Last week I travelled to Itanagar on work. Given the flight connections and my meeting schedules, I had initially decided to fly first to Guwahati and then drive on to Itanagar (~7 hours by road). The alternative was to use the Arunachal Pradesh Government's helicopter service (not too reliable, though, I was told) which would get me to Itanagar from Guwahati in an hour's time. With some difficulty I managed to get a seat blocked on the helicopter which was to leave at 2 pm. I was glad that I did not have to subject myself to the rigours of a 7-hour drive by road.
My flight from Delhi landed well on time at 11.45 am and I slowly made my way to the AP government's chopper service counter just outside the terminal building. The person at the counter confirmed that my name was indeed on his handwritten list and that the flight would take off at 2 pm. That was great!
"Please issue the ticket" I said.
"Sure", he replied. "You have to pay Rs. 3000/- for the ticket".
I opened my wallet as I would in any airline office in Delhi, Bangalore or Mumbai, the cities that I have lived in and asked "Do you accept Master Card or Visa"?
"Neither" he said. "You need to pay cash for the ticket".
That's when my travails began!
I took out all the currency from my wallet and started adding up the five hundred, hundred, fifty, twenty and ten rupee notes. "Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy rupees ... but wait, here's ten dollars as well. That should be enough for the fare".
"Sorry, sir", he replied, " we only accept rupees".
All my persuasion fell on deaf ears, even if sympathetic. I learnt quickly that the only ATM machine at the airport provided by the State Bank of India (SBI) was out of order. The only foreign exchange counter operated by the same redoubtable SBI was similarly closed - so there was no way I could exchange my few dollars.
Here I was stuck at India's gateway to the beautiful North-East - for want of a few rupees!
Hope sprung up through the suggestion of the counter clerk. "There's an ATM at a branch of SBI, just one and a half kilometres away. Since you have enough time - two hours to departure - why don't you go there? You can get a taxi - but don't pay more than Rs.100/-", he advised.
Just as I walked out with my bagagge comprising my computer bag and an overnighter (I travel light) there was an auto-rickshaw preparing to leave after discharging passengers at the terminal. I hailed the driver, told him of my predicament and asked if he could take me to the SBI ATM at VIP (the location of the SBI branch) and bring me back. He looked at his watch - still some time for lunch and so readily agreed. "Wow, that was quick", I thought, "hopefully I will get back in 15-20 minutes with the money and have time for a relaxed lunch at the airport restaurant". We soon reached the SBI branch at VIP. I dashed into the room which housed the ATMs. There were a few people standing in front of the machines, but all that they did was to take balance confirmation print outs. "There is no cash in either of these machines" one of them said, "but you can go to the ATM on the first floor" he added.
I dashed through the branch and ran up the stairs with the heavy laptop bag on my shoulder only to be confronted by a queue of about 50 people. I looked out through the window and could see the rickshaw driver waiting patiently outside. "Oh no! My overnighter is in the rickshaw", I thought, "I hope he doesn't go away with it". The line was slowly inching forward with each person seeming to withdraw Rs. 10,000/-. "I hope the machine doesn't run out of cash, by the time I get my turn", I thought. "Perhaps I should try a machine located a little further away".
Thus began a journey that took me right into town - a distance of over 12 kilometres. On the way we stopped at two ICICI Bank ATMs - one was out of cash, the other out of order. Three SBI ATMs along the way were also "cashless" and I could see several disappointed potential "cash withdrawers" return empty handed from each. At the last SBI branch I asked the manager if I could exchange my precious US$ 10/-. "I'm sorry" she replied, "you have to go to the commercial branch in the city - about 10 kms away.
Finding no solution to my problems I asked the rickshaw driver to take me back to the airport. For some reason, the traffic had suddenly piled up along the route to the airport and there was a long line of vehicles slowly inching along. We just about managed to reach at 2 pm. I then had to pay the rickshaw driver a princely sum of Rs. 500/- which depleted my cash reserves and dashed back to the counter. This time the manager was at the counter. Though he agreed to take the foreign currency this time, I was still short of money after having paid the rickshaw driver. Seeing my predicament a sympathetic fellow-traveller stepped in and paid the money on my behalf and so I flew by chopper to Itanagar.
It saddened me though that the gateway to one of the most beautiful parts of India did not have one of the most basic requirements for any modern day traveller - a working ATM machine, with cash in it!
