 "In the time of demonetisation, Indians chasing currency, and Sonam Gupta")
The past week or so has seen many unexpected events keeping Indians hooked to the unfolding news developments – from demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US Presidential election, and the soap-opera-like twists and turns in the Tata vs Mistry boardroom drama, to name a few. But if one were to define this period in one word, the word would probably be ‘currency’.
It all started on the evening of November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launching an offensive on the holders of black money, said that the currency notes of the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would cease to be legal tender from midnight – within a couple of hours of the announcement. He announced that while these banknotes could no longer be used for day-to-day transactions – except at select outlets and for select services – those in possession of such currency would have to exchange them at bank branches with newly minted Rs 2,000 notes or old notes that had not been banned within 50 days (before December 30).
Modi also said that banks would remain closed the next day to make necessary arrangements for exchange and release of currency, while automated teller machines (ATMs) would not work for the next two days, for the same reason.
What followed were Indians’ desperate struggles for ‘currency’, at several levels and in many ways – from ridding themselves of the banned notes, to clinging on tightly to the valid notes, sacrificing quality time on the altar of ATMs, and chasing an unknown ‘bewafa’ called Sonam Gupta on social media.
It would have been about 8:30 pm when the announcement came. Most of the people who had – dutifully, affectionately, or awfully – been listening to the PM’s televised ‘mann ki baat’ at that unlikely time of the day presently rose and paced out in pursuit of valid currency notes. They had only a little over three hours to use their pocket wealth of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes before those would turn into, as PM Modi said, “pieces of worthless paper”.
Hardly was wildfire ever able to match the speed at which the news of Modi’s demonetisation move spread. The result: From paan shops to eateries and sellers of other kinds of wares, all banished these currency notes from circulation with immediate effect. Any holder of such notes only met with disappointment and had no choice but to wait for banks to open. In the interim, the person had to be more frugal than ever before in spending the Rs 100, Rs 50 or smaller notes in possession – who knew how long it might take to get a fresh supply of notes to spend, even on necessary items!
For most Indians, since the time ATMs started working again, days have been marked by regular pilgrimages to these divine dispensers of currency. Every day, people queue up outside ATM centres, hoping to lay their hands on their own money, in currency denominations that would be legal tender for transactions in the common market.
There also were concerns – by the bucketful – over disclosure of black money. Those who had not declared their “black money” during the government's voluntary disclosure drive earlier this year were in for a crude shock in the form of invalidation of their wealth or imposition of a massive penalty.
If these travails were not draining enough, sometime in between came the disclosure of one Sonam Gupta’s unfaithfulness – on a currency note, again – and all hell broke loose. It started with a soiled Rs 10 currency note with the words “Sonam Gupta bewafa hai (Sonam Gupta is unfaithful)” written on it going viral on Twitter. And, it left Twitterati cracking up over this bewafa woman and the jilted lover who chose to give it back to her by declaring it to the world.
In no time at all, the internet was inundated with hilarious memes around Sonam Gupta’s bewafai. The declaration of Sonam Gupta’s unfaithfulness soon seemed to have gone globetrotting. The Devanagari text, which first emerged next to Mahatma Gandhi’s picture on the old Rs 10 note, was seen sitting next to Mao Zedong on a Yuan 1 bill, with Yusof bin Ishak on Singapore $2 note, with George Washington on US $20 note, with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on a 10-pound British note, and next to the swamp deer on the reverse of the Nepalese Rs 20 note. Even a newly released Rs 2,000 Indian note was painted with the text proclaiming Sonam Gupta unfaithful and circulated on the internet.
While one user called for Sonam Gupta to be declared the ‘national bewafa of India, another claimed she should be named ‘international bewafa’. Some went so far as to claim that “Unesco” had already declared Sonam Gupta “international bewafa”. Some, however, were considerate enough to give the other side of the story by posting currency note pictures with Gupta’s defence: “Main bewafa nahi hoon. Meri kuchh majbooriyan hain – Sonam Gupta. (I am not unfaithful. I have some constraints – Sonam Gupta.”
The hashtag was received so well and so many questions were raised on Sonam Gupta’s faithfulness that a few real women with that name had to take it upon themselves to clear the air. Some actually chose to clarify on social media that they had a good love life and they were not unfaithful.
Amid the demonetisation drive, even as there seems to be no let-up in the pain yet for the common man, Sonam Gupta – whoever she is and whatever she may have done to deserve the public outburst– has certainly given the average Indian netizen a reason to have a good laugh. Within hours, multiple pages by the name ‘Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai’ were created across social media platforms, and these were followed alike by all kinds of people – those singing panegyric on Modi for his brave step, as well as those attacking him for causing inconvenience to people.
READ OUR FULL COVERAGE OF THE MODI GOVT'S DEMONETISATION MOVE
It all started on the evening of November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launching an offensive on the holders of black money, said that the currency notes of the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would cease to be legal tender from midnight – within a couple of hours of the announcement. He announced that while these banknotes could no longer be used for day-to-day transactions – except at select outlets and for select services – those in possession of such currency would have to exchange them at bank branches with newly minted Rs 2,000 notes or old notes that had not been banned within 50 days (before December 30).
Modi also said that banks would remain closed the next day to make necessary arrangements for exchange and release of currency, while automated teller machines (ATMs) would not work for the next two days, for the same reason.
What followed were Indians’ desperate struggles for ‘currency’, at several levels and in many ways – from ridding themselves of the banned notes, to clinging on tightly to the valid notes, sacrificing quality time on the altar of ATMs, and chasing an unknown ‘bewafa’ called Sonam Gupta on social media.
It would have been about 8:30 pm when the announcement came. Most of the people who had – dutifully, affectionately, or awfully – been listening to the PM’s televised ‘mann ki baat’ at that unlikely time of the day presently rose and paced out in pursuit of valid currency notes. They had only a little over three hours to use their pocket wealth of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes before those would turn into, as PM Modi said, “pieces of worthless paper”.
Hardly was wildfire ever able to match the speed at which the news of Modi’s demonetisation move spread. The result: From paan shops to eateries and sellers of other kinds of wares, all banished these currency notes from circulation with immediate effect. Any holder of such notes only met with disappointment and had no choice but to wait for banks to open. In the interim, the person had to be more frugal than ever before in spending the Rs 100, Rs 50 or smaller notes in possession – who knew how long it might take to get a fresh supply of notes to spend, even on necessary items!
For most Indians, since the time ATMs started working again, days have been marked by regular pilgrimages to these divine dispensers of currency. Every day, people queue up outside ATM centres, hoping to lay their hands on their own money, in currency denominations that would be legal tender for transactions in the common market.
There also were concerns – by the bucketful – over disclosure of black money. Those who had not declared their “black money” during the government's voluntary disclosure drive earlier this year were in for a crude shock in the form of invalidation of their wealth or imposition of a massive penalty.
If these travails were not draining enough, sometime in between came the disclosure of one Sonam Gupta’s unfaithfulness – on a currency note, again – and all hell broke loose. It started with a soiled Rs 10 currency note with the words “Sonam Gupta bewafa hai (Sonam Gupta is unfaithful)” written on it going viral on Twitter. And, it left Twitterati cracking up over this bewafa woman and the jilted lover who chose to give it back to her by declaring it to the world.
In no time at all, the internet was inundated with hilarious memes around Sonam Gupta’s bewafai. The declaration of Sonam Gupta’s unfaithfulness soon seemed to have gone globetrotting. The Devanagari text, which first emerged next to Mahatma Gandhi’s picture on the old Rs 10 note, was seen sitting next to Mao Zedong on a Yuan 1 bill, with Yusof bin Ishak on Singapore $2 note, with George Washington on US $20 note, with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on a 10-pound British note, and next to the swamp deer on the reverse of the Nepalese Rs 20 note. Even a newly released Rs 2,000 Indian note was painted with the text proclaiming Sonam Gupta unfaithful and circulated on the internet.
While one user called for Sonam Gupta to be declared the ‘national bewafa of India, another claimed she should be named ‘international bewafa’. Some went so far as to claim that “Unesco” had already declared Sonam Gupta “international bewafa”. Some, however, were considerate enough to give the other side of the story by posting currency note pictures with Gupta’s defence: “Main bewafa nahi hoon. Meri kuchh majbooriyan hain – Sonam Gupta. (I am not unfaithful. I have some constraints – Sonam Gupta.”
The hashtag was received so well and so many questions were raised on Sonam Gupta’s faithfulness that a few real women with that name had to take it upon themselves to clear the air. Some actually chose to clarify on social media that they had a good love life and they were not unfaithful.
Amid the demonetisation drive, even as there seems to be no let-up in the pain yet for the common man, Sonam Gupta – whoever she is and whatever she may have done to deserve the public outburst– has certainly given the average Indian netizen a reason to have a good laugh. Within hours, multiple pages by the name ‘Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai’ were created across social media platforms, and these were followed alike by all kinds of people – those singing panegyric on Modi for his brave step, as well as those attacking him for causing inconvenience to people.
READ OUR FULL COVERAGE OF THE MODI GOVT'S DEMONETISATION MOVE