u/ResilientKitten

Still practicing, but really loving how bright and cheerful the colors turned out together.

​Which one is your favorite piece?

Feedback welcome :)

Bus Details : Ghatkopar Station to Vikhroli (Bus no. 387)

Source: [OC] Personal incident from commute

​I boarded a public bus today and handed over the exact ₹12 fare in cash right away to avoid the usual dispute over change. About 10 minutes later, the conductor returned claiming the ₹10 note I gave was torn. Because so much time had passed, I couldn't verify whether it was actually my original note or one swapped from his cash bag. Rather than cause a scene, I told him I just have ₹200 note as they don't take UPI and he offered a ₹200 note to break.

​What followed was a classic tactic of manufactured confusion:

​Instead of straightforward change, he handed back an unstructured heap of loose change: mixed old and new ₹10 and ₹20 notes and multiple ₹10-20 coins.

​Slipped right into that pile was a visibly torn ₹20 note.

​When I requested a clean replacement note, he argued for five minutes, insisting nothing was wrong with it.

​I had to point out the double standard: "I replaced the ₹10 note immediately without an argument, so why refuse to replace the one you gave?"

​He eventually swapped the ₹20 note after making a public fuss. Because of the crowd, commotion, and rushed atmosphere, I quickly put the loose notes away.

​When I counted the cash properly later while paying elsewhere, he had returned only ₹180 instead of the ₹190 balance—pocketing ₹10 through calculated distraction.

​The Civic Failure:

While ₹10 may sound minor to some, doing this systematically to dozens of daily passengers adds up to significant unaccounted cash. More importantly, this entire issue stems from basic civic service failures:

​Refusal/Lack of UPI & Contactless Validation: Despite digital payments being ubiquitous across India, ground-level transit staff frequently avoid digital modes or claim machines are down.

​Accountability Gaps: Commuters are constantly rushed, making it easy for predatory cash-handling practices to thrive without immediate recourse.

What are your thoughts?

Ref- https://pin.it/2kjwOSZyZ