When last year the Demonitazation was announced, Lucy could not comprehend the consequences.
On 8th November 2016, Lucy withdrew money for her monthly expense. She had mostly between 500 and 1000 rs. Notes. When she got the news about demonetization, she tried to exchange it by buying some or other things.
She had some money and decided to continue her planned journey. She visited some cities in north India and returned to Delhi. She was confident that she would get money out, as Delhi was a big city.
She found herself in Delhi with just Rs. 100 left in her pocket. She roamed in Delhi for 13 hours, queuing at several different ATMs, sometimes for two hours at a stretch, only to get to the machine and had her card rejected. With a flight to Mumbai booked for the next morning, She needed cash.
As the sun set that day, it took with it any hope that she was clinging to of finding cash and making her flight.
Feeling wholly defeated and exhausted, she went back to her guesthouse, explained to the owner that she didn’t have the money to pay, and went back to her room feeling shameful.
A couple of minutes later she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find the guesthouse owner standing there with five 100 rupee notes in her hand. “Money comes and goes,” she said. “Please make sure that you take your dinner and make it to the airport for your flight,” and she forced the notes into Lucy's hand.
The offers of money by the guesthouse owner was just the helpful part. It was the moral support and understanding that were being dealt with cash-strapped tourists across the country that are all showing us, tourists, the Indian culture of world-class hospitality.
