Almost all of you who are reading this article right now belong to families who either have a business of their own, or at least one earning member works in a government or corporate office. Because, that’s how we English-speaking, English-reading people earn our daily bread. Over the past few years, most of us have also started buying things online and paying with our credit cards. And, very few of us, are stupid enough to keep our wealth stashed in cash.

But three years ago, when 86 percent of the value of all cash in India was made useless by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we were all affected. Because, even India’s affluent 5 percent cannot live without cash. You send your domestic help to buy vegetables, you need cash. The plumber comes to fix the leaking tap, you need cash. You order food from your local restaurant, you need cash. And, of course, the maali (gardener), the garbage-collector, the dhobi (laundry man), all take their pay in cash.