Nothing comes for free

Nothing comes for free. Not even smaller denomination notes for a bigger currency note.

In the last couple of months, I have had to buy cauliflowers, radishes, cooking oil and breakfast cereals to get change. But almost always, the problem was that the minimum denomination I had was a 500-rupee note.

A 100-rupee note has always been within a few tenners of any transaction.....Until this morning.

On reaching my work, the autorickshaw driver said - "I don't have a rupee. So, you will have to pay me the exact amount".

The meter showed 62.50 rupees, but it seemed too much hassle to organise that kind of change. It would be far easier organising 70 rupees.

Thankfully, the local panwaadi (betel-leaf seller) was there. In the past, he has made me buy biscuits, candies, mouth fresheners and mineral water before providing change.

He hadn't opened his shop yet, and was helping a customer top-up his mobile (yes, he deals in mobile phones too)!!

"Haan, sir. Yeh phone pakdo aur ek number lagaao," he said. The command was to help him dial a number on the mobile phone. This phone was weather-beaten and keypad hardly visible. But as my better-half would have said, my obsession with mobile phones means I can work out most mobile phones. "Number hai 9999........," the panwaadi started off. Once I was done, the phone asked me to put the number again. I did. The numbers don't match, the phone informed me.

"Aapne galat number daal diya na," the panwaadi told me off. No, I put in the number you asked me to. Aap sun nahin rahe the, varna galat kaise hota. No , I was listening but you missed out a digit in the number you told me.

The autorickshaw driver was still waiting to be paid.

Meri baat rahne do. Yeh screen dekho aur ismein jo number hai wahi milana. Yes, sir. I will be careful with the number this time around.

Thankfully, the sequence went fine this time. Once the screen asked for a PIN number, the panwaadi took the phone off me and put in the number carefully - hiding it from the customer and me.

Haan, ab bataao kya chaahiye aapko? I only want some smaller denomination notes to pay the auto. Abhi meri dukaan khuli nahin hai aur na hi meri bohni hui hai. I do understand but maybe I can pick up the biscuits or mouth-freshners later. Theek hai.

The wads of cash that he pulled out would have put a bank-teller to shame. There they were - 500-rupee notes, 100-rupee notes, 50-rupee notes, 20-rupee notes, 10-rupee notes and even some of those rare 5-rupee notes.

I got the combination required to pay off the autorickshaw driver.

As I walked off, the panwaadi said - Sir. Biscuit lena mat bhoolna (Sir, don't forget to buy the biscuits)