In the kaleidoscopic arena of global finance, where markets pirouette with the frenzy of a cosmic storm, a luminous truth gleams like a celestial beacon—Indian women, the unsung architects of prosperity, have woven gold into an empire of enduring splendour.
Uday Kotak, titan of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has crowned them ‘the smartest fund managers’, a proclamation that resounds like a temple bell. On April 22, he posted on X: “The performance of gold over time highlights that the Indian housewife is the smartest fund manager in the world. Governments, central banks, economists who support pump-priming, high deficit funding, may need to take a leaf from India, a net importer of store of value forever!”
Harsh Goenka, sagacious chairman of RPG Group, amplified this ode with a wry anecdote: “Ten years ago, I bought a car for Rs 8L. She bought gold for Rs 8L. Today—car’s worth Rs 1.5L. Her gold? Rs 32L. I said, ‘Let’s skip gold, go on a vacation?’ She said, ‘Vacation lasts 5 days. Gold lasts 5 generations.’ Moral: Wives are smarter.” These financial colossuses bow before the unerring wisdom of women, whose golden gambits outshine Wall Street’s sharpest oracles. The better halves are turning out to be the finest financial mentors.
Gold in India transcends mere metallurgy. It’s a sacred saga, a divine force shaped by women who wield it with the precision of poets and the foresight of seers. Once dismissed as a “non-productive asset”—a critique Kotak himself voiced in 2019, citing its strain on India’s current account deficit—gold has soared like a mythic phoenix. Its 26 percent surge in 2025 alone has silenced sceptics, transforming heirlooms into a financial juggernaut that humbles stocks and bonds. This is not mere investment, but alchemy—a miracle forged by women whose steadfast belief in gold’s lustre has turned cultural reverence into economic triumph.
To grasp gold’s sanctity, one must delve into India’s soul, where it is less a commodity than a covenant. It is the bangle adorning a bride’s wrist, the coin tucked beneath a mattress, a shield against life’s tempests. A Delhi-based cultural historian observes, “Gold is not just wealth; it is the pulse of lineage, a silent vow of security woven into India’s fabric.”
Unlike in the West, for Indian women, gold is both talisman and treasury, a bulwark against inflation’s erosion and currency’s caprice. Socially, it binds generations, a gleaming thread in the tapestry of kinship. Economically, it underpins nearly 40 percent of India’s GDP, a testament to its reign as the nation’s sovereign asset. Indian households, guided by women’s deft hands, hold a staggering 24,000-25,000 tonnes of gold—11 percent of the world’s jewellery, valued at Rs 24-25 trillion. This trove dwarfs the reserves of the US (8,000 tonnes), Germany (3,300 tonnes), Italy (2,450 tonnes), France (2,400 tonnes), and Russia (1,900 tonnes) combined. Western households, by contrast, possess a mere 2,000-3,000 tonnes, mostly in bars and coins. Europe’s gold slumbers in central bank vaults.
This disparity reflects a profound cultural divide. In India, gold is a vibrant emblem of security and status, worn with the pride of a warrior’s crest. In the West, wealth pulses through intangible stocks and bonds, abstract and fleeting. Indian women, with their intuitive brilliance, have crafted a legacy that eclipses the cold calculus of global markets. Their gold collection is a living testament to wisdom that spans eras and empires.
Why has gold, once a passive relic, ascended to such stratospheric heights? A confluence of global and domestic currents provides the answer. Geopolitical turbulence—like the escalating US-China tensions and murmurs of a US economic slowdown—has driven investors to safe havens. “Gold thrives amid uncertainty, its lustre untouched by the tempests of global markets,” a Mumbai-based analyst notes.
Domestically, gold’s role has evolved from static store to dynamic hedge. A 2025 financial report states, “Over the past decade, gold stocks have quadrupled, consistently outpacing inflation.” From Rs 25,000 per 10 grams in 2015 to Rs 98,420 in 2025, gold’s 300 percent climb overshadows the BSE Sensex’s 200 percent rise from 28,000 to 80,000. With an annualised return of about 15 percent, gold is no longer a dormant asset, but a comet whose trajectory is propelled by women’s foresight.
In the bustling bazaars of Chennai, the winding alleys of Old Delhi, and the sleek penthouses of Mumbai, women orchestrate this golden symphony. Envision a matriarch, her sari shimmering like a Himalayan dawn, negotiating with a jeweller whose scales tremble under her gaze. Her purchase—a necklace, a coin—is no impulse, but a calculated act blending sentiment with strategy. These women are not mere consumers but high priestesses, their homes sanctuaries where bangles whisper tales of resilience.
In villages, gold is a farmer’s wife’s armour against drought. In urban enclaves, it is an executive’s shield against market volatility. Digital gold, summoned with a smartphone’s swipe, bears their mark, marrying ancestral wisdom with modern innovation. From gold exchange-traded funds to sovereign bonds, women have stormed financial frontiers, their acumen reshaping India’s economic landscape with an audacity that humbles tycoons.
Yet, gold’s brilliance casts complex shadows. The dowry system, though declining, still tethers women to burdensome expectations. Mining’s environmental scars and sourcing’s ethical dilemmas loom large. But Indian women, ever pragmatic, confront these challenges with clarity. They champion recycled gold, advocate for sustainable practices, and push for reforms to ease tradition’s weight. Their devotion is not dogmatic but discerning, a dance of reverence and reinvention that keeps gold’s flame burning bright.
As India weathers economic storms, gold remains its lodestar, guided by women whose wisdom rivals the grandest hedge funds. They have not merely preserved wealth but amplified it, their golden acumen a beacon in a turbulent world. Kotak and Goenka, giants of industry, stand in awe of these queens of carats. Their natural instincts have outwitted algorithmic models. Gold’s ascent challenges the orthodoxy of modern finance, proving that wisdom need not wear a suit or wield a spreadsheet. It dons a sari, a salwar kameez, a smile, and a bangle aglow with ancestral dreams.
Ultimately, Bharatiya naris are the true alchemists, transforming a metal forged in Earth’s crucible into a legacy of resilience and foresight. To call their affinity for gold an obsession is to miss the profundity. They do not chase gold; gold seeks them, striving to match their radiant pace. In their hands, gold is not just wealth but wit, not just tradition but revolution. The greatest treasure lies not in the metal they hold, but in the women themselves. Their vision is a currency no market could ever rival. They are the new social entrepreneurs who know how to survive and thrive. And mint more money without market manipulations.
Prabhu Chawla
(prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com)
Follow him on X @PrabhuChawla