Gurgaon residents help neighbours with wedding in the family

Colleagues and neighbours are coming to the aid of those facing difficulties due to cash crunch

Families that have weddings scheduled and are facing a cash crunch due to the recent demonetisation have found relief in friends, colleagues and neighbours who are lending a helping hand.

Families that have a wedding scheduled have no cash to pay for the arrangements. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

While some stood in queues outside banks for hours to get old notes exchanged for such families, others chipped in with their own funds. Joginder Singh, former president of Sushant Lok 2 and 3 RWA, said residents in the area pooled their cash and collected Rs.2.5 lakh for a family in Sector 56. “We are ready to stand in line as well if there is need for more cash immediately,” he added.

Meanwhile, in upscale Nirvana Country, residents collected cash in whatever currency they could find.

“We have collected dollars, dirhams and even Nepalese currency lying with residents, many of whom travel abroad. We will now give it to our neighbours who have a wedding scheduled in weeks,” said Jyotsana Anand, a resident.

Sohna resident Mohit Sharma, who works in Gurgaon, was also faced with similar circumstances. “With the note ban, it had become almost impossible to pay advances to vendors as no one accepted old notes. I requested my office colleagues and friends in the neighbourhood to help,” he said. After his request, five of his colleagues and four friends in Sohna stood in queues outside banks for over three hours to exchange old notes.

“I managed to get around Rs.30,000 in new notes and am a little less worried now. Some vendors have taken cheques as well,” he said. His co-worker, Sandeep, said, “Our female colleagues too stood in the line and got the cash. It is for a good cause.”

Another Gurgaon resident, Parvesh Chouhan, who works in Sector 15, said that his niece’s wedding was scheduled on November 11, just three days after the old currency notes were demonetised.

“We were shocked by the news. Who has the time to stand in line when there is a wedding in the family? Although major purchases were made, but the issue of paying the caterer and food suppliers remained,” he said. Here too, neighbours came to his rescue and six to seven of them managed to get the old notes exchanged a day after the wedding.

People also came up with unconventional ways to get money for the family. To pay for the wedding band, a debit card was swiped at a neighbourhood petrol pump, which in turn gave cash of the equivalent amount.