I reached the Bistupur branch of HDFC at 1pm soon after receiving an SMS telling me that my salary had been credited.

First, I tried the ATM at the bank. But its shutters were down. The security guard said that it had run out of cash. Money was put in, he explained, at 11am. There had been long queues. Now, since there was no money, the ATM had been shut.

I went and met the branch manager. Akhilesh Tiwary assured me that all was well and that it was a technical glitch that had led the ATM to be closed. The ATM would start functioning within a few minutes, he assured me. So, I waited near the ATM.

After half an hour of waiting, when the ATM did not start functioning, I went inside the bank again. This time, I wrote out a cheque of Rs 3,000. It was already 2pm. But fortunately, the queue was not long. Only 13 people were in front of me. Another 40 minutes later, I reached the counter and got my money at 2.45pm.

Before leaving the bank, I checked the ATM. It hadn't come to life.