Small Money

Everything is exciting about arriving in the subcontinent, no matter where we are: Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta), Colombo, Kathmandu, Dhaka. Coming from North America, or from Europe, or from Hong Kong or Bangkok, everything looks different, smells different, even the air feels different. Often we arrive late at night and there’s an awkward time of finding our way when a city is asleep, but even so, we’re excited.

There are, of course, a few little details to look after. Money, for example. We have to change money, dollars for rupees (or takas in Bangladesh), which isn’t usually a problem, but when we change a few hundred dollars at an airport bank, or with a money changer, we end up with large denominations like thousand-rupee notes (right now worth about twenty dollars in India). This is “big money,” but what we need most is “small money,” one-rupee, five-rupee, ten-rupee notes, money for rickshaws and tea, for beggars, and for fresh pakoras served hot with a little chutney on the street corner. The Subcontinent is always short on small money, always short on change. With only big money in our pockets, we might as well be carrying Monopoly money.