Srinu is 10 years old studying his 6th standard in the Oxford English School in Bangalore. During the Vacations, he would usually go to his aunt’s village Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. It would be the same this year also, during the season of Dasara.
Srinu’s father is a bank employee in Bangalore and he would get very few days of vacation. So just like every year, he dropped Srinu at his aunt’s home and went back.

Dasara is one of the most significant Hindu festivals and is celebrated traditionally in many villages. It is celebrated for a period of 9 days and each day is dedicated to a particular goddesses. This is also called as Navaratri in Northern India and it is usually dedicated to the Goddess Durga and all her forms for the period of Navratri. These 9 days are celebrated with great joy and pomp. Different cultural programmes are conducted and performed by the villagers. A Yatra (i.e. a mall where different goods such as cloths, toys, ornaments, eatables etc. are sold and Entertainment Programs are conducted) is usually organized for all the 9 days.

One day, Srinu after finishing his lunch decided to go to the yatra. He took new 20 rupee note which his father had given him to spend for the yatra. It was a new note which the R.B.I. (Reserve Bank Of India) had released upon the directive of the government very recently. Not many people were aware of this. He said, “Aunty, I am leaving for the yatra,” to his aunt, who advised him to be careful and I’ll be returning in the evening.” and then left the house.

The usually open ground of the village square was totally decorated and was teeming with stalls that were big and small, some simple and nice, some decked up with a lot of things and overflowing and while others were too pompous and grand. There were stalls which had a lot of food items to eat and drink also.

Crowded by the colorfully dressed villagers and visitors from the neighbouring villages, it was very noisy with the shouts of the shopkeepers who did all types of things to attract people to buy their wares. There were also parrot sooth-sellers, astrologers, palm readers, mehendi designers, rice namers, painters, etc. Srinu enjoyed seeing them all.

Finally he saw a shop, that caught his interest, an eatables shop which made all types of figures out of sugar and molded into all the different kinds of shapes and sizes such as birds, animals, etc.. He went into the shop, whose shop keeper who had a huge pot belly, and was dressed in a dhoti with a crisp white shirt and a black Nehru cap lopsided on his head. He got scared looking at him at first but in a few minutes, he gathered enough courage and asked him, “How much is one, uncle?”
“Four rupees each, my son” replied the shop keeper with a huge smile on his face and twinkling eyes. Then Srinu took out his new 20 rupee note from his pocket and gave it to the shop keeper.
The shopkeeper saw the note, turned it both sides and said: “What is this? Are you trying to fool me by giving me this false note?” “No uncle, this is not a false note,” said Srinu. “My father gave me this note to spend it in the yatra a few days ago. This is a new note released by the government.”
“Hey! Don’t waste my time, and go out from here” said the merchant very irritated. Srinu helplessly came out from the shop seeing the 20 rupee note in his hands. He just didn’t understand why the shop keeper had refused his note.

Then he moved a little away from the shop and found a blue velvet cap hanging in a shop. He liked it a lot and went in to that shop and asked the shopkeeper, “Uncle, what is the price of it?” pointing towards the hanging blue cap.
The shop keeper, who was busy bargaining with the customers, gave a pause to it and answered “Twenty rupees.”
Srinu took out his 20 rupee note from his pocket. Giving it to the shopkeeper, he said “May I purchase that cap?” Seeing the note shopkeeper said “Certainly, you can; but not with this false note.”
“But this is not false note, it was given to me by my father. He works..........” said Srinu.
The shop keeper cut him off and said “See my son I am doing business from my childhood, and I have handled all types of currency notes, but I never saw this type of a 20 rupee note in my whole life.”
A customer who was watching all this, then said “One thing; maybe some smuggler must have lost it or thrown away this note which was wrongly printed and the boy might have got it from somwhere.”
Then the shopkeeper said “But the boy said that it was given to him by his father.” “No, he is lying; I think” said the customer. “How could a person give a false note to his son,” he continued. “Anyways it is not good for the boy to have the note; so we have to tear it.”
Then another customer interfered, and said “How can we do that! It has to be handed over to the police.”
Meanwhile many people gathered into the shop to see what was going on. Then another villager said “Police! But that may cause a lot of trouble for the village.......…………”
In this way there started a discussion on what was to be done with the new note.

Seeing all this Srinu just didn’t understand what to do. He slowly escaped from the crowd and walked home. Then he thought “All these people here are unaware about this new note and so this new note doesn’t have any value in this village at all.”

On the way home he came across a temple. He went into the temple, to gaze upon the goddess and then took out his 20 rupee note and put it into Hundi. Then he prayed to God, “Oh God; please make the villagers aware of the new notes that the Bank has released before the Hundi is opened. Thank you God........”
Srinu then walked back quietly back to his aunt's house leaving the hustle - bustle of the village square behind........!!!!



The End