Once beloved by all, our Chavanni dies young at the age of 23 and gets to rest in the banks of money river before reaching salvation as Indians relieve them from their piggy-banks to claim their worth. It's like the same feeling, when comes the news of a distant near one passing away, he becomes all the more dearer, perhaps, whom we haven't had even bothered to call in the past 5 years.
The nickel testimony of Indian numismatics, which came riding on the back of a rhinoceros and sometimes had a steel armour, got shelved forever joining its preceding aluminium brethren - the 10 and 20 paisa. And, what caused its death - rising metal prices. "It is posthumous fame for the humble char anna. The 25 paise coin may not have been worth much in the market till last week, but since it was laid to rest by the government, it has become an overnight hero." read a reputed English daily on July 2.
The "heroic" death probably relates to its youthful valour, when it really meant something in the market and when it was worthy enough to buy so many different kinds of happiness - be it sweets and toffees or be it a couple of bus fares. The quarter of complete or 'sholo aana', as a bengali connotation goes, is dead. Let it rest in peace, wherever it be - in the mints waiting for re-birth or in the treasured chests of coin collectors.
All said and done about the latest Indian metal currency being of no use anymore, coupla questions creep up in an inquisitive mind. What is the future of the remaining coins in circulation in the Indian minds and markets. If the reason for chavanni's demise was a nasty bite of the inflation bug and rising coin metal prices, shouldn't be the bigger and bountiful 1, 2, 5 and 10 rupee coins scared? Indeed, they might lose their "strength" anytime soon.
Taking into consideration the current market scenario, do we stand at a point in time, when we can talk good things about the existence and circulation of the still-standing lower denomination of coins?
Lately, most of the nation's corporate houses have started believing in "rounding off" cash transactions, thus, not paying any heed at all to the usage of the lowest-valued 50 paisa coin. Be it a telephone or a credit card bill payment, when can you last recall you've been charged with a decimal change and been able to pay the same. Perhaps, never in the recent past.
I'm also sure you have been greeted many a number of times with a smiling face of the stationary shopkeeper in your neighbourhood and coupla tofees instead of the single digit change you were expecting in return after a purchase. From the bus conductors to auto rickshaw drivers, from the local fruit sellers to the departmental store cashiers - nobody ever seem to have the change. Synopsis - you either plan your purchase accordingly or be ready to be gifted with some unnecessary happiness at the cost of a penny or two.
Citing a personal experience here. Due to convenience in location, i regularly frequent an outlet of a grocery store chain called the Namdhari's Fresh, apparently India's first EUREP-GAP certified company. Every time i visit the store and buy some stuff, the cashier makes it a point to persuade me to add a chocolate to my bill to round it off as he "never has the change" and personal observation suggests he does the same to mie fellow buyers. Hence quite obviously, sometime or the other the chocolates and the toffees taste much more bitter than their dark counterparts.
All the more glaring is the fact, that most of the time it's five rupees and not just one or two rupees. So, isn't it high time that we start realizing that this is the latest marketing strategy for these vendors to augment their confectionary sales margins and to add a sweet little hint of bliss to their rollicking businesses? Imagine, every customer visiting these stores, each hopelessly spending couple a penny more only leads to adding thousands more to the profit-box of the seller. I can still understand the devilish grin behind the smiling face of a small-time shopkeeper doing the same. But, isn't there any way out for these big chains to solve the daily issue. Or, they really do not want the 'change'? "No Change" is good for them.
There are much more things about metallic money -- way beyond just the chapter in economics books talking about the pros and cons of using them and in how many ways paper currency is superior. Nothing feels happier than the chinks of coins in our childhood piggy-banks. A subtle bliss of contented savings, much more than how much it counts...
