“Brothers and sisters... To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight, that is November 8, 2016. This means that these notes will not be acceptable for transactions from midnight onwards.The Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes hoarded by anti-national and anti-social elements will become just worthless pieces of paper,”They were meant to mutate into illegal tender overnight, and become worthless pieces of paper. But going by the number of people still using the old currency, 11 days after it was ostensibly put out to pasture, you would assume that India is a land where anti-national and anti-social elements thrive, even more when in the lap of adversity.When Vidhu Jain, 40, a homemaker in Delhi’s north-east district of Rohini, ran out of grocery a week after Modi’s “surgical strike” against black money, nationalistic fervour quickly metamorphosed into anger. Help, however, came from an unexpected quarter: the particularly friendly neighbourhood kirana store.The help, however, came at a price. Jain paid Rs 10,000 — in ten Rs 1,000 notes — but got goods worth only Rs 8,000. “At least, I managed to survive,” shrugs Jain.Welcome to the parallel economy of old notes, being used by canny businessmen who have struck when the iron is hot. Across the country, a rash of retailers, kirana store owners, vegetable vendors, local eateries and even private chemists have managed to find a way to flourish by creating a parallel economy that works on a simple rule: use your older “illegal” currency, but at a discounted value, often by up to 30%.Just a kilometre from Jain’s house is a local market that has a few grocery stores and a pharmacy. The neighbourhood DDA ( Delhi Development Authority) market wears a deserted look, and the fear of a potential sales tax raid has deterred businessmen from raising the shutters. But for a daring few, it’s business as usual. “It’s all about demand and supply,” says Chirag Agarwal, owner of a pharmacy, explaining his move to accept older notes.Though he is not asking consumers to take a hit, what he is surely insisting on is to buy medicines or cosmetics worth the entire denomination. “At least this way people are able to transact,” he says.Experts saw the birth of parallel economy coming. People are taking old notes confidently at a discounted rate because there is a market for surrendering such notes, they contend. “It is reflecting the potential value of the old demonetised notes,” says Sebastian Morris, professor of economics at IIM-Ahmedabad. If the older notes are still finding takers it’s because they can be surrendered to banks using the standard route, he says.Morris maintains that by hitting hard at black money and doing little else, the black economy will resurrect. “Black economy doesn’t mean black money,” he says. “Unless the flow of black income is stemmed, not much gains will be made.”Meanwhile at Azadpur mandi, Asia’s largest wholesale market for fruit and vegetables in Delhi, empty trucks are conspicuous. A market which even during non-peak business hours remained chock-a-block with consumers and truckers has turned into a ghost market. While the big traders are missing in action, a few enterprising ones are hanging around, pocketing old currency.“It’s the reality of the market today,” says Salaj Dharia, one of the many vegetable vendors. With stocks lying idle and new money still not in free flow, the best option is to take old notes. “Modi has ruined the entire economy. He will pay for it in election,” he thunders.Just outside the mandi, Mukund Tiwari, a fruit vendor from UP, is having the last laugh. “Modi is making the rich pay for their black money,” he grins. It doesn’t bother Tiwari that his daily business has gone for a toss — from Rs 1,500 to Rs 300; what really makes him happy is that the rich are getting ruined. “Ab amir garib ho rahein hain (Now the rich are turning poor).”Cut to Goregaon East in Mumbai , India’s financial capital. Though Leena Srivastava, a homemaker, can’t be bracketed as rich, she stands the risk of slipping into the poor slab in a month or so if she keeps using the new Rs 2,000 note. Reason: she can’t buy anything that costs less than that as nobody is willing to give her the balance.“Why should I give away a part of my new money?” asks the homemaker, who had saved a couple of thousands over the last few months. “It’s exploitation. I don’t have black money. But I am paying the price,” she rues.“Can’t imagine what daily wage earners might be going through.” Meanwhile in Ranchi , the capital city of Jharkhand, Dayamani Barla is incensed. The tribal activist who runs a small tea stall is not amused with Modi’s “kadak chai” reference. “Yeh kadak chai nahi, yeh kaali chai hai, bina cheeni ke (This is black tea without sugar),” she says. “That’s not the way to serve tea.” Barla points out how demonetisation has led to the exploitation of poor tribals and farmers in Jharkhand.It started from Day One. Once the news about the uselessness of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes spread like wild fire, the middlemen laid the trap: exchange old currency by taking one-fifth of their value. Gullible tribals and farmers got duped as they exchanged all their savings in one go. “The worst hit are those without any bank accounts. They are in the millions,” says Barla, adding that with the sowing season round the corner, the poor will most likely again be in the clutches of exploitative moneylenders.The tribal rights leader contends that Modi won’t be successful in creating a rich-poor divide by portraying himself as a messiah for the poor. “Modi used to be a tea-seller. But now he has got industrialist friends,” Barla quips.In Patna , the capital city of the neighbouring Bihar, professor DM Diwakar too feels that Modi has messed up his political and economic math. The director at the AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies reckons that Modi’s understanding of economics and finance is juvenile. It’s the poor in the villages and cities , he argues, who are bearing the brunt of his move.Back in Delhi, there’s another tea vendor who identifies himself completely with “chaiwallah” Modi. Anurag Gupta , 46, has a small makeshift kiosk in East Delhi’s Lakshmi Nagar from where he has been selling tea, cigarettes and instant noodles for the last decade or so. The main reason for Gupta’s euphoria and support for Modi is not that it would lead to a “cleaner country” as promised by the PM, but something else: “Seth mar rahein hain (The rich are dying).”Gupta is not bothered about the impact of demonetisation on his business — sales have dipped by more than half — but is happy to see that those who have become rich by stashing black money are now feeling the heat. “I still live in a rented house, and there are millions in Delhi who have multiple bungalows,” he fumes.The rich-poor divide in the country — which Modi tried to bring to life in Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh a few days back with his jibe that the poor are sleeping soundly while the rich are rushing to buy sleeping pills — has never been starker. Suddenly caste has taken a backseat. It’s now class.“Modi is taking revenge on behalf of the poor,” grins Gupta, as he takes out a cup of hot coffee from his espresso machine tucked in one corner of his kiosk, and serves it to a consumer who pays in an old Rs 500 note. Gupta gleefully accepts it. “Karna padega, business hai (It’s business, have to do it).”