[ Please leisurely and carefully] . We are in a UPI crisis. Everywhere you go, there’s a QR code waiting to empty your bank account. Vegetable vendors, rickshaw pullers, paan shops, luxury boutiques - everyone’s one scan away from your wallet. There is no hesitation or awareness. Just two taps and it’s done. It wasn’t always the case. Money used to have weight. You felt it. The texture of a ten-rupee note. The nervousness of parting with a crisp ₹500. The act of opening your wallet and thinking twice. That friction was wisdom. It slowed you down just enough to ask, Do I really need this? UPI removed that friction. And with it, a fundamental emotional circuit in the brain. Behavioural scientists call it the pain of paying: the small psychological discomfort that helps regulate spending. Cash had it. UPI removed it. I realised this when I was tracking my monthly expenses last week. I almost fainted looking at it. My food delivery costs had doubled. Random transactions, forgotten subscriptions, unplanned expenses - all logged quietly while I stayed blissfully unaware. Convenience had numbed me. I was spending like I was sleepwalking. My father, as always, had warned me. He still carries notes. Withdraws cash once a month. Keeps it with my mom. He says it keeps him in touch with reality. At first, I dismissed it as old-school. But now, I see the wisdom. There’s discipline in limitation. There’s clarity in tactile money. The ease of UPI gives you a false sense of affordability. You don’t see money leave. You don’t feel regret. But regret isn't the enemy but a feedback. It’s memory. Without it, spending becomes detached from consequence. And detached money leads to unanchored living. Comfort comes at a cost. The cost is mindfulness. Cashless isn't always conscious. And awareness, once lost, is expensive to rebuild. This post isn't about demonising technology. It’s about remembering that the speed of transaction shouldn’t outrun the pace of thought. UPI is here to stay. But so should pause. So should caution. So should that small voice in your head that used to whisper: Think again. Because the real crisis isn’t in the wallet but in the silence between spending and realising. …..LinkedIn