It must be said that Goa fared really well, as no incident of violence or damage to public property was reported in the state unlike other parts of India
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As December 30 comes to an end, Goans could look back at the past 52 days starting November 8, when demonetisation was announced, as the most unusual and the most unexpected in a really long time. The first few days of November bring a relief from the scorching heat of October in Goa and the mood turns joyous because November signals the start of tourism season. As November reaches an end and brings December, everyone starts preparing to have a gala time during Christmas and New Year. Only that this year it was a lot different. The temperatures did dip in November and the trees bloomed with flowers as well. But caught in the frantic hunt for an ATM which had cash and a bank with a shorter queue for depositing old notes, people had little time to indulge in weather-shifts.
A large number of Goans are used to hosting relatives and friends living abroad in November and December. The reality for them had indeed turned stranger than fiction as rather than spending time with their loved ones, they were made to wait endlessly in bank queues to withdraw cash. Demonetisation for them was the rudest systematic shock, which disturbed decades old ways of living. No one was spared, as everyone from rich to poor was at the receiving end. Fruit and vegetable sellers waited anxiously for customers to come, who struggled to spare cash to buy even necessities. Chemists allowed regular customers to buy on credit in good faith. Cafes allowed customers to pay later for their regular cup of tea knowing well that a large number of them would eventually not pay. People somehow managed to pay their domestic helps and drivers even while themselves running low on cash.
Travel agents did their best to counsel foreign tourists, who were caught totally unawares, as demonetisation forced then to withdraw not more than Rs 2,500 every day through an ATM even though it’s not always possible to have a good vacation with a sum so little. Shacks, taxi-drivers and restaurants allowed a number of foreign tourists, who are their regulars, to pay later, and in some cases to pay next year. In short, demonetisation forced people to rely on each other more than they rely on financial system and by doing so it tested the ability of Goa’s society to maintain peace and harmony in tough conditions. It must be said that Goa fared really well, as no incident of violence or damage to public property was reported in the state unlike other parts of India, where stray incidents did take place. Goan society and Indian, by and large, showed that it could withstand the litmus test of demonetisation. And now, it is up to the rulers to prove that demonetisation indeed brought the guilty hoarding black money to the book!
The last date for exchanging notes has passed and the government has to tell us if this exercise was worth all the trouble. In that sense Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address today is a much awaited event.
