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Religious Orientations in the Lives of Indian Entrepreneurs: Three Case Studies*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2012
Abstract
This paper aims to demonstrate how ‘the religious’ is conceptualized and practiced among urban Indian entrepreneurs. It investigates a continuum of religious sentiment and practice, including non-religious elements, rather than a fixed repertoire of belief and ritual. These religious orientations range from the incorporation of certain Hindu religious practices into the business setting to a denial of any substantive role religion may play in the lives of entrepreneurs and the imbuing of religious dispositions with secular meaning. I argue in this paper that the religious and quasi religious practices of India's new social and economic elite are geared primarily towards the enhancement of their ‘flexible’ lifestyles. The study also makes a claim that modern urban Hinduism accommodates hybrid secular-sacred religious beliefs and practices.
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012
Footnotes
*
This paper is an outcome of my ethnographic fieldwork amongst urban middle and upper-middle class first-generation Indian entrepreneurs who have established businesses in media, publishing, software development, ‘wellness’, and advertising amongst other sectors. The fieldwork was carried out in the Greater Delhi area (Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida) between 2006 and 2008 with an additional visit in 2010.
References
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14 All the names have been changed in order to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of my informants.
15 When I asked Abhishek what kind of Hinduism his family practiced he said it was ‘normal basic’ Hinduism—‘going to temple once a week, doing pujas whenever needed and celebrating the Diwali and Holi festivals’. His response may indicate that his family practiced a Brahmanic-Sanskritic Hinduism (typology derived from Michaels 2004) with devotional elements as there were puja ceremonies, temple worship, and the propitiation of ‘the three main deities—Krishna, Vishnu and Ganesha’. See Michaels, A. (2004). Hinduism: Past and Present (translated by Harshav, Barbara), Princeton: Princeton University PressGoogle Scholar.
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23 A small private firm that specializes in the generation and execution of creative ideas in image and text forms to enhance a company's image and/or communicate specific values which aim to promote the company's concepts, products or services. At the time of fieldwork, Mercury had four main partners and a staff of 30 people, all of them young graduates from art schools and marketing departments of Indian colleges.
24 Rudraksha is the name of the dark berries commonly used to make sacred prayer beads (108 beads in number), a Saivite rosary, for japa mala (repetitive prayer).
25 See Babb, L. (1986) Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition. Berkeley: University of California PressGoogle Scholar; Copeman, J. (2009). Veins of Devotion: Blood Donation and Religious Experience in North India. New Brunswick/London: Rutgers University PressGoogle Scholar; Fuller, C. and Harriss, J. (2005). ‘Globalizing Hinduism: a ‘Traditional’ Guru and Modern Businessmen in Chennai’ in Fuller, C. and Assyag, J.Globalizing India: Perspectives From Below, Anthem Press, London, pp. 211–236Google Scholar; Juergensmeyer, M. (1991). Radhasoami reality; and Warrier, M. (2003). Processes of Secularization in Contemporary India.
26 Jacobs, Hinduism Today, p. 135.
27 See Kakar, S. (1984). The Essential Writings of Sudhir Kakar. Oxford: Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar; Van der Veer, P. (1988). ‘Taming the Ascetic: devotionalism in a Hindu monastic order’, Man, ns 22, 680–695CrossRefGoogle Scholar; McKean, L. (1996) Divine Enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago University PressGoogle Scholar.
28 See Kakar, The Essential Writings; and Varma, P. (1998). The Great Indian Middle Class. Delhi: Penguin BooksGoogle Scholar.
29 McKean, Divine Enterprise; Urban, H. (2003). An avatar for our age: Sathya Sai Baba and the cultural contradictions of late capitalism, Religion 33, 73–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
30 Urban, An avatar for our age, p. 75.
31 Ibid.
32 Warrier, M. (2003). Processes of Secularization in Contemporary India: Guru Faith in the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission, Modern Asian Studies 37:I, 213–253CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
33 Juergensmeyer, M. (1991). Radhasoami reality. Princeton: Princeton University PressGoogle Scholar.
34 Anthropologist Jacob Copeman uses the phrase ‘gateway function’ with regard to describing the gurus’ role as ‘conduits’ to various ‘modernist practices’ and as intermediaries between abstract, anonymous contexts and their devotees. In the case of my respondents, since the guru was actually physically absent, the interviewees were themselves the creators and conduits of concrete ‘modernist’ business practices, which they navigated with the help of imaginary, abstract mediation of their guru. Copeman, Veins of Devotion, p. 139.
35 ‘Our Inspiration’ section in Mercury's brochure.
36 Poggi, G. (2004). Weber: a Short Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 71–74Google Scholar.
37 Tuesday is the designated day of the monkey god Hanuman, known for his devotion and service to the god Ram.
38 Babb, Redemptive Encounters, p. 61.
39 Divya's parents were of the gupta bania caste. Her family's background was the middle-class (her father was an engineer, her mother an administration clerk in a public enterprise), but with Divya's business doing very well, they ‘upgraded’ their status and ‘moved’ into the upper-middle (or even upper) class category.
40 There are, of course, exceptions—there are some very impressive business women and politicians in India: Indira Gandhi, Ms Mayawati, Sheila Dikshit, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Priya Paul, and a few others. Most of them are, however, of privileged socio-economic background (except for the Dalit politician Mayawati). Also see Khandelwal, M. (2004). Women in Ochre Robes: Gendering Hindu Renunciation. Albany, New York: SUNYGoogle Scholar; and Mody, P. (2008) The Intimate State: Love-Marriage and the Law in Delhi, Routledge IndiaGoogle Scholar.
41 Parents’ ‘meddling’ into their children's career choices seems to be in decline, however. Among my informants, if their statements are to be believed, none of them was forced to follow in their parents’ occupational steps.
42 Mrs Gupta, however, still believed hard work was indispensable to success and Divya, a religious person, considered her prospering business as blessed from ‘the above’. The mother's and daughter's diverging opinions as to the source of the firm's flourishing need not be thought of as contradicting but rather as reinforcing one another.
43 The religious meaning of the festival, however, is different for Jains and Hindus. Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs and Buddhists. The celebrations vary in different regions as well.
44 The setup was reminiscent of an art-gallery opening, one of many at the time due to a boom in the art market in India.
45 See James Laidlaw on the structure and meaning of puja (specifically Lakshmi-puja) among Jain and Hindu banias. Laidlaw, J. (1995). Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy and Society Among the Jains. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 365–374Google Scholar.
46 Ram, or Rama, is one of the incarnations of god Vishnu who was also a king of Ayodhya. It is one of the most popular deities in Hinduism. Diwali celebrates the return of Rama to his kingdom in Ayodhya from a 14-year exile imposed on him by King Ravana.
47 Babb, Redemptive Encounters, p. 80.
48 Brosius, India's Middle Class, p. 145.
49 This is in line with some of the recent works on modern urban Hinduism, namely, Babb 1986; Juergensmeyer 1991; Warrier 2003; Brosius 2010; Jacobs 2010. The complete citations are listed above.