Moneyless in Pushkar

Story by Maggie
Pushkar
Friday, November 11



On November 9, I got an email from the Canadian Consulate in India (I registered my trip with the government of Canada, which has turned out to be an extremely good idea) saying this:

“On November 8, 2016, the government of India announced that existing 500- and 1,000-rupee bank notes are being withdrawn from circulation and will be replaced with new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes. Banks are expected to be closed on November 9. Notes can be exchanged from November 10 to December 30. Long lines are expected at banks and it may take some time for ABMs to be supplied with smaller denominations and new notes. Do not accept bank notes that have been taken out of circulation.”

This is India: they announce the plan after the action. I was running low on rupees on the eighth. If I’d made it to an ATM that day, I would have 10,000 old rupee notes now, in precisely the denominations being withdrawn from circulation. As it is, I now have no money, and no way to get money. Advice to travellers: travel with friends!

We went to the bank last night to change Dave’s old bills for new. The bank: up a narrow concrete staircase to a rooftop: from there, a steel-caged door with a guard allowing one person in at a time. The Indians lined up, the foreigners were told to sit aside on ancient plastic chairs. Every so often, impossible to predict when, a man would around with forms for foreigners. We waited 10 minutes for him to appear. Dave filled in the information: name and passport number, the number of bills to be changed. We waited another 15 minutes to be hustled into an airless room where there were two tellers working, one for Indians, one for foreigners. The foreigners clustered together, trying to get information. Another 15 minutes. Dave was then informed he could only change 4000 rupees in any one 24-hour period. That’s about $80, not enough for those needing to pay a hotel and leave town. (This is a cash society; only the very high-end places will take cards.) Dave’s rupees will take 2 or 3 visits to completely change over. He filled out a new form with a total of 4000 rupees to change. When it was finally his turn, he found out that showing passport was not enough to make the transaction. They needed a photocopy of his passport. And they don’t make photocopies. We left, nothing accomplished.

The ATMs are closed, and might not open for another three days. The banks won’t exchange American money. I went to a money exchange place to trade in an American twenty, but they could only offer the old bills. (Remember: “do not accept bank notes that have been taken out of circulation.”) The man there told me foreigners did not have to queue at the bank!

If not for Dave and Anne, I’d be joining the sadhus, asking tourists for cash. Oh, except that none of them have any, either.

Indians we have spoken with are as mystified as we are, but less surprised. A man today told us the government was crazy. Meanwhile, the street fills up with bank queues. Another photo op for us.


Read: the Indian sense of humour when there's no money to be had