What if Bharat’s ability to survive, rebuild, reinvent and rise is rooted not merely in history, but in a deeper civilisational code? This is the central proposition of The Economic DNA of Bharat, authored by Dr. Monica B. Sood and published by Simon & Schuster India.
Sharing insights from the book during a media interaction with journalists, Dr. Sood—an Ayurveda expert and entrepreneur, political commentator and thought leader—said the ten-chapter work connects Bharat’s civilisational past with its economic present and future, offering an intellectual roadmap towards Viksit Bharat-2047.
Dr. Sood explained that “DNA” is more than a metaphor; it is the framework through which she examines Bharat’s economic journey. While governments, technologies, currencies and economic models change, she argues, the nation’s civilisational DNA endures through three defining impulses: D—Dharma, N—Nirman and A—Atmanirbharta, representing values, nation-building and self-reliance.
The book explores how enterprise, knowledge, community, resilience, innovation, inclusion, ethical prosperity and strategic autonomy have found changing expressions across Bharat’s history. Ancient Bharat demonstrated these impulses through maritime trade, agriculture, medicine, knowledge systems, governance and community networks. Today, they are reflected in digital public infrastructure, entrepreneurship, indigenous manufacturing, technological innovation, financial inclusion, start-ups, defence capabilities and strategic autonomy.
Dr. Sood also examines economics as a reflection of national psychology, arguing that economies are shaped not only by capital, labour and policy, but by what societies value, save, spend, build, share and innovate.
The book features a foreword by Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, along with messages and endorsements from several eminent public figures.
For Dr. Sood, the inquiry is also personal, influenced by the intellectual legacy of her late father, Paramjit Kumar, whose ideas, including Fiscal Quantum and Integral Capitalism, shaped her thinking.
“GDP can tell us how fast Bharat is growing. Economic DNA attempts to understand why Bharat keeps finding a way to rise,” she concluded.
