Cash Crisis

Rahul was in deep thought. His wife; Pooja served tea and said, “I am running short on cash. The two thousand rupees which you had withdrawn last week is almost finished. We need to get more cash now. I have to pay the maidservant, the flower seller, the newspaper vendor and the person who cleans our car.”

Rahul took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, we also have to pay the house rent next week. I need fifteen thousand for house rent. When I talked to the landlord he said that he won’t be taking payment through cheque. After paying to these guys we are not going to be left with any cash.”

Pooja said, “You can withdraw only two thousand rupees from ATM but there is no guarantee of getting a success from any ATM. Most of the ATMs have not received cash for the last ten days.”

Rahul said, “Can you recall that I had to stand in queue for four hours just to withdraw two thousand rupees from the ATM that too at the mid of the night? Let me go to any nearby branch of Oriental Bank to try my luck.”  

Pooja said, “You need to hurry to get ready. Meanwhile, I will make breakfast for you.”

Rahul was ready within five minutes and was having breakfast. His wife had already kept cheque book, pass book and copies of ID proof in his bag. After finishing the breakfast, Rahul went downstairs, started his motorbike and began his journey in search of a branch where he could find some cash. He went to three branches of Oriental Bank but at each branch he saw the same notice, i.e. ‘NO CASH’.”

When he reached the fourth branch he saw some hope in the form of a long queue outside. A bank staff was also present who was trying to handle various queries from people. On Rahul’s query, he replied, “I am sorry, we cannot make you a payment because your account is not at this branch.”

Rahul said, “What is the use of computerized banking? Till date, I was under the impression that I can do banking transaction from any branch of Oriental Bank anywhere in this country because my account is with your bank.”

The bank staff rudely said, “Sir, I am helpless. We are unable to do anything as we are receiving very low amount of cash. We have decided to pay cash to those people who have accounts at this branch.”

Dejected Rahul returned to his home. After opening the door for him, Pooja shot the inevitable question, “What happened? Did you get some cash?”

Rahul just sank in the sofa with a loud thud and said, “No way. The bank staff was telling that I need to go the branch which has my account.”

Pooja said, “But your account is with a branch in Gurgaon. What will you do now?”

Rahul said, “This is the real problem for me. That branch is about fifty kilometer from this place. The fact that it is a small branch further compounds the problem. I fear to see ‘NO CASH’ notice after reaching that branch. I am thinking of trying at Connaught Place. If I am not wrong, there is a big branch of Oriental Bank in E block of Connaught Place. I am hopeful that a branch at Connaught Place would not refuse to pay me. After all, it is right in the heart of Delhi.”

Pooja said, “But it is already two O’clock. There is no use of starting for Connaught Place now. It is too late.”

Rahul said, “I am thinking of going there tomorrow. I will start at eight in the morning. I will go to Vaishali metro station. I will take the metro train for Rajiv Chowk. Let us see what is in store at Connaught Place.”

Next day, Rahul started on his mission to get some cash; at about eight in the morning. His wife packed a lunch box for him so that there would be no need to waste money on buying food. Rahul was carrying the pre-paid card of metro so he did not have to worry about spending the dwindling reserve of cash. Rahul’s purse contained only three hundred rupees. Looking at those notes, Rahul uttered, “There were good old days when the same purse used to contain at least three thousand rupees.”

Hearing that, Pooja said, “Don’t be so depressed. This is just a passing phase. Things will improve in coming days.”

It took a one hour drive to reach Vaishali metro station. After a thirty minute ride on the metro rail, Rahul reached Rajiv Chowk. When he came out of gate number seven of the metro station, he could see the familiar green sign board of Oriental Bank in front of him. Seeing no crowd outside the bank, Rahul was getting worried. There was a security guard at the entrance of the bank. The burly security guard raised his right arm to block Rahul’s path and asked, “Hey, where are you going?”

Rahul said, “Bhaiya, I need to withdraw money from my account.”

The security guard asked, “Do you have account with this branch?”

Rahul said, “No, but my account is with a branch in Gurgaon.”

Hearing that, the security guard brought some irritation in his voice and said, “Then you need to go to your branch. We have stopped paying cash to account holders from any other branch.”

Rahul said, “Bhaiya, this appears to be a small branch. But I think there is a much bigger branch of Oriental Bank at Connaught Place. Can you guide me to that branch?”

The security guard said, “Yeah, that is in the E block. But there is no use of going to that branch.”

Rahul thought that there was no harm in giving it a try. He walked towards the E block at a rapid pace. After walking for about two hundred meters, he could see the sign board of the bank. He felt more hopeful when he saw a long queue outside that branch. But his happiness was short lived once he realized that the queue was outside the ATM. Nobody appeared to be interested in going inside the bank. The security guard outside the gate told that cash was not available at the branch. When Rahul narrated his problem to the security guard, he allowed Rahul to go inside. There was a huge waiting area inside but there was not a single soul in that waiting area. After craning his neck in all directions, Rahul could see a queue of about twenty people near a counter. Rahul could also see cheque leaves in every person’s hand. Rahul went there and stood at the last position in the queue. Within a few moments, the person at the head of the queue was coming back. The sad expression on his face was enough to reveal that he was not coming with cash. Rahul asked that person, “Hey, could you find cash?”

The person replied, “No, they are not giving cash today. They are just giving token against the cheque. Tomorrow they will be giving cash against the token.”  

Rahul came out of the queue in order to enquire with the bank staff. He said to the bank staff, “Sir, I don’t have account at this branch. Can I withdraw money from this branch?”

The bank staff was showing a long face. He stared at Rahul with expressionless eyes and said, “Yeah, you can. But we are giving only ten thousand rupees to those who have account at this branch. For account holders from any other branch, we are giving only five thousand rupees. We don’t have cash right now so we are only issuing tokens. As your account is with another branch, so you can get your cash day after tomorrow.”

Rahul said, “Sir, this defeats the whole purpose of computerized banking. The government has announced that anybody can withdraw twenty four thousand rupees from his account.”

The bank staff said with all the courtesy in his voice, “Sir, we are getting so little cash that we are unable to satisfy our customers. We are trying our best to satisfy as many customers as we can. The Reserve Bank is not supplying as much cash as we really need.”

Rahul did not say a word and came back. After coming out of the bank, Rahul was feeling quite dejected. There was not much crowd at that place; which was unusual. Some young guys and girls could be seen roaming aimlessly; which they usually do. Most of the hawkers were conspicuous by their absence. Rahul sat down on a bench and filled his mouth with pan masala. After chewing on the pan masala for a while, he spat a strong jet of red saliva in the garbage bin. Then he took out his mobile phone and dialed his wife’s number. Rahul said to Pooja, “Things are equally bad even at Connaught Place. There are two branches but none of them has cash. This is horrible. When banks are Connaught Place are in this state then I shudder to think about a small branch in Gurgaon.”  

Pooja asked, “Now, what is your next plan of action?”

Rahul said, “There is no use of going to Gurgaon now. It will take me about an hour to reach Gurgaon by metro train. But my bank is about fifteen kilometers from M G Road metro station. It will take me another hour to reach there by auto-rickshaw. I will not be able to reach there before two; only to see ‘NO CASH’ notice. I am thinking of starting for Gurgaon tomorrow morning. I will go by my bike. It will save my time.”

After sitting on the bench for a few more minutes, Rahul began walking towards the gate number two of Rajiv Chowk metro station. Within a few seconds, he was inside the metro station.

After clearing the security cheque, Rahul touched the sensor with his prepaid card when the turnstile opened and Rahul crossed the last hurdle towards the next metro train. He could see queues of people near two ATMs. He was looking at those people with a touch of jealousy because Rahul’s ATM card had been blocked about two months back. There was some security breach in ATMs which resulted in more than six hundred thousand ATMs being blocked. Rahul just walked past those gleaming ATMs as if they were making faces at him.

Next day, Rahul started for Gurgaon at about seven in the morning. After about two and a half hour of a tortuous navigation through peak traffic, Rahul was parking his bike in front of his bank. There were a few people outside the bank. Rahul could easily see the ‘NO CASH’ notice outside the bank. He was at his wit’s end; unable to think anything. 

After a few seconds, he could come out of his shock and remembered that he needed to apply for ATM card and cheque book. After too much cajoling, the security guard allowed him to enter the bank. He gave the requisition slips for ATM card and cheque book to the concerned staff. After that, Rahul sat down on a chair as he needed some rest before starting his return journey. About ten minutes had passed when the bank manager announced, “We have good news. A businessman has deposited two lakh rupees just now. We are going to make cash payments to twenty people on a first come first serve basis. Each person will get five thousand rupees. You are requested to make a queue quickly.”

People meekly followed his dictum and made an impromptu queue. Rahul was among the lucky twenty who got the tokens. After taking the token, Rahul once again sat on a chair. After waiting for about one and a half hour, Rahul could finally get five thousand rupees in cash. He was confused whether to feel happy or sad after getting the money. He called his wife to share the good news and then started his motorbike to go back to his home.

When Rahul reached his home it was already half past four. His whole body was in pain. He said to his wife, “It is tough to ride a motorbike for such a long journey. While coming back, I was feeling so much pain in my legs that I felt like jumping off my bike. When I was young, I used to ride at least hundred kilometers on my bike at one go. I think I am getting old now. ”

Pooja said, “No way, you are still young. You are just a borderline case between youth and middle age. Moreover, your body has lost the habit of riding a bike for so many years. It is more attuned to the comforts of a car. It will be better if you will start taking me for a ride on your bike at least once in a week.”

Rahul said, “I am sure that this cash crunch is going to last for at least six months to come. I will have to forget my car in order to save the money. Next time, I will take you with me when I shall be going to Gurgaon to withdraw money from my bank. I can assure you that it won’t be a romantic ride at all.”