PROFESSOR ATUL K. SHAH www.atulkshah.co.uk
Globally renowned expert advisor and broadcaster on culture, accounting, finance, business ethics, holistic education and leadership
I spent most of January 2024 in India, visiting various Universities, giving guest lectures and opening dialogues on Ethical Finance, and conducting field research on the Indian philosophy and culture of sustainable finance. Yes you read correctly – India has a long history and tradition of sustainable finance which the world is hardly aware of, giving significant opportunities for reforming science and education. From India, I wrote a number of articles and features for iGlobal on a variety of themes
- The Economic Sutra of India and its unique science, independent of western thought and timeless in its prescience
- The thirst for an inclusive Philosophy and Psychology of Money and for the masses to understand the various dimensions and significance of money
- The nexus between art, trade, entrepreneurship, scholarship and royal patronage, which gave a huge boost to Patan in the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, when it was the first capital of Gujarat
- The critical importance of heart intelligence NOT AI and community capital to finance and its sustainable wisdom
A living museum of culture and heritage, where the old and the new merge and invigorate everyday life
A country where religiosity and spirituality is so central to everyday life that people self-regulate their conduct and behaviour, and tradition, family values, charity and community are alive and vibrant everywhere
There is significant educational innovation in Higher Education, which I witnessed at Ahmedabad University and at Flame University, where the Liberal Arts approach, embedded with a respect for Indian culture and history is making a significant difference to student learning and development. The students there asked outstanding questions and showed a deep curiosity for developing an Ethical and Responsible Finance. I am thankful to Prof Devendra Jain at Flame University and Prof Sudhir Pandey at Ahmedabad University. I also addressed an international Jainism conference at Gujarat University, hosted by Dr. Jitubhai Shah, where the audience were very compelled by my analysis of the unique Jain approach to finance and entrepreneurship.
