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RBI withdraws ₹2000 notes. (iStock)
Magenta is a mauvish-crimson colour, innocuous like any other on the palette. Well, it was, till Friday, 19 May.
Since Friday, magenta is spooking doctors. They have become “victims” of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to withdraw all ₹2,000 bills, the country’s highest currency note.
The sudden “chromophobia” is not without reason. Patients holding ₹2,000 notes are trading them at clinics, even if the medical bill is too low. The sudden influx of the magenta-coloured ₹2,000 notes has left doctors baffled and with the eerie feeling that they are being used as dumping grounds.
Social media is abuzz with anecdotes and humorous takes on the post-Friday phenomenon. “Today, an unusually large number of patients paid their fees using ₹2,000 notes,” went a tweet by Dr Praveen Tripathi.
“I could never have imagined that my patients would use me as a dumping ground one day,” he added.
Today, an unusually large number of patients paid their fees using Rs. 2000 notes.
I could never have imagined that my patients would use me as a dumping ground one day. 😂 😂— Dr. Praveen Tripathi (@drpraveenpsy) May 20, 2023
Dr. Tripathi’s tweet found resonance among the medical fraternity. “My wife had the experience today. For something as small as ₹600, a patient paid her ₹2,000,” another doctor tweeted.
My wife had the experience today. For something as small as Rs 600, a patient paid her Rs.2000😆
— Dr. Devashish Palkar (@psychidiaries) May 20, 2023
While the development is sadly humorous, it highlights people’s ability to find solutions to unexpected challenges.
Who wants to queue up at banks or CDMs when one can sit in the cool comfort of clinics and dispose of the now-unwanted ₹2,000 notes — along with a healthy conversation with a friendly doctor? None, it seems.
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