Demonetisation revealed to us the power of the state. The state tells us which piece of paper is money, and which is not. As humans, we can turn anything into money—and use it to trade. People have used everything from cowrie shells to coffee beans to bits of metal. It is all about trust. Does the buyer trust the value of the token being given to him by the seller? Today, we trust a number appearing on a screen as money. That is how much we trust technology.

That cowrie (from Maldives) was once trusted as currency is indicated by expressions like “phuti cowdy” (broken cowrie). In the old days, four broken cowries made up one cowrie. At one time women wore strings of cowrie to show their wealth; then they wore strings of gold coins; we cannot wear digital money. So, we display our wealth and status by wearing branded clothing, whose value is propagated through advertising and snobbery. An expensive shoe, phone or a bag, today does what rare gems and stones did two thousand years ago.