Bijness is bijness

Entrepreneurial spirit is inherent in Gujaratis, and in these excerpts from Salil Tripathi's new book, he writes how paiso bole chhe for the community

- Salil Tripathi

ACH WEEK AT a church-run school in the rural south of the United States, the teacher asks a quiz question, and the student with the right answer gets ten dollars as a prize. One Friday, she asked: ‘Who is the greatest man who ever lived?’ A cheerful girl raised her hand and said, ‘I think George Washington was the greatest man ever because he is the Father of our Nation.’ ‘That is a very good answer,’ the teacher said, ‘but that’s not what I am looking for.’ A boy’s hand shot up: ‘Abraham Lincoln, who saved the union and freed the slaves.’ ‘That is also a very good answer,’ the teacher replied, ‘but I am thinking of someone even greater.’ Sleepy-eyed Jignesh Patel on the last bench slowly raised his hand. ‘Miss, I think Jesus Christ was the greatest man ever,’ he said. The teacher’s eyes widened. She beamed and said, ‘Yes, that’s what I was looking for! Girls and boys, look at Jignesh, he was not even born in America, and yet he knows the answer.’ She walked up to him, patted him on his back, and gave him a crisp note of $10. ‘Tell me, Jignesh, you are not a Christian, right? And yet you knew that Jesus Christ is the greatest? How did you know that?’ she asked. Jignesh looked down, grinned, and said: ‘Actually, you know miss, I know that Krishna is the greatest, but my father has taught me, beta Jignesh, bijness is bijness.’

A lame joke may not be the best way to talk about the practical compromises we routinely make to earn money. But we are like that only. You want to call your God greatest? Fine, we’ll agree. We will pretend and outwardly compromise with our core beliefs to make you happy, but we don’t mean it. Money matters, money talks. Money isn’t everything, but it helps. Go with the flow, don’t stand out, don’t insist on being right, abide by the rules, and keep your customs and thoughts to yourselves. Please the powerful. Take the shortcut when nobody is looking. Be pragmatic, yield, and quietly count the notes and coins.