Intentar ORO - Gratis

Why is tacit knowledge important for civilizational economies like India?

The Sunday Guardian

|

June 29, 2025

Tacit knowledge sustains India's informal economy, preserving ancient wisdom vital for cultural identity and economic resilience.

- VENUS UPADHAYAYA

Why is tacit knowledge important for civilizational economies like India?

The recent Prada's Spring/Summer 2026 show at Milan featured footwear strikingly similar to India's Kolhapuri sandals, triggering an online backlash about designers not giving due credits to the design's origin. The social media backlash was only what it was meant to be—an emotional outpouring—we can't expect it to help us understand why India keeps inspiring the best creative and the most organized industry abroad but struggles to uplift its context back home.

A non-confrontational and solution-oriented assessment of this problem could begin by correcting a misplaced understanding about India's informal economy that's predominantly unorganized—this unorganized economy can also be rightly understood as our civilization's economy, surviving and resilient because of its tacit knowledge systems.

Knowledge is explicit or it's tacit (अनकही या नहिं). Between the explicit and the tacit, all spheres of our knowledge systems can be divided, permeating our history, economy, politics, and possibly everything. This is undeniable in nature; things in such societies can be very old, visible, and yet inexpressible or tacit.

Thus, if an European or American fashion designer or even an Indian from one of the National Institutes of Design (these societies and institutions represent explicit knowledge-based ecosystems), loitering through ethnic bazaars of Indian tourist towns, picks up an idea amply existent in the tacit knowledge around, he can simply credit it to his inspiration. However, his output, a product or a design, will become part of his organized market with no credit or returns to the source of origin.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE The Sunday Guardian

The Sunday Guardian

The Sunday Guardian

THE TERRORIST WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

Former insurgent-turned-president navigates shifting alliances while confronting Syria’s deepening internal crises.

time to read

5 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

BJP LOOKS FOR BENGAL ENCORE POST BIHAR TRIUMPH

BJP says Bihar mandate has ‘laid the path’ to power in Bengal, giving oxygen to dislodge Mamata’s 15-year rule.

time to read

3 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

AP, WEF seal 'Energy Cyber Resilience' pact

The Andhra Pradesh government and the World Economic Forum on Saturday signed an agreement to establish a Centre for Energy and Cyber Resilience on the final day of the 30th CII Partnership Summit here.

time to read

1 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

The Sunday Guardian

PM’s call to sing Vande Mataram is an invitation, not an imposition

PM's initiative was not about rewriting history but reopening it so that Indians can decide for themselves what their heritage means. That is democracy at its purest essence.

time to read

5 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

Karnataka’s sugarcane crisis escalates

North Karnataka’s sugarcane farmers, who launched a massive agitation over the past two weeks seeking a fair price for their crops, say that the State Government has virtually abandoned them.

time to read

1 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

The Sunday Guardian

AKALI DAL SIGNALS REVIVAL THROUGH TARN TARAN BYPOLL

AAP won Tarn Taran bypoll, but the Akalis held on to their support base.

time to read

3 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

The Sunday Guardian

AVOIDING AND MANAGING VENOMOUS SNAKE AND OTHER BITES OUTDOORS

Snakebites are a silent global health crisis, claiming an estimated 138,000 fatalities annually, of which 58,000 fatalities, the world's highest, are in India. India hosts over 60 venomous and 240 other snake species. Irula Cooperative Society of tribal snake handlers in Tamil Nadu supplies 80% of the venom for antivenom production in India, a major producer globally. The \"Big Four\" (not by size) venomous Indian snakes are the Russell's viper, saw-scaled viper, Indian cobra, and common krait. Snakes are captured, and venom is carefully extracted before they are released back into the wild. This venom is used to immunize animals like horses or sheep, and the antibodies from their blood are extracted and purified to create antivenom serum (AVS) for human use. These antivenoms are species-specific, costly, difficult to produce, and can provoke dangerous allergic reactions due to the presence of animal antigens. Polyvalent Antivenoms made for these \"Big Four\" do not cover other venomous species like the king cobra, banded Krait, and various pit vipers. Among the numerous Indian antivenom manufacturers, Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation also produces scorpion antivenom. Delayed access to antivenom, poor rural healthcare infrastructure, and transport contribute to a high morbidity (paralysis, bleeding disorders, kidney failure, and amputations) and mortality.

time to read

5 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

TRUMP CUTS TIES WITH MARJORIE T. GREENE

PUBLIC SPLIT

time to read

1 min

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

The Sunday Guardian

Time for strategic renewal of India-ROK partnership

India and South Korea must be prepared to support one another in safeguarding their shared democratic values, national sovereignty, a stable Indo-Pacific order, and strategic autonomy amid intensifying great-power competition.

time to read

4 mins

November 16, 2025

The Sunday Guardian

Brooklands, a taste of aviation, dining beyond the ordinary

A Michelin-starred aviation-themed restaurant elevates London dining with playful elegance and precision.

time to read

4 mins

November 16, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size