The Capt. Subhash Patil Fan Club

You may have come across a talkative taxi driver, but a talkative pilot? On yesterday's Indigo flight from Trivandrum to Mumbai, Capt. Subhash Patil stepped out of the cockpit into the centre of the aisle, took the mic and took over the duties of the air-hostess. He greeted the passengers with the customary airline welcome, and then, surprise, surprise, he recited a poem he had written in which try rhymed with fly and sky. That was not all. After we were in the skies, he wielded the mic again for the customary cockpit address. In 4 languages. Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi and English. Later on, he pointed out Matheran, the racecourse and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. And promised to meet us again when we disembarked. As we went past him at the door, the lady in front of me gushed at him, "You are the best commander I've ever flown with." I'm surprised there isn't a Facebook fan page for him.

Lymphosarcoma of the Economy

Demonetization is supposed to be a surgical strike on the cancer that is black money.

In a cancer surgery, the onco-surgeon skilfully excises the tumour from the body, making all efforts to keep the surrounding healthy organs intact.

Demonetizing 86% of the currency in circulation clearly does not do that. If black money is a cancer, demonetization is more akin to chemotherapy.

In chemotherapy, the toxic medicines do not distinguish between cancer cells and healthy cells. They just indiscriminately target all fast growing cells, since this is a characteristic of cancer cells. 

Unfortunately, this is also a characteristic of other healthy cells in the body, blood cells, for example. Chemotherapy kills those too.

As a result, the body also weakens. And it takes a long time for it to recover. Ask me, I’m a cancer survivor and I've been through chemo.

Demonetization is doing the same thing. It's attacking all money indiscriminately. Not just the 500 and 1000 rupee notes held by black money hoarders, but 500 and 1000 notes held by common citizens as well. Sure, black money hoarders are panicking. But the nation itself is taking a beating. Like the red blood cells so essential for our well-being that are destroyed by chemotherapy, these currency notes cannot be replenished fast enough by 100 and 2000 rupee notes. Productivity is suffering, commerce is suffering, daily wage earners are suffering.

And at the end of the day, chemotherapy is not a guaranteed cure. There are only probabilities. Just the same, demonetization is not a permanent solution to black money.

My cancer could be back. And so will black money.