The Indian economy and business landscape have undergone a sea change since Independence in 1947, with the country’s socialist policies and the License Raj giving way to economic liberalization. The IT and ITeS revolution made India the back office of the world. The rapid spread of the Internet and the world’s lowest data costs have made India a hub for fintech innovation. The development of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has resulted in the explosion of e-commerce. As we celebrate the growth of entrepreneurship and the start-up culture in India, some questions come to mind: • Who were the trailblazing Indian entrepreneurs who made India’s growth story possible? What were their characteristics? • What were the strategies they used to succeed? • Who are today’s business leaders and how are they driving growth in today’s volatile world? This book seeks to answer these questions. “An inspiring summary of the lives of some of India’s business stalwarts and new-age entrepreneurs by a young and curious mind. Arjun Sampat lucidly captures the key strategies and success factors of these entrepreneurs. I’m sure this book will further encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst young Indians.” -Sonal Agrawal, Global Chair, AltoPartners and Managing Partner - India, Accord Group “India’s entrepreneurs are world-class global traders – interacting with them is the main reason I love my job as an investor!! For a young man like Arjun Sampat to author such a terrific, detailed book, at such a young age, is a testament to the impression these leaders have made in the minds of our youth. I am sure this will catalyse and inspire many young Indians to undertake their own entrepreneurial journeys.” -Manish Kejriwal, Founder & Managing Partner, Kedaara Capital

From the early Vedic period, the Vaishyas, the oldest mercantile community of India, generated wealth for the nation through their remarkable efforts. Their Marwari offshoots were appointed by many rulers as ministers, advisors and diwans and were recognised as the first philanthropists in India. The Marwari Heritage takes the reader on a voyage of discovery of the Marwaris who migrated from Rajputana, Haryana, Malwa and its adjoining regions to other parts of India. They braved trials and tribulations in unchartered territories, supporting others of their community, never losing faith in their ability to succeed, and focused on their goal, they became the uncrowned kings, first of trade and business, and later of industry. They joined the freedom struggle with a true spirit of patriotism, philanthropy and active political involvement. Many courted imprisonment and even achieved martyrdom. Today, the roots of the Marwari community are deeply enmeshed in the social, cultural and economic fabric of India. Their innate psyche of giving back to society has seen them donate generously to education, empowerment of women and vocational training leading to employment. Shedding some traditions and retaining many, they have stepped into the modern age, achieving an enviable cultural mix. At the helm of most successful entrepreneurial enterprises, their focus on innovation and technological advancement has resulted in governments of several countries seeking their advice on economic growth. Of the many who have left an indelible mark on the history, socio-political and economic foundations of the country, this book is enriched with rich cameos of some of these ‘greats’ and the reader derives insights into numerous newly discovered and hitherto unrecorded facts. The younger generation of Marwaris continue to dream big and build on the foundations their forefathers planted. They continue to grow from strength to strength, marching towards new horizons. The plethora of welfare schemes and trusts responsible for development of the nation’s needy continue to be monitored with precision. Meticulously researched over five years and richly illustrated with over 100 rare, coloured photographs, paintings, and 600 black and white photographs, illustrations and rare documents published for the first time, readers have much to feast their eyes on. This pictorial book also serves as an inspiration to any and everyone who dares to dream and reach for the skies.

What a family! Simple and complex, traditional and modern, religious and rational, money-minded and money-renouncing, Indian and international, fiercely individualistic and inspiringly loyal' -P. Lal In a life spanning nine decades Krishna Kumar Birla, son of the legendary Ghanshyam Das Birla, witnessed events that shaped India in the twentieth century and had close associations with iconic figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Madan Mohan Malviya, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Head of one of India’s leading business houses, K.K. Birla embraced principles in which the creation of wealth, philanthropy and political leadership were all regarded as part of nation-building. Written in a style that is simple and translucent in its sincerity, Brushes with History brings alive an important era in the life of the nation, its changing social mores, evolving principles of corporate governance and enduring family values In an affectionate and moving tribute, K.K. Birla’s daughter, Shobhana Bhartia, acquaints readers with her father’s spiritual strength and moral values which were an integral part of his life.

Biography of Basant Kumar Birla, b. 1921 and his wife Saraladevi Birla.

Memoirs of Basant Kumar Birla, b. 1921, Indian industrialist.

Drawing on the history of the philanthropy of India's economic elites, Arun Kumar discusses how their ideas and understanding of development have shifted and changed over time. Going beyond the more familiar criticisms of development's entanglements with colonialism, Kumar interrogates the changes in development imaginaries in terms of modernity's entanglements with the national question, including anti-colonial nationalism and post-colonial nation-building during the twentieth century. Development, he suggests, can be usefully read and critiqued as national-modern. Philanthropy and the Development of Modern India plots the careers of the national-modern in four main sites of development: civil society, community, science and technology, and selfhood. In an unusual move reading socio-economic nationalist reform from the first half of the twentieth century alongside post-colonial development from the second half, Kumar uncovers the lineages of contemporary development ideas such as self-care, self-reliance, merit, etc. In all this, elites were driven by a 'pedagogic reflex': to teach different sections of Indian society of how to be modern and developed. Contrary to development studies' characterization of elites as anti-development or captors of scarce resources, Kumar shows how elites longed for development for others. Development provided the moral justification, in their calculations, for protecting their commercial interests as they navigated the turbulent Indian twentieth century.