GANDHI GONE !! SUGAR GONE HIGH!!!

A Little over month back we faced the most familiar dialogue “Mera pyare deshwasiyon...!”  But what followed this cuddly line changed our life! In a matter of minutes I started feeling like an earthworm. Nothing in hand! My purse is full of waste paper!  As it dawned the following days my only worry was how to get money which can be used. 100 rupee note became my new hero! People waiting to see the new avatar of Gandhiji were longer than ever...All banks looked like ration shops or railway ticket booking counters... Overnight the bank fellows who used to pester for deposits and accounts became all the more powerful, authoritative and dominating...

I would get up daily with a strong resolution that I will withdraw MY OWN money TODAY. All that vanishes the moment I see the mile long queue...  I think I heard it all wrong... I think the dialogue actually meant “Mera pyare DARIDRAWASIYON”. How many times in the following days have I wished that this was all just a bad dream...! I shall close my eyes and everything will be back to normal again...!!

 As the stocks in the kitchen started to disappear my better half’s stare was becoming more and more demanding... I thought I will use the plastic money or cashless transaction and went proud with a pocket full of cards... Alas! It was all plastic..!Network jammed, transaction denied... With a heavy heart I had to keep all those handpicked groceries in the shop itself and return back like a defeated soldier! By the end of that harrowing week turn of events made me lose my prestige, my ego, my self-respect and I joined the millions who queued in front of the almighty BANK... There were restrictions on how much I can withdraw from what I have saved over the years. A bare minimum withdrawal was allowed that would suffice to feed my family. Waiting in bank queues cost me... Yes, Loss Of Pay (LOP)!!. My boss was too cooperative, he encouraged me to go get money so that he can mark more LOP for me... Red pen officially became my worst enemy... Surprisingly I didn’t see anybody coming in luxury cars to withdraw money. All I could see were the hapless, the so called “middle-class” people. While waiting in one such queue it struck me... over the past few weeks my spending pattern had completely changed. I was now spending money only to meet my bare necessities. Then, how about a person with Diabetes? Will he spend this hard withdrawn 2000 rupees for his own medicine or will he feed his family? Soaring prices have made sure 2000 bucks is just enough to get Rice and Dhal... As Indians we are more selfless... Family matters the most or to put in simple terms “Hunger beats all !! The planned move was more like a Tughlaqian idea implemented without a proper planning. It became more evident in the following days where crores of the New Gandhijis were smuggled across the states. Few made it to the newspaper headlines. It’s like tip of the iceberg.

As a common man I have only one request. Although I want all the black money hoarders to be punished rigorously by the closed eye lady with the balance (IPC), I need my hard earned money in my pocket...! My patient should have enough money to feed his family and take care of his health!  PLANNING IS THE KEY!  Please do not make us Daridravasiyon again!!