“Most people think charity begins with generosity. In reality, it begins with accountability.” Walk into any social gathering in India and ask a simple question: “Why don’t more people start charities if they genuinely want to help others?” The answers usually sound simple. “Because they don’t have enough money.” “Because...
When I first imagined Handlooom.com, I thought I was building an ecommerce company. A place where people could buy authentic handloom products. A platform that would connect artisans with customers. A business. Nothing more. Or so I believed. The more I travelled through weaving communities, the more I realised I...
There was a time when Indian parents had only one financial mantra: “Earn first. Spend later. Borrow only if there is no other choice.” For generations, this philosophy built one of the strongest household saving cultures in the world. People bought homes after decades of savings, wore jewelry passed down...
Most people believe one thing about money: to become rich, you must earn more. A bigger salary, a better job, a side income. We chase the number on the payslip and assume wealth will follow. But it often does not. People who earn well still end up in debt. People...
Every Indian has lived this moment. The 10th or 12th result day arrives. A student who studied for two years sits in front of a screen, types the roll number, and waits. The page spins. It times out. It throws an error. The family refreshes for three hours. A railway...
For years, the idea of plastic money in India was a rumour that came and went. Now it is back, and this time it looks more serious. In its board meetings held in Patna and Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India discussed bringing in polymer (plastic) banknotes once again. RBI...
Every few months a new story spreads that Dubai is quietly falling apart. The towers are emptying, the boom is over, the desert dream is fading. It is a tempting story to believe. It is also wrong. And because it is wrong, it hides the danger that actually matters. Let...
Somewhere in Rajasthan, a family is looking at a cancelled exam notice for the third year in a row. Somewhere in Maharashtra, a farmer is standing in his orchard watching ruined Alphonso mangoes fall from trees that could not handle the extreme heat. And in a government press briefing, an...
The Businesses That Refused to Die Every decade, India gets a new crisis. 1991, the balance of payments collapse. 2008, the global contagion. 2016, demonetisation. 2020, the pandemic. Each time, thousands of businesses fold, millions lose savings, and the country spends five years rebuilding what one year destroyed. And yet,...
You wake up every morning, go to work, file your ITR honestly, and watch 30 percent of your income disappear before it even hits your account. Meanwhile, the farmer-turned-politician sitting on 40 acres of “agricultural land” in Lutyens’ Delhi pays zero income tax. The BCCI earns over Rs 13,000 crore...
