India is very fortunate that it has a number of complimentary attributes and talents that hold it together and enable progress despite the numerous forces – corruption, bureaucracy, politics, casteism, communalism etc. that are at odds with progress.
At the risk of stereotyping, in the North you have the "can do" attitude and Mechanical Skills of the Punjabis and Sardars. In the East you have the cultural and intellectual aspects of Bengal. The Bengalis do not have a lock on culture and intellect. The latter led them to embrace communism, who in turn have effectively neutralized the region that gave India Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray. In the West you have the business talents of the Gujaratis and the Marwaris. The Marathas and the Peshawars played a prominent military role. And in the South you have the brain power attributed to the "Southies". People jokingly refer to the North as "muscle" and the South as "brains". West as "business", and as far as the East is concerned, today....the less said about it the better.
All things considered, the two dominant forces that have played a major role in India’s economic boom can be attributed to the convergence of Brahminism and Banyaism (for lack of a better terms).
The recent appointment of Pandit to head up the Citigroup, is an instance of the power of this convergence.
Despite the fact that India was invaded, oppressed, plundered and dominated by external forces, the country has survived and bounced back.
All the precious stones and gold taken from India were just material things. The real jewels, India’s DNA remained unscathed in Indian genes.
If we looked at old India it was dominated by the Baniya’s, by the likes of the Birla’s, Ambani’s. The Tata’s were the exception. The Brahmins for the most part were the "salaried" folks who rose up the management ranks to run companies, often owned by the Baniya’s.
In the past, there was a clear delineation between the attributes/characteristics of Brahmins and Baniyas and they can be described as follows:
................Brahminism...................................Banyaism
Oriented towards intellectual pursuits......Oriented towards business pursuits
Focus on acquiring Knowledge...............Focus on acquiring Money
Service oriented....................................Entrepreneurial/Business oriented
Avoids Risk Taking................................Risk Taker
Asks Why?..........................................Asks Why Not?
Socialist...............................................Capitalist
Idealist.................................................Pragmatist
Pursues Perfection................................Pursues Excellence
Tendency to Preserve............................Proclivity to Create
Self Righteous......................................End justifies the means
Principled.............................................Result Oriented
Goal of Industry is Output......................Industry is a tool for making money
Primary Goddess: Saraswati..................Primary Goddess: Lakshmi
Performs Saraswati Puja.......................Performs Lakshmi Puja
Controlled consumption.........................Conspicuous consumption
Thrifty..................................................Kanjoos
Iconoclastic..........................................Rustic
Think before doing.................................Just get it done
Cynical Attitude.....................................Can Do Attitude
Aversion to Dandha................................Aversion to Naukri
Doesn’t like to work with hands...............Doesn’t mind getting hands dirty
Reserved...............................................Outgoing
What we are seeing now is a convergence of these attributes – Brahmins are acquiring Baniya attributes and likewise Baniyas are acquiring Brahmin attributes. The new generation Baniyas, are highly educated and extending the wealth acquired by their forefathers. The Brahmins have branched out as entrepreneurs and acquiring new wealth. The DNA of these attributes are embedded in our genes from eons ago.
The embedded philosophy of India/Bharat is Sanatana Dharma, which far outdates all of the major "religions" of the world. The term Hindu came from the Persians referring to the inhabitants of this land as inhabitants by the Sindhu River, and hence the name Hindustan. There are similarities between Judaism and Hinduism. There is a possibility that Santana Dharma predates Judaism also.
After Buddha, and Ashoka, the pursuit of spirituality superceded the pursuit of material wealth. Brahminism dominated over Baniyaism. The effect of this domination is seen to this day in the form of casteism. India’s downward slide from the hey days of Ashoka, was due to the feudal Kings, namely the Kshatriyas. This enabled the Moghuls and subsequently the Brits and the Portugese to exploit and dominate India. Both Brahminism and Baniyaism were side lined by the Moghuls and the British. Post Independence, these genes were constrained under Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Brahminism was promoted, Banyaism was controlled.
If India is to learn from history, people should note that the Politician is the modern day Kshatriya and there are more bad ones than good ones. Uplevel politics and the effects will be felt in the bureaucracy and business as well.
On the upside, liberalization unleashed the convergence of these genes and attributes and they now form an incendiary mix that is emerging as a world dominant force both in India and in the Indian Diaspora across the world.
