I counted the money I had in my purse and was astounded to find a lone Rs 10 peeping out shyly from its interiors. Oops! No cash handy, have to rush to my Lord Kubera, the lifesaving ATM.  I hop with impatience as I join the long queue in front of it.  Ah! Finally I’m there; I hurriedly withdraw the money and head home.

Safely home, cappuccino in hand, I decide to count out my money.  Aww! Five hundred rupee notes again! I hold them up against the light, focusing my eyes, intent on discovering a fake among my treasures. Now wait a min! what am I really looking for? Am I such an expert on counterfeit currency notes that my X-ray eyes will see through the smallest flaw?  I sigh in exasperation at my foolishness and begin to put away the cash.  Hey! What is this? My eyes catch a crisp 500 rupee note with the words ‘I luv u’ written in a garish pink.

I am enchanted. What novel way to declare your love. Short & Simple, no flowery sentences, or yawn inducing long poetry, just jump to the crux of the matter. Hmm, long drawn love-letters indeed! I am being old fashioned now. Gone are the days when writing love-letters were an art  now the youth just download the latest songs or readymade SMSes and send them instantly, sometimes to multiple recipients. Art is passé. In today’s world, everybody speaks the language of Science or Commerce.

I go out the next day, ‘love note’ safely in bag, waiting for an opportunity to change it. The vegetable wala refuses to accept a five hundred for my meager helping from his cart. The laundry wala shakes his head dolefully and the supermarketwala looks at me accusingly and says that such a defaced currency note is unacceptable. I walk briskly towards the coffee shop and finally manage to get rid of it in exchange for a sinfully  rich slice of  black forest cake and an equally sinful glass of chocolate milk shake. I wonder if five hundred rupees can be equivalent to the pounds of flesh which have been newly deposited on my already plump & dowdy frame. ‘No pain! No gain! I think to myself. Atleast I don’t have to look at that hated 500 rupee again.

Aaila! I had spoken too soon. I cry out in shocked surprise next month as I see the same five hundred winking at me yet again in all its garishly pink glory. The circle is complete! I must remember to ask my software programmer friends whether this round & round journey can be classified as an infinite loop.