Demonetization and the ‘uncommon’ man

On the eve of 8th November 2016 the Prime Minister of India announced that from midnight onwards the 500 and 1000 ruppee notes will not be a legal tender anymore. The reason and motive behind it was to wash out the black money in the nation. Well, that’s not what I’m here to talk about. 

I don’t support any political party but as a citizen all I care about is how my country strolls in the path of development. I care about what good happens in my country. We all agree to the fact that a major portion of the society consists of the middle and then the lower class people. How well do we know the people who dwell on the roads and streets? Don’t you think they too deserve the security and comfort a common man or a wealthy man has? Indeed they do!

Nearly two weeks have passed by after the announcement, economist have a lot to say about the decision of the government, some in support, some not, but who has noticed the common man? 

The masses are spending days standing in queues for their money, some patient and some impatient ones. I heard a friend say yesterday that it’s a tough phase but the eventual result is going to be phenomenal. Well it might be, we can afford to say that because we are not affected as much. 

Currently I reside in another country, and the situation in India is something I had no idea about. It sounded funny when I heard people standing in long lines outside banks, people doing insane things and yes people saying, “Sonam Gupta bewafa hai”. However now I know what it feels like when I found myself in a similar situation. 

Imagine you have an ATM card with huge amounts deposited in your account(that sounds really pleasing, doesn’t it?). Here’s the twist, now imagine yourself inserting your card in an ATM and the machine tells you you have insufficient balance. You try typing the lowest amount and still get the same answer. Initially you’ll think maybe there is no money in the machine. Now you’ll try in the next machine, same answer, and another, and so on. Eventually you’ve ended up touring nearly all the ATM machines around your reach. You have no idea how it feels! It’s not a great feeling. It’s like standing in the middle of an ocean and not having water to drink. 

Let’s move on to a man who works on daily wages. For those who don’t know what the life of such a person is, let me explain. This man goes for work every morning and earns his salary on a daily basis, so basically he has to work daily or he has no money for his daily needs like food, water and clothing. The day he gets ill his family has nothing to eat. So now, if this man gets 500 daily, what will happen when all of a sudden two big currency notes are cancelled overnight? Everybody wants change(smaller currency notes), and a person who has it will never give it away that easily. So next morning when this guy goes for work will he get paid? In most cases, No! Everyone is busy exchanging and getting money. What about this guy who has no money at all? How will he eat? How will his family survive? 

Life is short and full of new experiences and teachings. It’s upto us to learn from these situations and not just laugh over them. Everytime you experience something different in life don’t think it happened just like that because nothing happens in life without a reason! 

Everytime you fail or are unhappy always remember that life is like those mathematics textbooks where the answers are written at the back, you need to turn over and check once you have done your part. And finally thank the Almighty for what you have because not everyone is as lucky as you are, not everyone is as fortunate as you are, but they all still exist and they all dream big! 

“Learn from your own life because your answers are in you!”