Abilash M.A. from Iritty in Kannur will never forget his wedding, not in the conventional sense but since it put him in a huge debt, which he is not sure of remitting in the near future.
Mr. Abhilash is one unfortunate expatriate who was struck hard by demonetisation, especially since he had come on leave from Dubai only for his wedding, which took place on November 16, barely a week after demonetisation was implemented in the country. At the time, every individual was allowed to withdraw only Rs.10,000 from an account a day.
“Fortunately for me,” Mr. Abhilash said, “we were done with all the cloth and jewellery purchases by November 8. But I really struggled to manage the remaining expenses like the vehicle charges, cooks charges and the previous day’s function.”
But the goodness of the rural people became a blessing for him in the dire circumstances. “I had known most of these people all my life. Hence many of them agreed to render their services on condition that I would pay them later,” he said adding that now he is withdrawing money from the bank every week to pay for their services.
“I had no time to spend with my bride. Every one in the family, including my bride, stands in queue on a daily basis so that I can pay those people whom I owe, before I go back to Dubai,” Mr. Abhilash said.
At Guruvayur
His is not a lone experience. Most people who had planned wedding in the months of November and December had to go through a lot of hurdles.
Sudhakaran E., a retired BSNL employee from Thondayad, organised his daughter’s wedding on November 23. His fault was that he had deposited all his retirement benefits in a cooperative bank. When the demonetisation stuck, he was unable to withdraw a single rupee.
Fortunately for him, the wedding was held at the Guruvayur Sreekrishna temple and the expenses were very low. “We purchased the gold using debit cards. For the rest, everyone in the family withdrew Rs.20,000 each and within two weeks, we had enough money to conduct the wedding,” Mr. Sudhakaran said.
Though there was a provision to withdraw Rs.2.5 lakh with the District Collector’s permission, Mr. Sudhakaran did not need it.
Mr. Abhilash did not have the required documents to submit to the Collector, though he needed the money.
