Business

Published on 21st January, 2023, in Economic Times. In America, the state serves the rich. In China, the rich serve the state. The American politicians get the military to ensure American businesses have access to resources and markets. The Chinese politicians restrain most successful businessmen from gambling away the country's future in speculative stock market trading. In other words, in America, Durga serves Lakshmi, while in China, Lakshmi serves Durga. For America, controlled by Capitalists, power is the means to generate wealth. In China, which replaced the traditional order with Communism, power is the means to distribute wealth. Neither country bothers about Saraswati. For both, ..

Published on 25th June, 2022, in Economic Times. The Puranas were composed 1500 years ago, between 5th and 10th century AD. What differentiates the Puranas from the Vedas is the value placed on temple worship, pilgrimages and stories to express a philosophy. The chief protagonists are the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and their counterparts Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga. It marks a time when Hinduism expanded beyond the limited confines of the Gangetic plains and spread to every corner of India, replacing Buddhism and Jainism that had spread earlier. The entire narration can be seen from an economic point of view. Brahma is the ..

Published on 11th June, 2022, in Economic Times. People often ask, if Aryabhatta invented zero, how did people count Ravana’s ten heads and Gandhari’s hundred heads before that. It is one of those foolish WhatsApp “mysteries” for people who do not realise number systems predated the invention of the number zero. For example, ten can be written as X and hundred can be written as C using Roman numerals. In the ancient Brahmi script you had symbols for numbers 1 through 9, and then symbols of ten, twenty, thirty, even hundred and thousand. You can easily write numbers without the need for zero. But these ..

Published on 28th May, 2022, in Economic Times. We often forget that the word cash is derived from the Sanskrit word “Karshapana”. Indians invented the idea of money long ago. Irregularly-shaped copper coins were used by merchants for banking 2500 years ago, about the time coins began being used in ancient Greece and China. Even before this, Harappans are known to have used cowrie shells as currency for exchange. Across India, we find women from tribal communities still wearing cowrie shells or coins around their neck. The ornaments indicate their use as currencies of exchange for a long time in the past. As late as ..

Published on 19th March, 2022, in Economic Times. When we read stories from history, we focus on kings and their wars. The reason for this excessive focus on kings and warfare is the fact that the subject of history emerged in Europe in the 19th century. During this time, kings themselves wanted to hear stories of the valour of their ancestors. Therefore, historians focused on the creation of empires. If Europe was controlled by the merchant class instead of the kings, then history would have followed the history of the merchant class. We would then have an increased amount of knowledge about stories of merchants. ..

Published on 5th March, 2022, in Economic Times. Jesus' fame came not from reasonable and compassionate gospels, but for news that he turned water into wine. Buddha’s fame came not from mindful meditation that destroys desire, but from chanting Buddhist hymns that fulfil desire. Likewise, Himalayan Yogis and Siddha Purusha may look like ascetics but what draws people to them is their magical, mystical and occult powers. There's something about the corporate world that is drawn to Himalayan Yogis and Siddha Purusha. One often comes across videos on YouTube and WhatsApp where a man, dressed in orange with a beard, (the perfect costume for a ..

Published on 4th February, 2022, in Economic Times. Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of Hindus, is renowned for his huge belly, which is a symbol of affluence and abundance. His elephant head evokes power. His vehicle, or vahana, is a tiny mouse, which is known to overcome barriers, and find its way into storehouses, find food, and hoard it. Rats are notorious to catch. But few notice that around his belly is a snake. Snakes eat rats. But Ganesha does not seem particularly afraid. In Ganesha’s hand Ganesha is a sweetmeat, called modaka, shaped like a bag of coins. Ganesha’s rat does not seem to be ..

Published on 11th December, 2021, in Economic Times. Rig Veda refers to two types of kingship: that of Indra and that of Varuna. Indra is the warrior-god who loves the energising Soma as he rides into battle to kill demons and retrieve cows. He is the god that the Aryans venerated when they were on the move. Varuna was a different god, more linked with settlements, with relationships and agreements, who drank Sura, or the relaxing alcohol. While Indra is linked to power, Varuna is linked to prosperity. Perhaps that is the reason why the oldest verses of Rig Veda refer to Varuna as Asura, ..

Published on 18th September, 2021, in Economic Times. Caste (jati) is how resources and respect was inherited and distributed in traditional Indian society. The distribution pattern varied across India. The thousands of jatis were classified neatly into a four-fold varna framework found in the Vedas. The four varnas are brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. The meanings of these four terms have changed over time. In popular imagination, brahmins are visualized as priests, kshatriyas as warriors, vaishyas as traders and shudras as servants. But the reality is not so simple. For many brahmins were bureaucrats, warriors and landlords, having disproportionately more income and respect than others. ..