#BombayALiberation - A Personal Perspective : TALK 100 

By Gurcharan Das

For author and public intellectual Gurcharan Das, who came to live and work in Bombay at the age of 20, the city was a liberation. His experiences were not very different from the experience of millions of migrants who’ve come here since Mumbai’s birth, seeking both opportunity and freedom from the many oppressions of a feudal society. The commercial origins of the city makes its people nicer, he feels — nicer than, say Delhi, whose origins are feudal. The city teaches you interdependence early on, since everyone has a customer in business. A transaction doesn’t go through unless both the vendor and buyer are satisfied. This makes one behave differently, and brings about an abundance mentality. At our 100th Online Talk #BombayALiberation, he explores Bombay’s economic evolution through a personal, idiosyncratic lens, a legitimate one, he believes, because “one person’s life and views are the only true data of history that we possess.”

Please note: The talk link will be shared a couple of hours before the event 

About the speaker

Gurcharan Das is an author and public intellectual, best known for a much-acclaimed trilogy on the classical Indian goals of life - India Unbound on artha or ‘material well-being’, The Difficulty of Being Good, on dharma, ‘moral well-being’, and Kama: The Riddle of Desire, on how to cherish desire in order to live a rich, flourishing life. He was CEO of Procter & Gamble India and Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Strategic Planning) before he became a full-time writer. His other books include India Grows at Night: A liberal case for a strong state; a novel, A Fine Family; a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and an anthology, Three Plays. He is editing for Penguin a 15 volume history series, The Story of Indian Business.