Wednesday, February 1, 2017

From ‘Bhujia Barons. The untold story of how Haldiram built a Rs 5000-crore empire’ by Pavitra Kumar

The year 1564 marks the earliest record of Marwaris in Bengal: during the reign of Suleman Kirani, Rajput soldiers under Akbar’s flag camped there, as stated by the author Taknet in his book, The Marwari Heritage. The contract to supply essentials to the soldiers was conferred to the merchants of Marwar. Soon, these Marwari seths became a revered upper class in society, and rulers from different states in India began to compete with each other to entice the seths to set up businesses in their towns. Marwari seths were given armed protection for their convoys, and charters for the construction of schools, temples and wells. They were even offered immunity from customs, search and seizures, as well as criminal prosecution. Many privileges were bestowed upon them, their opinions given weight, their cooperation of utmost importance to states, as rulers were dependent on the merchant community for economic support.

‘Only 15 per cent of family businesses make it past the third generation,’ touts the Wall Street Journal. Most globally reckoned with family enterprises such as Johnson & Johnson and the Mayo Clinic only survived the test of time because they realized early on to develop robust policies and processes to manage succession and the involvement of human ties and emotions in business……..

Bengalis are a warm academic people with great veneration for art and culture. While Marwaris have lived for generations among Kolkata’s older inhabitants, they have never been welcomed into its folds with open arms. ……Once the British left, it was the Marwaris that helped Kolkata maintain its economy and egged it on towards becoming the prosperous urban agglomeration that it is today.
In spite of the Marwaris’ enormous contribution towards the prosperity of the city, many would still say that Bengalis in Kolkata have never been able to see eye to eye with them. Their lifestyles and ideologies have been too dissimilar to blend together easily…..Where the Bengalis love their fish, most Marwaris follow a strictly vegetarian diet. Traditionally, being supporters of trade and commerce, Marwaris have been oriented to the right and hence been known to be anti-left politically, whereas the majority of Bengalis are staunch leftists. This brings a huge rift in daily beliefs of how the government should run…….and the very definition of work ethics. ……Bengalis, since time immemorial, have turned up their noses at businessmen, believing theirs to not be a respectable profession.

Delhi is the largest at approximately Rs 3000 crore annual revenues, while Nagpur (Rs 2000 crore) and Bikaner (the Bikaji brand, Rs 1500 crore) compete for the second and third spots.

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