My Encounter with Demonetization @ Nov-2016 : Part 2 - Stuck in Udhampur without Money

 

Humble Request : Please read Part-1 of this Blog using the folloing link before starting this Blog :

https://asgthedong.blogspot.com/2022/04/my-encounter-with-demonetization-nov.html

I had to spend just about 20 minutes outside Udhampur Railway Station when an Army Vehicle with a driver and a soldier (rank of Havildar) dashed into the scene and stopped just in front of me. After checking my ID and ensuring that I was the correct person they had come to receive, they took care of me and my bag to get into the vehicle and made a swift start. I realized that they had reached the Railway Station exactly at the time they were told to reach, and it was the train that had arrived 20 minutes before the scheduled time on that day.The Havildar told me that there was a small problem in the Officer's Guest House which I was supposed to stay and that they had made my arrangements in one of the rooms of Barrack for initial 2 nights.

Since this was my first visit to Udhampur and there were not many good options of hotels visible online, it was my choice to seek an accommodation within Army Campus. Although they had had ensured that I was the sole occupant of that room in the Barrack (usually shared by 3 soldiers), the toilet and shower rooms were common for 7-8 rooms and were about 50 feet away from the door of my room.I could hardly sleep for an hour when I was woken up by the sound of a morning parade on the grounds near the Barrack. Peeping out of the window near my bed, I could see about 60-70 soldiers making a beautifully orchestrated parade like what I had only watched in TV until that day.

Although the day for the soldiers start at early, the normal functioning of any Army Depot starts at around 8:30 am and Udhampur was no exception.Breakfast was served at my room at 8 am and I made a point to get ready exactly at 8:30 am and reach the gate of the Depot which was about 200 mts. away from my Barrack.

The Major welcomed me with warm gesture in her office and offered me a glass of Hot Water which was a surprise for me unless I later realized that everyone drank only Hot Water in that part of India during the winters.She assured me of all needed infrastructure and cooperation from her staff along with accommodation arrangements on nominal charges for the team of my Vendor which supposed to arrive there from Delhi in few days.

After formal discussions on the Project, being of same age group we spent some time discussing personal, social, and political matters (including Demonetization). After talking for about 20-25 minutes, I realized that her husband too was a part of Indian IT Industry, and she knew how challenging that Project was.

After we finished our tea, she took me to the Deputy Commandant (DC) of the Depot who was an officer with rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The DC was a jovial gentleman in his mid-forties from one of the most beautiful and unexplored states from North-East of India. He had his views with absolute clarity on all the topics surrounding the India and Indian Army that time including China, Pakistan, Defense Manufacturing and Demonetization. He also spoke on length about the upcoming Assemble Elections which included the Elections of his home state. He also told me about his retirement plans and ideas about the Business Ventures that he was going to take in his hometown post retirement. Today when I look back, I can easily say that those 30 minutes with the Lt Colonel were one of the most interesting 30 minutes of my entire experience with Indian Army.

Once I explained my plan to the DC and got his go ahead, I was given the permission to meet the employees in the HR/Payroll Departments which were the first to be brought into the new IT System which meant that they were the first who were supposed to get their data digitized with help of my Vendor.

Majority of employees in these Depots are civilians with whom I had to deal more often during the execution of my Project with Indian Army Ordnance (2016-2018) and the HR/Payroll Department was made up of 100% civilian employees across Depots who had their own good and bad perceptions on automation and implementation of ERP in their daily working system which was mostly manual or dependent on standalone PCs with Microsoft Office.

While walking about 200 mts. from the office of the DC to the HR Department, I got a call from my vendor who gave me a shocking news that they would not be able to deploy the team on next Monday as they are stuck with shortage of cash. This was the 1st jolt that demonetization gave me after being in the disciplined land of Indian Army since morning. Now it was my duty to persuade the Depot Staff and Officers about the eminent delay as things were beyond my control. On reaching the HR Department, I was again greeted with great gesture by the staff there which includes their Head Clerk who was another jovial gentleman from Jammu City. Before I could explain them the purpose and methodology and the eminent delay, they told me very clearly that they were not ready for the work to get started on next Monday and needed at least 3 more weeks to get their documents ready. With my Vendor already backing out from the original plan, I was more than happy to accept this proposal which I conveyed to the Major immediately.

Since the work was getting delayed for at least 3 weeks, there was no sense in staying anymore there. I booked a ticket for a next day train and decided to visit the town of Udhampur around 4 pm.I spent about 3 hours walking on streets and markets of that small town and got the first-hand experience of the impact of Demonetization on people's life. The first thing that struck me was that there was no unrest or panic anywhere on the streets. Within a day, people had accepted that the old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were to be deposited in bank. Most of the shops in market, except those selling grocery and FMCG items, were empty. I realized that most of the shops there didn’t accept Credit/Debit Cards and the whole trading ecosystem in Udhampur was running on cash until that day. Despite facing difficulties in their businesses, most of the traders looked happy as they felt that people with huge amount of 'black money' and unaccounted cash were going to get punished soon by our PM and that its just a matter of days when their businesses would be running normal in a country with a more transparent financial system under a strong PM.

 

I was dropped at Udhampur Railway Station by Army personnel at 1 pm on the next day i.e 10-November-2016 as my train was supposed to depart at 3 pm from Platform No 3. After paying the nominal charges at the Army Mess for my food for those 2 days, I was left with Rs 650 in my pocket which I thought were enough to take me back to Delhi. I spent another Rs 80 for tasty Rajma Chawal at the Railway Canteen just before entering the Gate at around 1:45 pm.

After clearing the tight security checks, I headed directly to Platform No 3 which was almost empty. The train which was supposed to take me was already standing there with all doors locked from inside as Udhampur itself was its originating station. As it was relatively warm with some sunshine in the afternoon and it was still about half an hour when they were going to unlock the doors of the train, I found a clean and cosy bench on the Platform and decided to lie down. I put my Laptop Bag under my head as a pillow and loosely tied the small suitcase to my left leg while I lied down comfortably facing upwards towards the Platform Shed. The mild breeze under sunny surroundings and comfortable temperature didn't make me realize when I dozed off.

 I woke up to a sound of a Train-Horn and a sound of a Helicopter flying at very low height coming from 2 directions simultaneously. As I focussed on the Helicopter n tried to see it clearly, I missed noticing that the Horn was being applied by the driver of train which I was supposed to board. Before I could turn towards the train and make any attempt to get up and move, the train had already started moving. By the time I was able to stand up with my bag and suitcase, the train had made a swift pick up and it went away from my sight in 15 seconds or so.

Long story made short, I was stuck at Udhampur with about Rs 570 of genuine Indian Currency with me and didn’t know what to do next.Without getting into panic, I searched for the next available train so that I could get out from there on the same day.

Unfortunately, no seats were available on that day and the earliest option I was getting was of the same train at 3 pm on next day. An Autorickshaw driver took me to a decent hotel named "Hotel Chanakya" for Rs 150. 

The Hotel Manager was very straight forward in his deal.I had to pay Rs 1500 a room for a night if I paid cash and Rs 1800 for the same room if I paid by a Card. Also, he told it clearly that the cost of the food was to be paid only by cash. And the final statement was that they no more accept the old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.

 I spent the remaining part of the day in the hotel and opted for the cheapest food that I could have for dinner that night.Next morning when my cash balance was reduced to Rs 220, I decided to visit the sole branch of ICICI Bank in Udhampur as I was a "Privilege Customer" for them since 2007.

As I walked for about 2 kms towards the bank, I again witnessed people getting normal into their daily lives and businesses without a single bit of panic visible anywhere. Once I reached the bank, I was surprised to see that there was not a single customer there while the TV channels were beaming pictures huge queues outside banks across India. Maybe, the people of Udhampur were still not comfortable with private banks like ICICI Bank.

The cashier made it very clear that they had run out of cash for that day already and they could only help me if I wanted to deposit the old notes of Rs 500 into my account. When I explained them my situation, the Bank Manager was very kind in telling me that a particular shop in that area could help me with cash with some commission if I made a swipe of my Credit/Debit card at his shop.

After depositing Rs 3000 (6 old notes of Rs 500) and still keeping 2 old notes with me, I went to that shop which the Manager had suggested. That gentleman was also very clear with his deal. I was allowed to make a swipe of Rs 1000 with my card for which he was to pay me Rs 700 in cash. He also offered Rs 800 if I gave him 2 old noted of 500 each. Without giving any second thoughts, I swiped my Credit card and gave him the 2 notes of Rs 500. He was happy to find a customer who didn’t make any bargain and immediately gave me 15 notes Rs 100 each. 

After spending about Rs 400 for a decent lunch, I hired an Autorickshaw at 2 pm and boarded my train comfortably. The journey to Old Delhi Station (official name “Delhi Junction – DLI”) was again filled with discussions among the passengers. But this time there was not a single topic apart from Demonetization. The hope of getting the Big Sharks with "Black Money" behind the bars and making India a country with more transparent financial system was apparent on the face of each Indian. Also, everyone was sure of India being a superpower in next 4-5 years under a very strong PM. Today as on June 2022, India is still to decide whether the Demonetization of November 2016 was a success or failure. Although this has faded away from public domain now, the memories of those 3 days will always remain with me and I hope this small Blog of mine remains active for future generations as one of the experiences of an average Indian citizen .

 

Note:

I made 6 more trips to Udhampur in next one year and mostly stayed at Hotel Chanakya or Hotel Dolphin and found both equally good.

During the initial 2-3 months after demonetization, I travelled to the following cities for Project or Personal work: Delhi, NOIDA, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Raipur, Pune, Pulgaon(Wardha), Nagpur, Jabalpur, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Agra, Kanpur, Cheoki(Prayagraj), Lucknow and Udhampur.

•  I found that the impact of demonetization was least in the city of Jabalpur where the new notes of Rs 500 were available within 3 weeks in ATMs and everything was normal within a month.
• On other hand, I found that the impact of demonetization was highest in the city of Agra where the new notes were totally absent for at least 2 months in ATMs. Some Travel Agents in Agra were openly advertising to convert older notes/card swipes into new notes for a whopping commission of 40%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Encounter with Demonetization @ Nov-2016 : Part 1 - Journey from NDLS to Udhampur

 

Sometimes we are so engrossed in our daily life matters that we think that taking a trivial decision is going to put a massive effect on our life.We fail to understand that our very existence is very miniscule if compared to the overall system of the World and it’s not always the divine powers who can just make everything go for a toss, but also the Government that can just stun everyone beyond imagination.

 The decision I took on 08-November-2016 at around 5 pm was that to tell my Cab Driver to take me to the "Ajmeri Gate" entrance of the New Delhi Railway Station (Railway Code: NDLS) instead of the frequently visited "Paharganj Gate".

Those who have travelled to or from NDLS must agree with me that its one of the biggest pains in life while trying to get in or get out from"Paharganj Gate”. A glimpse of NDLS (from any gate or any platform or any angle) never gives us the impression that its actually the most important Railway Station in India with more than 100 Rajdhani/Shatabdi and other High-Profile Trains starting and terminating there every day.

NDLS neither has an iconic architecture like Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai nor does it give a feeling of huge rail complex standing on banks of iconic Ganges like Howrah Station of Kolkata. In fact, NDLS doesn’t even match railway stations in some tier 2 n tier 3 cities in India and the "Paharganj Gate" makes the matters worse.

The first thing I did after getting down at "Ajmeri Gate" was to go to an ATM after realising that I just had Rs 800 in my wallet.I withdrew Rs 5000 in 2 swipes from the ATM which resulted in me having Rs 5800 in total with 9 currency notes of Rs 500 and 13 notes of Rs 100.

The Shree Shakti Express started at scheduled time at around 7 pm with me being allotted a side lower berth in AC 2 coach. I was supposed to get gown at Udhampur Railway Station at around 4:45 am (next day) while the train was to proceed further to Katra (Base for Vaishno Devi Temple).Although I was supposed to share the seat with the guy who had the side upper berth reserved for him until he didn’t want to sleep, the guy (a boy from Chennai in his early 20s) chose to climb up to his berth n lie down as soon as the train started. I too chose to stretch my legs and started reading something on my mobile.

It was about 7:30 pm when I noticed the other 4 passengers sitting on the 4 other berths of our compartment. There were 2 pairs of men traveling to Vaishno Devi with similar objectives but with strikingly different outlooks.The first pair was that of 2 traders from Haryana (in their mid-40s) who were going to join a religious program of "Nirankari Movement" which they claimed had changed their lives and had brought positive changes in their personal and business matters.

The other pair was that of 2 members of a renowned International Organization dedicated to "Krishna Bhakti". The was one “Senior Swami" (aged around 60) while the other guy in mid 20s was more like his attendant cum disciple. 

As the train picked speed the "Swami" started preaching the 2 guys about the greatness of Lord Kishna and the mission of his organization while raising questions on the motive of movements like "Nirankari Movement" among others. Those 2 guys tried to be very polite and submissive during the whole episode while the "Swami" increased the intensity of his arguments. Although, he too never raised his voice, his sharp statements supposedly loaded with knowledge and logic was too difficult for the 2 traders to handle.

Their "discussion" continued for about 40 minutes with me showing no interest in joining them even listening to them until a point when the "Swami" made a statement with a big grinning smile that "Shiva and Parvati are also slaves of Lord Krishna". Although it was a bit of provocation for someone like me, I somehow decided to remain quiet as I saw the "Swami" stopping his preaching as no one was challenging his arguments anymore.A sense of victory was evident on his face combined with a sense of disappointment as the 2 trader guys didn’t change their plans about visiting the program from "Nirankari Movement" even after 40 minutes of preaching.

It was about 8:20 pm when another young disciple from 'Krisha Bhakti Group' came to our compartment and the "Swami" went away. The new guy was about 30 years old well-built man, but his voice was like a 15-year-old schoolboy. I realised that they were about 10-12 travelling together and had all their berths in the same coach. The "Swami" must have gone to some other compartment to make someone else realise the Greatness of Lord Krishna.Just when I thought that the useless and endless debate on Religion was over, the new kid-voiced guy tried to start it all over again.

While the "Swami" was mostly speaking in Hindi, this guy started preaching in English even when the 2 trader guys had no interest or intent of challenging anything about Lord Krishna while keeping their own faith intact on "Nirankari Movement".

The worst part just came at around 8:30 pm when the guy sleeping above me (guy from Chennai) joined the debate speaking in English with an awesome statement - "Humanity is the Best Religion". This was a new ammunition to the kid-voiced guy which made him speak nonstop for about 5 minutes about how their organization has been able to get the best manifestation of "Humanity". Just as the Chennai guy lost his words, the kid-voiced "Baby Swami" pointed towards me and asked my views on religion. This was for the first time that I was unnecessarily dragged in their obscure and useless debate with a straight question pointed towards me. When I refused to answer, the "Baby Swami" took it as my lack of understanding on English. He repeated his question in Hindi expecting to get an opportunity to preach again on whatever answer I was expected to come up with.

I was not in any mood to be preached by anyone on anything that time and that’s why I decided to make myself and rude and blunt as anyone could even imagine.

I gathered all my wit and replied - "I think Alcoholism is the best Religion as it makes you speak truth and makes you attempt extraordinary acts of courage.It makes you bring your original emotions and prevents you from faking anything. And most important thing is that it never teaches you to feel superior nor inferior to any other drunkard."

Although all 5 people were stunned at my reply, the expression on the face of "Baby Swami" was priceless. He must have realised that he had provoked a wrong guy and was going to be taken into unknown territories if he tried to continue the debate. The youngest guy (his companion) became restless. He started looking here and there with confusion. Just as when I thought that he was going to call the TTE or RPF guys to get my bag checked for alcohol, I realised that he was looking out for the “Senior Swami" who had shifted to some other berth and probably having his dinner that time.This young chap really wanted to get my thoughts purified by the great words of their Guru.

As I had already shot the bullet and there was no looking back, the next 30 minutes or so were supposed to be a blockbuster episode of debating which I had no option to skip now. I had made a very provocative and bold statement which was not at all acceptable. Even the "Nirankari" traders were not comfortable looking towards me. As the stage was set and everyone was waiting for the “Senior Swami", none of us had an idea that our Prime Minister was addressing the nation live on TV at the time when we were into the useless debate. It was around 8:50 when one of the trader guys received a call on his mobile and got some very shocking news. Before he could realise anything, the other guy too was stunned seeing WhatsApp messages on his phone. Soon another "Hare Krishna" disciple ran towards our compartment and broke the news to the 2 gentlemen who were waiting for their Guru.

As I was unable to make out anything about the sudden change in behaviour of everyone, I looked at my Phone which was on Silent Mode and realised that I had about 200 messages delivered in last 10 minutes or so. I took me about 5 minutes to digest what had happened.

Our Prime Minister had announced that the Currency Notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 were not going to be a "Legal Tender" after midnight. Practically, 85% of India's currency in circulation was going to be useless in just 3 hours or so.There was chaos everywhere in the train and off course everywhere else in the country as it was evident from the WhatsApp messages.

The guy from the Railway Pantry refused to take a Rs 500 note from me when I tried paying him Rs 240 for the dinner. When I pointed out that the notes were valid until midnight, he gave a polite reply that he had run 'out of change' as everyone paid him with Rs 500 notes.

The 1st call I picked was from my sister’s number from Bangalore and I realised that it has her husband who was on other side. He had just gone crazy with happiness on the decision of our PM. He explained me about the death of "Black Money" and Illegal "Benaami Deals" among others.He was confident about the "Rise of New India". When I expressed my apprehensions about rioting and law and order issues, he made me understand that we had a "Real Strong Government" on top with an "Ultra Popular PM" and nothing unpleasant was going to happen. Similar views were expressed by my brother and almost all intelligent friends.

My wife too seemed to be happy on the move and so were most of my school and college friends and colleagues in my organization.But  the Krishna Bhakti guys in the train looked a bit disappointed. Organizing any religions or social program was obviously going to be tough without cash transactions. No one was talking about God or Religion or anything. In fact, no one in the whole coach was talking about anything except this stunning decision taken by our PM.

I was travelling to Udhampur to initiate data digitization at an Army Depot there as a part of my ongoing Project with Indian Army Ordnance. The respective in charge at the Depot was a Lady Officer (“Major" in rank) who had told me that she would pick me up from Udhampur Railway Station once I landed there and that she had arranged for my stay at Army Guest House.

Even as the whole country was going through a chaos, I was blank in my thoughts as I had a mission to start at Udhampur where I was going for first time. It was about 4:20 am when the train entered Platform 1 at Udhampur Railway Station. I saw a young lady in her early 30s dressed in Track Suit standing on the platform with 2 Army Jawans dressed in full combat attire. As soon as the train stopped, I realised that she was not the officer who had come to pick me up as she was there to receive her parents who got down from the coach just behind. There were about 8-10 more Army personnel on the platform who had come to receive someone or other, but sadly there was none who came to pick me. I decided against calling up the Lady Officer at 4:30 am and instead decided to move out of the Station thinking that she (or someone else) might be waiting for me outside the gate.

I realised that there was no one waiting for me even outside and that the whole parking lot was empty. Probably there were no trains for next hours or so while my train was still standing at the platform. There were some auto-rickshaws standing there, but none of them had any drivers. There were 2 ATMs at the parking lot, and both were beaming the message of “Cash not available”. I realised that my Phone had just 2% of battery life as I forgot to get it charged in the train, thanks to the chaos created by currency ban. I decided to get back inside the station and get the Phone charged at the Waiting Room for some time, but I was stopped by the Army Security guys at the Station Gate. They didn’t allow me going in as I had already completed my journey and was out from the Station. This was the first time, I realised that things were really a bit different in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Within 5 minutes, I realised that my Phone was ringing, but the call got disconnected as soon as I picked it. The battery was gone, and I had no other option than to wait at the parking lot outside Udhampur Station waiting for sunrise, which meant 2 hours to kill. In just 2 hours or so, India was to wake up in the morning of 09-November-2016 to witness 85% of its currency notes going useless, while I had to somehow figure out about reaching the designated Army Depot.

 

To be continued….