Toffees: The New Currency of India

A few days back, I was busy finishing some grocery shopping when I came across (once again) the latest currency of modern India - little chunks of sweetened chocolate filled caramel covered in attractive shimmering wrappers. Okay, I am probably being a little biased by classifying all toffees under the éclairs variety, but the point I am trying to make is that while progressing towards the much hyped 21^st century, it seems that we are finally ready (mentally and economically) to adopt some of the efficiently effective customs developed during the Indus Valley Civilization of bygone years.

This was not the first time that I had received some toffees when I was actually expecting some coins, but it sure was one of those few times when I decided to give the shopkeepers a taste of their own medicine. It so happened that at a shop I had to pay 13 bucks and the guy behind the counter returned 2 éclairs along with an INR fiver. After a while I was at yet another shop and was expected to shell out 23 bucks. Though I had the requisite amount of change in my wallet, but I was slightly irritated by the forced toffees and therefore decided to be a cheeky customer rather than my usual docile self. Consequently, I ended up giving this second counter guy 2 toffees along with a coin.

On my way back from the market to the place I call home, I realised that my mind had found a new topic for its daily evening monologue. It was busy recalling and justifying the variety of defiant acts I have been involved in relation to toffees being used as money. The earliest I could recall was an incident of 2007 when I was still in college. A friend and I were busy hogging all varieties of junk food at a moderately cheap ‘we_serve_it_all’ shop, when I was required to pay 5 bucks. I handed a crisp ten rupee note to cash counter fellow and he was impertinent enough to give me 5 toffees in place of change. When I demanded an explanation, with a smirk he answered that this was all he could do unless I could give him the exact change. My slow brain couldn’t process an apt reply just then and as a result I left that shop feeling slightly frustrated. However, my friend and I were in the same market for quite some time and that incident kept playing reruns in my mind. A short while later when we happened to be in the vicinity of that shop once again, my mind finally came up with an impulsive scheme for revenge. I walked inside that shop, the counter guy of course recognised me and poor chap was so taken aback when I handed him his own toffees for a 5 rupee coupon he had already generated.

I think this was the first incident when I had decided to come out of the soft cocoon of a easy going ever tolerating consumer, but this was not the only time. I have repeated these acts time and again depending upon my mood and frustration levels. And though the shopkeepers often resist in accepting their kind of currency, but whenever I indulge in such activities, I am usually resolute enough to achieve my goal.

What vexes me the most about this new currency issue is that these shopkeepers are always trying to impose their choice of toffees on me. Had they been handing me hard cash, I wouldn’t have bothered in the least about what make of coin were they giving me. In case of real cash, one never even checks the year of manufacturing and the name of the then RBI governor. However, this is so only because all coins are same (except for the denomination) and can be used by applying principles of simple arithmetic. But the same is not the case with toffees.

The factors involved in determining the worth of a toffee are just too many. A toffee needs to be judged on parameters like make, year of manufacturing, brand name, type, taste and therefore calls for advance calculus and economics to be looked into before determining the exact value of a toffee. What may be my favourite toffee might just be a piece of useless sweet for another. Thus, when our new currency can be interpreted differently on the mere basis of personal choice and perception, then perhaps it is not the best choice that we have.

Last but not the least, though it sounds very lame as a conclusion, but really it is not so much about the money as it is about the feeling of not letting others cheat on me. To quote from a recent bollywood flick, 'agar do rupaye kuch hote nahi hain, to do rupaye ke liye bemaani kyu karte ho'!