Nikhil Inamdar - Rokda: How Baniyas Do Business

The Baniya is a loosely used expression in India, employed interchangeably to refer to the corner shop kiranawallah, the calculating money lender or the quintessential Marwari businessman next door. The connotation is often negative, but the etymology of the word is found in the Sanskrit term, vnij, which simply means trader or merchant. Originating primarily in the northern and western parts of India, the Baniyas have historically been engaged in professions ranging from money lending, commodities trading, stock broking, and shop keeping. In the present day however, they straddle sectors of the modern economy as varied as internet enabled retail, mobile telephony, and oil and gas exploration.

They are a separate Indian caste with specific sub-castesMaheshwaris, Agarwalas etc, religious affiliations Hindu and Jain, distinctive social customs, also have typical surnames on the basis of the clan to which they belong Bansal, Mittal, Singhal, Goel, Garg and so on. In a wider context, the term Baniya is also used in parts of the country to refer to a conglomeration of people from diverse geographical and religious backgrounds, engaged broadly in commerce.

When I was approached to do this book that would feature the growth stories of five Baniya entrepreneurs, the first thought that crossed my mind was whether entrepreneurship could be dissected from the prism of caste alone. Could I possibly use old social segregations and hierarchies as a basis to pick a group of entrepreneurs and tell their stories? Wouldnt that only restate community stereotypes that may or may not hold true any longer?

As I began approaching people I was interested in featuring in the book, one young whiz kidwhose online restaurant-discovery portal had just received millions of dollars in private equity fundingbanged the phone down on me asking never to call again. Baniyas in business?! Why would you want to categorize me in that manner? he almost shrieked, evidently annoyed at my appeal to let his new-age success story be identified by the caste to which he was born.

If for a moment that incident made me circumspect about this project, all my doubts subsided once I began the interviews. For every person that was dismissive of the role their community may have played in influencing the choices they made in life, I met five others who reiterated the conscious and imperceptible weight that caste-based idiosyncrasies had on their psyche. That is not to say that those featured in this book are solely or even primarily defined by their Baniya identity. Far from it actually! After all modernity and the global nature of enterprise will have blunted old typecasts and altered our DNA considerably, wouldnt it?

But to fully discount the peculiarities of a clan established by generations of cultural and organizational frameworks would be arrogant and ill-conceived. Which is why, uncovering through these case studies why the Baniyas in particular could have long held hegemony on Indian enterprise, and continue to remain such a dominating force in the orb of commerce and trade was an exciting endeavor. From their stomach for risk and high trust culture to the strong joint family and community support infrastructure that could enable their initial rise, from their amazing ability to adapt and adjust well in unfamiliar environments to their penchant for keeping a close tab on costs and spend conscientiously; there are more positive stereotypes about the Baniyas that hold true than dont.

They have an intrinsic understanding of money and commerce. Business is second nature to them reckons Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal.com. He is surrounded by Baniyasfrom his own partner Rohit, to all his competitors that inhabit Indias e-commerce landscape. But, it is what Rohit Bansal himself shared with me that strikes a deeper chord. The community he says is inherently comfortable with uncertainty, and remains undaunted by the constant oscillations in their financial circumstances. What a virtue that is for a good businessman to have!

The five stories in this bookof the men behind Emami, Snapdeal, Meru Cabs, Hindware, and Bansal Classesseek to bring out the matchless ingenuity of this community, and demonstrate through them how the Baniya has evolved with times, whilst continuing to retain his own unique cultural identity. I attempt to do this without necessarily keeping the caste factor at the fore, but with hope that the spirit of the Baniya DNA, which is wired for enterprise, will shine through in the narrative time and again.

The companies Ive chosen not only represent different sectors of the Indian economy, but also the changing landscape of doing business in India. Emami and Hindware are brands that have withstood the test of time, blossomed in the face of cataclysmic changes. Meru Cabs and Snapdeal symbolize the spectacular opportunity liberalization has afforded to entrepreneurship and Bansal Classes is a tale of triumph in adversity.

July 16, 2014