Today I spent my first ever Rs.2000 note (as a currency bill is called in India) and the new Rs.500 ones. The later look pretty sleek and crispy. At IGI Airport in Delhi after breezing through immigration (the paperworks now are dramatically reduced), I proceeded to a "Thomas Cook" counter for money exchanged.
The guy at desk asked me to fill out a form while holding my $100 bill up against the light, eye scanning it from upside down, East, West, North and South. He found a small trace of black ink mark at one corner.
Please give me another $100 note (as a bill is called in India). I asked - "anything wrong with this one ?" Fetched from my local branch from the American hearland I had no reason to suspect the the note with Benjamin Franklin on top was anywhere close to counterfeit.
"Nothing wrong with it, but we can't take it. Try the next counter" - came the curt reply from the Thomas Cook guy. "May I know why ? You just said this is perfectly legal, yet you can't take it. Doesn't make sense", I asked. "Though perfectly legal tender, we only take shiny, crispy bills which are easily convertible", he replied back.
Tired and jet lagged, in no mood to waster time in arguments, I proceeded to the adjacent counter of Punjab National Bank. The guy checked my $100 bill, did'nt see any issues with it, looked at my Passport and gave me the equivalent currency - without asking for any redundant paperwork for me to write an essay on it.
Credit should be given where credit is due. For a difference, I found a government of India undertaking more efficient and Customer friendly than Thomas Cook - A private corporate which boasts of professionalism.
Weather isn't so bad after my arrival and has been very cooperative so far. Though muggy, it is not inordinately hot. City's weatherman with an interesting last name, Sarat Chandra Pasupalak had predicted early arrival of monsoon. Evenings are nice and breezy, reminding me of my growing up days in Bhubaneswar.
We never felt the heat so much those days. But today after couple of hours outside, I felt something missing. It is the comfort of AC - acronyms of Air Conditioning which was kinda luxury when I grew up in Bhubaneswar. Over dependence on AC makes us feel and complain about the heat.
As the saying goes in Odia - MANISHA EKA SUBIDHA BADI PRANI (humans are creatures of comfort). Now that I have the comfort of AC, every now and then I look forward to it. Same applies to most from our parent's generation who grew up in villages. After living in Bhubaneswar for decades, I doubt they can spend more than a day in village which don't provide the same comforts of the Capital city.
During the World war II at the time of relentless Nazi Bombing on England the British Royal Air Force fought bravely against the air blitzkrieg of Germany's Luftwaffe. Winston Churchill, the then British PM said this about Royal Air force - "Never in the History of mankind so many were dependent on so few", a tribute to the contribution of the handful of pilots who stubbornly defended the entire English population from the Nazi onslaught. Same can be attributed to AC - never in the history of Bhubaneswar, so many were humans were dependent on a devise. More later....
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