If I had a diary, it would be something like this:
November 8th, 2016.
Mother is cooking. Father is watching the headlines on television. He says that it is important to know what is happening in the world. I am doing my homework in front of the television, looking at the newsreader, wearing copious amounts of makeup, with some annoyance.
The next thing I see when I look up, is our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, standing against a blue background. He is announcing, no, fulminating the vices of black money, and says the words I did not know will cause such a commotion then: “From midnight, the 500 and 1000 denomination notes would not be legal tender.”
Surprisingly, the effects of demonetization were seen before midnight itself. An hour later, around nine in the night, as our family goes for a night ‘drive’, we see long queues of cars at the fuel stations, and ATMs as well.
We had celebrated Diwali, the main festival of Hinduism, a week ago. That means, the gifts we receive, mostly envelopes with cash notes (I had received a a thousand rupees from my father) are…?
November 20th, 2016.
Nothing matters anymore. Nothing, save knowing the limit of withdrawal in an ATM. Or if the ATM is functional, that is the ATM has money, or cash. Now, people turn astrologers as they predict the amount of money lying inside an ATM by the length of the queue lining outside it.
My family is well-off, but not enough to survive the cash crunch. From normal departmental stores to taxis, one rarely uses plastic money. India, still suffers from illiteracy and poverty, and the poor scurry to open accounts and struggle to understand the bank rules, that is if they get into the bank on the day they join the queue. Everyone is holding the new, pink 2000 rupee note, but when they need to pay only 50 rupees, their faces visibly tense. But still, there are little complaints, for they know that this will be a lesson to those who are trying to paint black notes white.
The news is all about who stood in the line for hours. But, some shocking events with the disposal of old notes – burning, throwing piles of notes into a river, by the ones stinking with black money, have also been discovered.
So, demonetization happened. Along with that, the Presidential results had also been shaking the world. Today, India fears for its IT sector and the students who wish to study in the US. Then, there was a newspaper snippet that I read, that said, ‘India may no longer be the world’s fastest growing economy.’
Up north, the Kashmir situation remains tense. The Uri attack in September, which involved the death of 18 Indian soldiers, and the surgical strikes, made the country open eyes wide. Whispers of a war are flying around. Kashmir is a beautiful state, with river valleys and snow-capped peaks, but now even the mountains are frowning with tension.
Presently, in January, these same soldiers are warring against the intensive snowfall. The newspapers, are flooded with incidents of deaths under avalanches. Yet, the Indian army stands, against snow, against the Line of Control, and against time, while the rest of the country reads about it.
Down south, there is a state that loves bull fighting too. Tamil Nadu protests against the ban of the Supreme Court on Jallikattu, a bull taming sport which is an ancient tradition. It is controversial, as it has resulted in major injuries and deaths. While PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) insists that it is an event showing cruelty to animals, only for purposes of human entertainment, the protesters claim that banning the ‘religious’ sport may lead to loss of native bulls reared for Jallikattu. The demands of the protesters even include banning of PETA from the country.
So, different parts of the country thus have different weather, different people, different languages, different boundaries, and therefore different happenings.
At least, my father can still say that it is important to see the news to know what is happening in the country.