Radhika strolled towards the dry-cleaning shop she owned in Nasik, a holy city near Mumbai. Her shop served a diverse clientele – people with soiled laundry, and priests from nearby temples seeking to cleanse the cash donations. With Diwali festivities recently concluded, it was a bustling time of the year, and Radhika anticipated an influx of such customers.
Approaching her shop, she observed a gathering of men outside, one appearing to be a policeman, near a small truck parked nearby. Among the group, she recognized a familiar face – Prakash, a close friend of her late husband whom she hadn’t seen in a while. Pondering what the day had in store for her, a hefty gentleman from the group motioned for her to come closer.
“My name is
Taken aback, Radhika meekly responded, “Ok.”
Mr. Rao continued, “We know that you provide dry cleaning services. Can you take care of my notes too?”
Radhika attempted to explain that special forms needed to be signed, but when she noticed Prakash nodding, she acquiesced, “Yes, we do, but I need to…”
Mr. Rao swiftly interrupted, “Ok. Prakash, explain the situation to her.”
Prakash clarified, “Radhika! Listen carefully. These guys are from the Government of India. They work for the Currency Press in the City – one of only four currency presses in the country.”
He added, “They want some currency notes cleaned by today. They will make it worth your while. I recommend that you just… just accept, without questions.”
Radhika found herself with no other option. Prakash, a good man who worked for the government, sensed the importance of the situation and agreed, “Ok, we will do it.”
Mr. Rao responded, “Good. Now, there are some rules. You tell your family you will be working late at night for the next 7 days, stay in the shop, and surrender your phone. You cannot reveal any details to anyone else. All members in your shop need to follow the same policy.”
Left without any choice, Radhika begrudgingly agreed. She reminded herself that this sacrifice was for her son’s future, to send him to medical school. Before surrendering her phone, she called her son but couldn’t say much when he sounded particularly concerned. Her son meant the world to her, and she hated lying to him. Radhika dreamt of seeing her son become a doctor. Despite her shop having special equipment and a license to launder currency, medical school was expensive. She had managed to save 1 million Indian rupees for his admission.
The police then carried two crates with wads of currency notes. These notes were unusual, ones she had never seen before. They were stiff, blue instead of the traditional orange and lighter blue shades she was used to, with 2000 printed on them. Most were covered with streaks of brown, making them look damaged.
Mr. Rao spoke, “Don’t ask any questions, just clean the brown streaks from all the notes. They are tea stains.”
Radhika proceeded to clean the wads of notes, a laborious process. She slept in her shop every night, and the police took batches of cleaned notes as they dried. On the last day of her assignment, Radhika, eagerly awaiting the task’s end, overheard some officers talking.
“Yaar, this news tonight will change the country forever.”
“Are you prepared for it? Many people will go bankrupt.”
“I am fine, Bhai (brother). I moved all my money to the bank. What about you?”
“I bought a lot of gold. Once these 500 and 1000 notes get banned tomorrow, people with unaccounted money will have a tough time.”
“Shh! Let’s keep it quiet. Rao will flay us alive talking about this.”
Radhika’s heart raced, feeling a tingle of dread. She needed to act fast. She never trusted banks since the local community bank manager fled with their deposits 10 years ago. She kept all her savings in cash in a secret location. She knew it would be hard to deposit this money now. She had to quickly devise a plan.
Radhika started screaming, “Ohh shit! What have I done?”
An officer approached her, asking, “What happened?”
Radhika replied, “I don’t know.”
The officer moved closer and peered down at the notes. He took out a phone from his pocket and rang Mr. Rao.
Rao asked, “How did this happen? Do you have any idea how much we have lost? We better fix it.”
Radhika, sobbing, responded, “I don’t know. In a hurry, I probably messed up the concentration of the cleaning agent. I don’t know how much. I can try to fix it.”
Radhika heard a calm, neutral voice on the other end of the line, saying, “Well, looks like the damage has been done. Why don’t you finish cleaning the remaining batch quickly? And remember, do not say this to anyone ever. We can make your life pretty difficult.” She found the neutral tone in Rao’s voice unsettling.
Radhika quickly finished cleaning the remaining notes. The next morning, the last batch of notes was loaded into the crate and transported. She was finally free to collect her phone. As she walked towards her house, she noticed people running all around, and she knew what was happening. Curious, she asked someone at a nearby store about the commotion.
The Prime Minister of India had announced the demonetization initiative, banning ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes and introducing new ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes in exchange for the demonetized ones.
Later that evening, Prakash dropped by her home after hearing about the incident at her shop. She recounted what had happened, and he once again reminded her not to share this with anyone. Before departing, Prakash looked her in the eye and said, “Radhika, I have never seen you make any mistake in your work. I hope that your son becomes a doctor and is able to save lives, making up for your mistake.” As the nation was still reeling from the news, her heart was strangely tranquil.
This story was written as a part of reddit r/WritingPrompts - “You own a laundromat that literally launders money. It keeps the money clean, sanitized, and stiff. Of which you had to explain to mobsters, cartels, and law enforcement agencies, every, damn, year.”