Demonetisation

Kanta Sharma joins the merriment with a box of sweets from her Delhi trip

The sudden scrapping of Rs1000 and Rs500 currency notes last night was met with instant alarm and panic on the streets. But at the Garden this morning, surprisingly, the mood was calm, even cheerful. There was none of that maddening furtiveness and urgency to get rid of high denomination notes before they ceased to be legal tender at midnight. Jokes flew thick and fast on how some of us had purportedly stashed our 'unaccounted cash' in gunny bags and water tanks, why it was 'not actually ill-gotten wealth but hard-earned money', who bought how many kilos of gold last night... and so on.
Late comers were greeted with wild innuendoes of having spent the night feverishly "counting notes” while absentees were said to be dancing the morning away at home on mattresses stuffed with what had now turned into waste paper. Kiran Prakash mimicked a movie black-marketeer, offering to exchange a Rs500 note for Rs400 (in hundred-rupee denomination) while Dilip Babani offered Rs 99 for a Rs100 note!
Somebody suggested going to the nearby Oshiwara crematorium where they were still accepting high denomination notes at face value – just that you’d have to convince them that you’re dead. And then, there was Fehmida Khan looking around for a kind soul who'd treat her to seengh-dana (salted peanuts) wrapped in a Rs1000 currency note.
In this air of merriment and bonhomie, Kanta Sharma marked her return from Delhi with a box of sweets -- white rectangular bars like mawa cake, ordinarily not available in Mumbai. Nobody knew its name. She insisted this was her Diwali treat for us, which was indeed very gracious of her. Thank you, Kanta-ji!
Kiran Prakash:
Dear Blog Monster, it seems you have reporters all over the Garden who keep you posted on developments even when you are physically not present. And such reports find place in the day's blog. Well coordinated effort. Kudos to you. I will have to be extra careful henceforth.