There is an elementary piece of economic truth that remains unshaken since time immemorial. Put simply, it runs: "Nothing comes from nothing." Or, using economic jargon, there is a price to be paid to ensure any outcome that generates comfort. At the level of the individual, a decent dinner calls for a payment. At the level of society, weeding out black money from the system calls for hardships as well. To be borne by millions of innocent common men and women queueing up in front of ATM kiosks to withdraw measly sums of cash to try and satisfy their demand for daily essentials. According to reports, the hardship has been somewhat extreme, for one person at least is said to have collapsed as he waited for his Rs 2,000. And died, as non-resident Indians sitting in Japan were clapping and giggling away in vulgar merriment that the motherland they never intend to return to was being cleansed.
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