For Chennaites, Tamil month Margazhi is synonymous with music. This is the time of the year when women dress up in their best kanchivaram sarees and men in traditional kurtha to go sabha hopping and listen to their favourite singers and musicians.

But if the floods dampened the enthusiasm and attendance last year, this year demonetisation is the culprit. With high value currencies pulled out of circulation there is also a severe shortage of low denomination currencies. People are facing a liquidity crunch since last month after the government pulled ₹500 and ₹1,000 currencies out of circulation.

There are over 30 sabhas in Chennai and they witness a huge turn out usually. Karthikeyan K, Treasurer, Mylapore Fine Arts Club, said: “Last year due to flood we did not expect much crowd. Though this year we are getting lot of enquires, the crowd is not as expected.” The reason, according to Karthikeyan, is the impact of demonetisation.

“Most of them have limited cash at home. They want to use them for essential needs and not on music,” he added.

Evening concerts that start from 4 pm in the club used to see 90 per cent occupancy but now, the crowd trickles in very slowly and the attendance is only 75 per cent.

“To encourage people we accept checks and encourage payments through online or card. Yet, we are not houseful,” Karthikeyan laments.

According to a source in the Music Academy, while premium tickets of more than ₹1,000 are selling out, tickets priced between ₹150 and ₹500 are not doing so well. While some are accepting cards and checks for tickets, smaller sabhas insist on cash due to a poor network.

AS Narayanan from Sri Krishna Gana sabha said: “We do accept cards, but when the crowd comes in considerable numbers to purchase ticket it is time consuming due to poor network. During such times we prefer cash.”

Foreigners and NRIs

Apart from local crowd Margazhi season is marked by arrival of non-resident Indians and foreigners in huge numbers. But demonetisation has dampened their spirit. V Babu, General Manager, Woodlands Hotel, said though the hotel is running on full occupancy this season, unlike last year, but there is dissatisfaction among guests due to demonetisation.

With long queues in ATMs and no proper platform to change foreign currency, Babu said guests are struggling to exchange their dollars and pounds.

“Though we have full occupancy now, there have been cancellations. There is also a possibility that foreigners might cut short their trip due to difficulties in accessing cash,” he added.

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