The Indic Quotient: Reclaiming Heritage through Cultural Enterprise

Over the past decade, India has seen a significant rise in both passion for enterprise and pride in heritage. The two have converged to form successful ventures and imaginative social initiatives centred around Indic ideas that encompass yoga, Ayurveda, textiles, Sanskrit education and temple conservation, among others. In The Indic Quotient, Kaninika Mishra celebrates the efforts of ordinary Indians as they reclaim their native identity with ingenuity – from a team of economists working to put long-forgotten millets on urban Indian plates in Delhi to a group of art enthusiasts working to bring back stolen artefacts from museums abroad; an ex-investment banker formulating Ayurveda-inspired beauty products in Chandigarh to a yoga teacher from rural Bihar setting up a successful teaching practice in Gurugram; and a former engineer working to revive traditional textiles in Assam to a corporate professional in Bengaluru making India’s first Sanskrit animation film. With intimately told stories of dynamism and entrepreneurship, the book tries to examine the relevance of traditional wisdom and culture in modern India, and what they mean for India’s economic future and soft power.