Chandigarh, August 27, 2026: What if Bharat’s remarkable ability to survive, rebuild, reinvent and rise is not merely the consequence of history, but the expression of a deeper civilisational code? This is the defining proposition of ‘The Economic DNA of Bharat’, authored by Dr. Monica B. Sood and published by Simon & Schuster India. The book moves beyond the conventional vocabulary of GDP, budgets, fiscal deficits and growth rates to examine a more fundamental question: What has and is making Bharat economically robust?
Sharing details about her book with a group of journalists here during a media interaction, Dr Monica B Sood who is an established Ayurveda expert & entrepreneur, political commentator & thought leader informed that her book spans ten chapters, under which she has connected Bharat’s civilisational past with its economic present and future, presenting a distinctive intellectual roadmap for understanding the nation’s transformation towards 2047.
Dr Sood said, “The Central concept of ‘DNA’ is not merely a metaphor but the intellectual framework through which I have examined Bharat’s economic journey. Governments, technologies, currencies, markets and economic models may change, but the civilisational DNA of Bharat endures.”
According to Dr. Sood, this enduring DNA can be understood through three defining impulses: D—Dharma, N—Nirman, and A—Atmanirbharta. These represent a commitment to values, nation-building, and self-reliance.
Notably, the book features a Foreword by Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of Law and Justice, and carries endorsements and messages from eminent public figures, including Gulab Chand Kataria, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab; Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Dairying and Animal Husbandry; and Jatinder Pal Malhotra, among others.
In reply to a question, Dr Sood, said that the book argues that enterprise, knowledge, community, resilience, innovation, inclusion, ethical prosperity and strategic autonomy have repeatedly found new expressions throughout Bharat’s history.
She said that ancient Bharat expressed these instincts through sophisticated systems of maritime trade and commerce, agriculture, medicine, knowledge, governance and community networks.
“Contemporary Bharat expresses them through digital public infrastructure, entrepreneurship, indigenous manufacturing, technological innovation, financial inclusion, defence capabilities, start-ups and strategic autonomy.”
Reflecting on the exploration of economics as national psychology in the book, Dr Sood argued that economies are shaped not only by capital, labour, productivity and public policy, but also by human behaviour—what societies value, save, spend, build, share and innovate, and what they regard as prosperity.
The book therefore occupies an unusual intellectual intersection of economics, history, psychology, civilisation, public policy and future studies. It presents Bharat not merely as an economic system, but as a civilisational economic personality, offering a framework to understand its journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.
For Dr Sood, this intellectual inquiry also has deeply personal roots. She traces much of her curiosity about economics, society, national development and Bharat’s place in the world to the intellectual influence of her late father, Paramjit Kumar. His ideas and writings encouraged her to look beyond immediate economic events and examine the deeper forces shaping nations and societies. His intellectual legacy, including the ideas of Fiscal Quantum and Integral Capitalism, became an important strand in her own search for understanding Bharat’s economic character.
“GDP can tell us how fast Bharat is growing. Economic DNA attempts to understand why Bharat keeps finding a way to rise,” concluded Dr. Sood.
