Recently, at a Bengaluru event, Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath stirred up a debate when he answered a question, “Why do Indians hate rich people?” Kamath compared the perception of wealth in India to that in the United States. He said, “The US is a pure breed capitalistic society. India is a socialist in disguise of a capitalistic society,” pointing out that Indian society is sceptical about wealth because it was socialist in the past.
Kamath’s comments were noticed by the billionaire Harsh Goenka, who shared the video of the discussion on his social media page. Goenka was more balanced in his view, saying that Indians do not have a problem with ‘good’ billionaires like Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, or Anand Mahindra. He said, “What we despise are the materialistic people who abuse the system and who are only interested in their own welfare." To summarise, Goenka said that the problem does not lie in the accumulation of wealth but in its proper utilisation: “It’s not wealth that is the problem—how you apply it is!”
The conversation has elicited a lot of responses on the social media platforms, with people having different things to say. Some supported Goenka’s view that billionaires who are philanthropic are usually respected. Some comments include, “Good billionaires are role models to emulate,” and “Billionaires should spend their money in a cycle where they benefit society in the process.” On the other hand, some people complained about the conspicuous consumption by some affluent families, arguing that this provokes anger in society.
This debate goes on while it brings out the social attitude Indians have towards success and wealth. The contrasting views show that there is a culture clash between people admiring benevolent billionaires on the one hand and people doubting the self-interest of billionaires on the other.
