We have a difficult relationship with money. Centuries of poverty due to colonisation limited the possibility of achieving wealth for an average Indian family. It firmly created the binary in our civilisational memory — the rich are bad and the poor are morally superior. This binary said that the poor are not rich because they don’t have ill-gotten wealth and the rich are rich because they are complicit in some crime. Asceticism was celebrated and the display of wealth frowned upon. The post-Independence socialist years hammered home the moral code that money is bad and profits are dirty. Even today the super rich like to call themselves as being people with “middle-class values”. But then along comes Diwali and the average money-eschewing, morally superior country turns to Lakshmi pooja with great enthusiasm. So then, what is our relationship with money? Is money good? Do we want it? Why are we so afraid to talk about it?

Diwali is a good time to talk to ourselves and clear our heads about this relationship. Money has a fundamental place in our lives. It is the oxygen of our material life. The four purusharthas (goals of mankind) have artha (wealth) as a fundamental goal to be achieved along with dharma (duty), kama (desire) and moksha (self-realisation). Money and wealth are central to the civilisational memory, but here we are where there is a taint around money and wealth.

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