They don’t call Calcutta the City of Joy for nothing! While the people in Patna cursed their luck for not having notes in smaller denominations and went without fish or meat, here’s what happened in Calcutta on Thursday:
Fishmongers turned out to be the saviours of fish lovers on Thursday, accepting Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 and giving back change in denominations of Rs 100!
A journalist found people walking out happily from the fish markets in Maniktala, Salt Lake and Kasba as they had been able to use their Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
This at a time when most fuel pumps in the city had stopped accepting the notes unless people bought fuel worth multiples of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000.
Gautam Gurey, 54 year-old fishmonger of Maniktala market said he had received ten Rs 500s and five Rs 1,000s by afternoon. “I couldn’t have turned away my customers… most of them are regulars who have buying fish from me for years,” he said. “As it is, sales have a hit a low after the ban.”
He said a customer had placed an order for 10kg rohu and 5kg prawns and cleared the payment in 1,000 rupee notes. “I will send my son to the bank on Sunday with all the notes. I won’t turn away customers.”
Another fishmonger at the market, Babu Mannan, 41, handed out the change in hundreds to a customer and said he would have to stop accepting 500 and 1,000 rupee notes as he had run out of change.
The customer, Arup Saha, 57, of Chaltabagan Lane, was all smiles after buying 2kg of katla as Mannan took his Rs 1,000 and gave him back Rs 300 in hundreds. “This is like killing two birds with one stone. Not only will I have fish curry for lunch but I also managed to get three hundred rupee notes,” he said.
Mannan said he had 12 notes of Rs 500 and four of Rs 1,000.
In Salt Lake’s BD market Pradip Chakraborty, 33, asked a woman to pay him later when she handed him a 500 rupee note for half a kilo of tangra. “I’ve run out of changes. I had borrowed money in smaller denominations from an auto driver friend.”
[courtesy ‘Metro’]
Buying Fish was a Joy in Calcutta on Thursday! added by NEWSNET DESK on
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Well my fish wali gave me fish on credit in patna …. so did my veggie wala and the kirana wala . They say ” nobody has Rs 100 to pay , so they are giving credit to regular customers till ATMs start giving Rs 100 notes ….
O to be in Calcutta!