Demonitization as spiritual exercise

Sacrifice. Mortification. Penance. Pain. All of that is good, we are told. Good for body. Good for soul. Good for you. Spritual exercise is cleansing; is salvific.

But then, who amid the urgent demands of duty and pleasure; of opportunity and insecurity, the slings and arrows and delights of life today can give time or even thought to the earning of this kind of salvation? Sure, there are those who will painfully contort muscle and limb in yogic poses and exercises for that desirable figure. Then there is that pious Catholic who will rise from the confessional with a prescribed ‘penance’ which he performs on his knees for absolution of his sins.

No. There is no time for all this.

But Heaven has its ways. Today we are witnessing that rarest of rare times in history when a nation and its honourable leaders are prescribing a formula for salvation. Penance for a collective sin. It is a wonderful opportunity for spiritual advancement.

Listen to this.

Two days ago, after attending the Litfest in Mumbai, we were getting into a taxi, when a man selling balloons on a bicycle approached us, and with his eyes sweeping the floor for shame, told us that he hadn’t sold a single balloon the whole day and that he had to take food home for his family. At most times I would have ignored him as just one of those street hoaxes. But then I remembered the demonitization. I felt the pain of this man (like our honourable leader often does as he ‘breaks down’ on the podium) and gave him a 100-rupee note. As we were entering the taxi, the taxi driver, switched of the ignition, reached into his shirt pocket, took out a 50-rupee note and gave it to the balloon man. His thoughtfulness was an expensive one. Cash was precious to him, particularly at this time, but he was ready to make that sacrifice..

At home, after briefing the carpenter on a job, we gave him his advance in the form of a cheque, saying that we had no cash. He took the cheque, and thought for a minute. He slowly took out his wallet and counted the cash he had. “I have 1500 rupees in 100-rupee notes,” he told us. “I can give you a thousand. You may need it for something.”

Demonitization was making people thoughtful. Unselfish. Charitable.

I have been hearing from friends how they have been doing without things: “The bank gave me this Rs.2000 note, which nobody would accept if they had to give me cash back,” said one. “So it was a useless piece of paper. I could buy nothing with it. I have spent nothing for so many days. And I am OK. Doing without!”

Mortification and sacrifice as a result of demonitization. This is a spiritual awakening!

Our foreign friends and relations tell us that we are unique. What is happening here would never happen anywhere else in the world: standing in line from dawn to dusk to be able get your own money; going through hunger, thirst, dehydration and fatigue; being witness to people fainting and some even dying... And then to go back at the end of the day empty-handed because there was no more cash in ATM or bank.

We are a special people. The favourite of the gods, surely. We are blessed with that fortitude, that resilience, that spiritual strain that few other people possess. We do these things because we have to, without asking why and for whose sin we are doing this penance (not ours personally, we know, but someone else’s) or to ask if this penance will in truth absolve the nation of that big collective sin they call Corruption, which is the real sin, of which the dark colour of cash is only a manifestation. We will not ask what is being done to exorcise this demon called Corruption instead of demonizing my hard-earned money. And please do not give us talk of all those many lakh crores that have been spent in order to mop up much less lakh crores of the coloured money. No price is too great for the rewards of this spiritual exercise. Please do not ask us to ask questions. The nation has made its collective confession and we will perform our penance because it is good for our spirit. It is salvific.

Let’s make the best of this spiritual exercise, the demonitization. We may not get this opportunity again.

Or will we?