I decided to withdraw Rs 1,900.
As I entered the amount, the cash came out in denomination of 100s. Seeing so much money after being cash-starved for days, I felt like a billionaire. Although the notes were not in a good condition, I've never felt happier at an ATM before.