Lid off the secret stash

Rama Kashyap 

HOW can one forget the evening of November 8, 2016, when PM Narendra Modi stunned the nation with his big-bang announcement on demonetisation, sending shock waves all through the nation, affecting the lives of millions of Indians — men and women, the rich and the poor?

‘Old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 will not be legal tender from midnight.’ I was too shocked to react and register the implications of the announcement. As the reality sank in, I started rummaging through the umpteen pockets of more than a dozen handbags, purses and wallets that I have in different colours and sizes. I delved into each and every pocket, every nook and cranny — not just to unearth old notes, but also to search for the smaller denomination notes and coins. Never in my life had I felt so happy to see a hundred rupee note. Even the soiled tenners suddenly became valuable. Why not, these small notes and coins were to be our lifeline for the days to come in the face of a severe cash crunch!

There was another mission, a mammoth task to accomplish; to search for the old high denomination notes hidden in different corners of the cupboard, in between the folds of dresses. I started hunting frantically for my own secret treasure that I had built over a period of time. 

The treasure hunt was to search for my hoarded cash, the undisclosed money that I had been stashing away from my hubby’s gaze. As the notes kept tumbling out from their hide-outs in front of my husband, my treasure was no longer underground, but out in the open. 

At a time when I was feeling somewhat guilty for my unaccounted money (not disclosed to my dear husband), I got validation from the most unexpected quarters. I happened to overhear a conversation between my domestic help Kusum and the part-time maid. In a hushed tone, Kusum was saying that she had 12 big notes about which her husband had no information. Bala raised her five fingers to indicate her secret hoard. I realised that I was not the only one!  Almost every woman has her own secret cash collection, big or small. The note ban had taken the lid off our little secret. 

Can’t say to what extent demonetisation had been successful in flushing out black money, but, undoubtedly, it brought in the open the hoard of cash women kept hidden in secret corners. I don’t know how many sleepless nights the hoarders of black money spent, but women definitely lost their sleep as they had to come clean on whatever money they had put away — out of sight.