At least one hour before opening of business hours at 8.30 am, people had started queuing up outside bank branches on Day 1 of operations following the demonetisation of high value currencies.
That was not unexpected though. Still, the sight of men and women, some with toddlers in their arms, reminded one of queues of devotees waiting to have darshan of their favourite deities in a temple. The queue also reminded one of the long wait (from dawn) in front of schools for pre-KG application forms or, maybe, the wait to watch the first-day first-show of a favourite silver screen hero. The queues at the bank, however, turned longer as the day progressed.
Bank officials who also arrived at the scene at around the same time, found it difficult to enter the premises and head to their desks. But people, by and large, seemed to adhere to the bank staff’s appeals to line up, fill forms and submit their identity.
Some were excited about the entire drama, gossiping aloud about the happenings at home over the last two days, while the elderly became restless, looking scornfully at the women who seemed quite unmindful of their glares.
Going by the crowds that had gathered in front of a nationalised bank here, it seemed as if a good number of women folk were visiting the branch for the first time, probably after opening their Jan Dhan accounts.
But, why this anxiety when one can exchange the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes up to December 30?
"I wanted to be one of the first in my circle to hold the new Rs 2,000 note. Isn't it nice? The pink colour is a lot different," said Angamuthu, an attender in a private firm. Excitement was writ large on his face.
He, however, said the bank exchanged just one Rs 2,000 note per individual.
Elsewhere, in Chennai, an elderly person, while appreciating the efforts taken by his banker in having some of the senior officials attend to senior citizens, pointed out that the branch was not spacious enough to accommodate the crowds and people had spilt out on to the street.
While the branches of all nationalised banks witnessed a mad rush on Thursday morning, old private banks and the next-gen ones breathed easy. Onlookers said the private banks did not entertain note exchange requests from all and sundry, excepting their customers.
At the end of the day, one bank staff told this correspondent that it had indeed been a long and tiring day. "I am just visualising the next 50 days.. Oh God!," before retiring for the day.
Day 2, seemed no better. The queues forming outside bank premises, though not as brisk/ early as yesterday, seemed no less. But, today, people have come prepared with water bottles, some with the morning daily, and others with what seemed like short eats.