Documentary series looks into Indias unique business history

Leading business historians and academicians explore fascinating stories from India's economic past in a six-episode documentary series, curated by management guru Gurcharan Das.
The episodes cover the Indian Railways, the East India Company, managing agencies, Mumbai's 19th century merchants, the Marwari community, and the interplay of dharma and business in medieval India.
The first episode of "Tales of Trade" featured economist Bibek Debroy on February 24.
Das will be joined by personalities like Tirthankar Roy, Omkar Goswami, Lakshmi Subramanian, Thomas Timberg, and Donald Davis in the remaining episodes.
The initiative is a joint partnership between BloombergQuint and Penguin Random House India.

Commenting on the show, Das says, "The series takes you on an exciting journey through conversations with scholars who reveal forgotten fables and rediscovered texts. 'Tales of Trade' is an exciting tale of adventures in the bazaar and the romance on the high seas beginning from ancient times of trade with the Roman world to today's most successful business communities."

With a 5,000-mile coastline, the tales cover ancient Tamils who carried Indian culture to greater Asia; the caravans of 20,000 camels on the Silk Route who crossed the Hindukush mountains to trade with Central Asia and Russia; and of risk taking Marwaris who spread across India in the 19th century with the coming of the railways.

The episodes also cover stories of the trailblazing merchants who shaped modern Mumbai; of Gujarati merchants from Kuchh who traded along the golden triangle of Mandavi, Muscat, and Zanzibar; and the story of the world's first and most powerful corporation the East India Company.
Talking about the partnership, Preeti Chaturvedi, AVP (Marketing and Publicity) at Penguin Random House India, says, "We are constantly looking for ways to make our books more discoverable and accessible to a wider readership. 'Tales of Trade' is a series which will help a relevant audience engage with the stories in an exciting format.