September 2005, Chennai.
I have joined my first job where my dream of working in an air-conditioned office in front of a computer(!) came true. Before that I was in couple of odd short jobs which I couldn't sustain. I have joined in the last week of August.
On the second day of joining we were asked to provide our personal details for opening a bank account. This itself gave me an excitement thinking I can also withdraw money from ATM. Months before I was fascinated when I saw a man from our village withdrew a wad of banknotes from an ATM from a nearby small town.
Therefore when the yellow "ATM card" arrived after a couple of weeks my name inscribed on it I felt as if I have conquered the world, even though I knew I would wait another three weeks for the salary to be credited in my account.
As I was new to this ATM culture and I was curious, I made my enquiries with my close friend who has been living in this city for few years then. As per his knowledge, for those who get their salary on 1st of month, it is credited on previous night at 12 a.m. by automated bank credit.
A small interlude before continuing further.
During this period I was living in a Chennai suburb interior locality, sharing a tiled house with 2 more friends (the rain in November 2005 is another unforgettable one). End of months used to be our worst experience with few bucks or no money in our pocket. There used to be nights without food. September end was one of those hard month end.
Back to the ATM day...
It was Friday the 30th September 2005. I had finished my dinner with the cheapest roadside cart idly shop, which we fondly call kaiendhi bhavan, while my friends came after 11 o'clock exhausted with long day's work and empty stomach. Knowing from my enquiry that salary will be credited at midnight, I have decided to feed my friends.
Collecting the coins and note left in bag, which amounted to Rs.15/- (you read it right, fifteen rupees) I have started with one of them as the other one was too tired to go out that odd hour. to access the nearest ATM, we had to go to grand southern trunk road which was 2 km away. No buses. We started walking. After walking a few hundred meters we saw an ambassador coming from behind us and we tried our luck to hitch a hike. The car stopped and the driver was sympathetic enough to give us the ride.
We had arrived the GST and before getting down my friend suggested me giving the fifteen rupees to the car driver as a token of our gratitude. Our self esteem was too high not to take free ride. So we thanked the driver and gave him the money which he accepted.
It was 12.05 a.m. With all my enthusiasm, curiosity and hope I entered the ATM for my first ever withdrawal. In the previous weeks I have done the pin change balance check etc. Now I have inserted my card and entered the PIN then the amount I wanted to withdraw. There came the blow. Some error. I tried several times with full concentration. No moeny was dispensed, only a printed slip with some error report on it. We came to the conclusion that that particular ATM had no cash to dispense. We tried another ATM and another. The time had crossed well after 12.30. By this time we had realised the reality. There was no money credited in my account!
We walked back the 2 km with hunger and disappointment. Later in the evening the salary was credited and I had learned the prcoess much later. When seeing the queues after governments demonetisation, it all came afresh. The cool night, the walk, the hunger and the disappointment. But it's an experience!
