The Holy Trinity

From the moment I began reading about different Indian companies and Indian entrepreneurs, I have discovered several commonalities, the most notable of which is the involvement of three communities in the development of the Indian economy and business environment. These three communities are the pillars on which our economy stands. They are stronger than elephants, smarter than foxes, and faster than eagles in terms of work execution. These three communities have marked their presence in almost every sector that we are familiar with. Steel, telecom, cement, textiles, paints, automobiles, electricity transmission, e-commerce, fashion, and media. Whatever it is that they do, you will find them among the top 3 players in the industry. These communities collectively employ 60% of the Indian workforce, contribute more than 52% to corporate tax, donate almost 62% to charitable causes, and are the majority spot holders on the Forbes rich list, yet they are one of the simplest and most down-to-earth people you will come across. 

The 3 communities that I am going to talk about are Jains, Gujrati's, and Marwari's. Someone had said that the purpose of life should be to have a purposeful life. No other communities come even close to the value these 3 communities have, their contribution to society, and their business mindset. They are born businessmen and philanthropists. When a new member comes into their family, I believe they say that an entrepreneur is born instead of a girl or a boy. In today's blog, I will try to pass on the lessons I have learned from studying, reading, and communicating with people from these communities. It's equivalent to reading a light version of the Bhagvat Gita. Let's start with the Marwari community first, often mistaken as the stingiest community. It's very ironic to say so because Marwari's share of donations is almost 42%. As shrewd as they are in terms of business, they are equally emotional when it comes to giving back. 

Marwaris come from the Marwari community, which originates from the Marwar district of Rajasthan. This community used to be traders under the Rajputana Kingdom. Originally, Marwari's came from the sand community. They aren't stingy; they know the value of money. They are financial geniuses. Marwari stands for measured, religious, wise, authentic, resourceful, and industrious. There is a saying about Marwari's that goes like this: "Jidhar na pahuche rail gadi, waha pahuche Mawrari." Basically, they are opportunity hunters. Marwari's have been migrating from one place to another for reasons like famine, local businesses, or being called by Mughal or Rajput's for treasury management. Sometimes they are traders, sometimes financiers, sometimes moneylenders, and sometimes bankers. Today, six out of 10 companies have been co-founded by Marwari's. Some famous examples include Ambuja cements, Wipro, Raymonds, Ceat Tyres, and the Times Group. 

 

Since the very beginning, because of their magical mind, Marwari's have been beneficiaries of royal support, helping them gain dominance in the Northern markets. There were two major reasons for this dominance. One was the trade route that joined Kandhar and Agra, and the second was the route that joined Jodhpur and Ahmedabad. Historically, Kandhar has been ruled by Mughals, Safavids, and Marwaris, who undertook the trading activities between these routes seamlessly. Just to give you an example, Raja Todar Mal was appointed by Akbar as his finance minister. By the time the 19th century came to an end, Marwari's had replaced the central and eastern traders. The policies implemented by the British were seemingly more profitable than their original business, and hence, Marwari's started migrating to the central region and Maharashtra between 1835 and 1850. They were famously called the "Sahukars" by the end of 1880. 

It was during the British Raj that Marwari's decided to shift from being traders to running big industries. One of the earliest examples of this was the fading rule of the British in the jute business and Marwari's rising dominance. After jute, the Marwaris entered the cotton and sugar industries. By the end of 1930, they were diversifying their business into engineering, chemicals, infrastructure, and consumer durables. The most prominent groups were the Birla group, the Bajaj group, and the Goenka's. In less than 50 years, this community went from being an entrant to dominating the entire market. Today, Marwari's own 7 out of 10 businesses, they own critical licenses for mines and defense contracts, employing more than 20% of India's working population. In 2013, there were 29 billionaire Marwari's in India. Today that number is way above 100. As much as exciting and inspiring their story is, wait until we cover Jains and Gujrati's. 

What is a common thing between Gautam Adani, Lala Lajpat Rai, Vikram Sarabhai, and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman? All of them belong to a community that is 0.40% of India's population which contributes more than 24% to corporate income tax. This community has 94% literacy rate which is way above the national average of 65%. 33% of gold and jewelry businesses are owned by Jains. 28% of real estate in the country is owned by Jains. 50% of diamond business and 20% of India's exports are undertaken by Jains. 46% of Indian stockbrokers are Jains which includes prominent names like Mr. Amit Shah. If that's not enough, 20% of textiles are contributed by Jains. Jain is one of the oldest religions of India. 80% of Jain population belongs to highest wealth quintile. Only 1.6% of Jain population is considered poor. What do you think is the reason behind this dominance? When I started out my research and had an opportunity to interact with a few Jains, they said something very unexpected. Jains are market leaders because of the learning provided by Jainism. How can following learnings of an old religion make someone so rich that they can buy an entire country? Let's find out the Jain story. 

Mahavir Jain is considered to be the man behind the Jain lifestyle and values. Jains follow a simple philosophy of 5 rules. Non-violence, truth, not stealing, chastity, and non-possessiveness. These 5 core values have made them one of the richest minority communities in India. According to Jainism, the ultimate dharma of the soul is to do charity. Post Vedic yug, India was predominantly an agrarian economy. May it be Maurya dynasty or Gupta dynasty, both of them got an economic edge because of their fertile lands. Because of their non-violence clause, neither did a Jain entertained becoming a warrior nor a farmer because according to Jainism, hurting a living or a non-living thing is considered as a sin. Hence, this community diverted their focus form agriculturally based businesses to industries. One of their greatest creations was setting up my first love, the Bombay stock exchange. It was Seth Premchand Roychand and hence the tower behind the circle is called PJ tower. In 2011, 34% of Jains had a college degree while only 9% of general public had a degree. Today, the literacy rate in Jains is 94%. Again, way above the national average. 

Jain women have a literacy rate of 93% which showcases values of women empowerment. Even though Jains are opulent, they aren't as greedy as other communities. You will hear things like a Jain becoming a monk after reannouncing daughter Rs 100 Cr property. In 2022, a pharma businessman Mr. Bhupendra Daklia donated Rs 30 Cr and undertook monkhood. Similar things happened in the states of Ahmedabad. Jain's value serving community more than earning billions and employing millions. According to a report by United Nations, the best way to tackle global warming is to accept Jain lifestyle and philosophy. Jain community, a community that refrains from eating root vegetables because they might end up hurting the entire plant are one of the wealthiest humans in the world. They are epitome of what humility and capitalism can collectively produce. If people like Mr. Adani highlight the brain power of a Jain, then soldiers like Wing Commander Abhinandan highlight the bravery of a Jain. India is blessed land because we have Jains residing here. Jain word originates form Jina, which means conquerors. They surely have lived up to it. 

The next community that we are going to talk about is one of my favorites. They have characteristics of Jains and Marwari's, making them a lethal weapon. It is famously said that "Cheete ki chal, baaj ki nazar aur Gujrati ko kabhi dhandha sikhate nahi hai." India hosts 169 billionaires, of whom 58 are Gujaratis. That means 1 in every 3rd billionaire is a Gujrati. Total wealth of 86 Gujrati's is almost Rs 15 lakh crore. The size of this number can be understood by the fact that if these Gujrati's decide to transfer Rs 10,000 into every Indian bank account (140 crore), they will still have Rs 72 lakh in their accounts. Listed companies like Reliance, Godrej, Tata, Symphony, and Sun Pharma all have a Gujrati mind, either running them or as founders. Not just in India, Gujrati's have successfully taken over the motel businesses in the US. After Dictator Mugabe threw every non-Ugandan out of Uganda, Gujrati's were left with nothing but their skills and undefeatable attitude of not giving up. What started with just 1 motel, today, 60% of the motels in the US are owned by Gujrati's. An average Gujrati earns three times more than an average American. 

 Instead of sharing their values and their backgrounds, I'll share the story of a young and ambitious businessman who sold his products on his bicycle and drives a Mercedes today. It will summaries the attitude that a Gujrati has. Let's name this guy Rahul. Professional a technician, Rahul used to come home every day to work on his detergent. He used to wash his own clothes using this detergent in order to find inefficiencies. Finally, a few months later, he found the exact equation for his detergent, eventually naming this brand Nirma. Karsan bhai Patel, the man behind the brand Nirma, used to sell Nirma door-to-door on his cycle in order to market his product after his working hours. He wanted to differentiate his product, so he came up with a plan to reduce prices. Other detergents were selling at Rs 14 per kg. That's when Karsan bhai came up with Nirma at Rs 3 kg. There is no doubt he is worth Rs 23,000 crore and drives a Mercedes. Karsanbhai knew the power of advertisements, and hence, after earning some profits, he came up with an ad that we still enjoy listening to. Everyone here remembers the "washing powder Nirma" commercial. 

Honestly, these three communities are the real minorities in India, yet they never ask for any sort of reservations or any special treatment because they are self-sufficient and have unshakable faith in themselves, unlike other "minority" communities. People in India who fight over reservations and other special treats using "minority" as a fancy label should feel ashamed of themselves. These three communities are divided by gods, beliefs, states, and businesses, but are united by profits and values of self-sufficiency, charity, and a never give up attitude. Following are the values that I have learnt from studying and interacting with people from these communities and try to implement them in my day-to-day operations. 

1. Supporting and uplifting your community: 
   The only reason why these communities have grown to such heights is their brotherhood and "getting rich together" attitude. A broker once told me that when a Brahmin makes money, he keeps it. But when a Jain, Marwari, or Gujrati makes money, 10 other Jains, Marwari's, and Gujrati's make money. That's the difference. They know that if they don't work collectively, they will be out of business. No matter the occasion, if any one of the above community members organizes a function, each and every one from their community will be there. Just to give you an example, Mr. Anil Agarwal, the metal tycoon of India, was once facing a financial crunch and was in deep need of Rs 50 lakh back in the 90's, which was a significant amount back then. None other than Mr. Dhiru Bhai came ahead and asked Stan Chat to sanction a loan using his goodwill, which Mr. Agarwal used and saved his business.  

2. Values before business: 

While learning about investments and business, the word ethics comes up. But how many people actually follow it? After studying these communities, I have understood one thing: if you undertake business activities honestly, no power on earth can stop you from getting rich. Obviously, you have to work for it, but when people trust you, business flows. My mentor, the late Mr. Charlie Munger, once said, "If crooks knew how much money they could make by not being crooks, they would stop being crook heads." 

 

3. Adaptability: 

A business needs flexibility. If you can't adopt, you can't progress. Almost every story that I have read about these communities highlights the benefits of being agile and flexible. Whether it be Marwari's traveling from Marwar or Gujrati's traveling from Uganda, they all have been flexible enough in order to grow. Mr. Anil Agarwal is jumping into the metal refining business from metal trading; Mr. Dhiru Bhai is jumping into the oil refining business from textiles; Mr. Birla is jumping into the metals business from cotton trading; and many more. All of them have somewhere adopted in order to get what they want. 

 

4. Charity: I won't talk much about this, but I remember listening to an interview with Mr. Mukesh Ambani in which he said that whenever you give, give it with an open hand, and God will reward you with his open hands. And man-o- man, his hands are way bigger and more generous than ours. 

5. Fearlessness: 

None of these communities have had a stable past. None of them had a state that they could call home. They were constantly migrating from one place to another, fighting difficulties in order to earn some food and respect. Just think about this for a minute. Place yourself in their shoes and think about what you would have done. What if you were born in deserts like a Marwari? What if you were thrown out of a country just because the leader wanted his citizens to "prosper"? What would your plan of action be if you had no shade above your head, just like the Jains when they were allocated a place in the outskirts of Mumbai?