Open Letter to Nikhil Kamath: Influence, Responsibility, and Bharat’s Timeless Wisdom

Dear Nikhil Kamath ,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I want to begin by expressing my deep gratitude for the immense value your podcast has brought into my life. As I shared in my first post of 2024, you have been one of my Top 5 most important teachers and guides for 2024 (LinkedIn Post). Your insightful conversations with founders and leaders have provided phenomenal learnings, and for that, I remain genuinely grateful.

That being said, I wanted to share a perspective on a recent idea you proposed on Twitter—emulating Singapore’s kitchen-free homes to drive efficiency. While modernization is inevitable, I believe this thought overlooks the deep cultural, societal, and spiritual dimensions of food and family in Bharat.

1. The Singaporean Model: A Cautionary Tale, Not a Blueprint

Singapore, while celebrated for its economic prosperity, is simultaneously experiencing a demographic collapse. Its Total Fertility Rate (TFR) dropped to a historic low of 0.97 in 2023, far below the replacement rate of 2.1 (Straits Times). Factors like high living costs, relentless work culture, and a shift away from family-centric living have contributed to this crisis.

Elon Musk has publicly warned that countries with declining birth rates—including Singapore—are at risk of extinction (Times of India).

Bharat, on the other hand, has the world’s youngest workforce, a demographic dividend that is the envy of many nations. Yet, as I highlighted in my own blog post (LinkedIn), this advantage is at risk due to the increasing adoption of nuclear families, individualistic lifestyles, and falling fertility rates.

Should Bharat really be looking at a model that is failing at its most fundamental level—human sustainability?

2. The Sacredness of ‘Annam’ and the Role of Kitchens in Bharat

Food, in Sanatan Dharma, is not just calories and consumption—it is energy, sanctity, and offering. The Sanskrit term ‘Annam’ signifies divine nourishment, and the act of cooking is regarded as a sacred exchange of energies. Ayurveda and Indic traditions have long recognized that food is not just about sustenance but about sustaining Dharma itself.

To relegate cooking to a lowly, disposable chore and promote an over-reliance on ordering-in is to ignore the spiritual, familial, and social dimensions of food. Kitchens are not merely functional spaces—they are the heart of a home, where families bond, where traditions are passed down, and where ‘prasad’ and ‘seva’ are as integral as nutrition itself.

Singapore's efficiency-driven model may serve economic purposes, but is it conducive to holistic living, well-being, and the very survival of a civilization?

3. The Responsibility of Influencers: The ‘Lok-Kalyan’ - 'Jan-Kalyan' Imperative

With great power comes great responsibility. In today’s digital age, business leaders like you wield immense influence over young, impressionable minds. Many in your audience take your words as life advice, shaping their aspirations, habits, and choices. Given this influence, shouldn’t every idea, every opinion, and every action be directed towards ‘Lok-Kalyan’ (greater good) and ‘Jan-Kalyan’ (societal well-being)?

Which brings me to a disturbing trend—your recent interview with Bryan Johnson. Here is a man who spends over $2M a year on anti-aging treatments, gets blood transfusions from his teenage son, and treats longevity as a self-serving science experiment (Business Today, Fortune).

This biohacking obsession contradicts everything Bharat has ever stood for—a Dharmic, spiritual approach to life and death, acknowledging karmic cycles, and embracing the balance of nature.

By platforming such an extremist, individualistic worldview, do we risk promoting a misguided, materialistic narrative that divorces people from Dharma, society, and their very sense of shared existence?

4. The Power of Your Position: A Call to Higher Purpose

As one of India's most powerful business leaders, you have an unparalleled opportunity to shape narratives that truly benefit society. Your influence is a privilege—one that should elevate and empower, rather than merely disrupt and provoke.

Rather than emulating failing Western models, can we champion Bharat’s ethos of balanced living? Rather than reducing food to mere consumption, can we revive the sacredness of Food - Annam? Rather than chasing scientific immortality, can we reconnect with the timeless, cyclical nature of life that our ancestors understood so well?

These are the questions that leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs must ask themselves—because the legacy we leave behind is not just in our businesses, but in the values we uphold, the traditions we honor, and the wisdom we pass on.

5. In Conclusion: A Request, A Hope, A Dialogue

This letter is not about disagreement for the sake of disagreement. It is about reclaiming perspective, about ensuring that power is exercised with grace, responsibility, and Dharmic consciousness.

I hope you take this in the spirit of Satsang—a dialogue of truth-seekers, where diverse perspectives come together not to cancel each other, but to refine, elevate, and inspire.

Bharat does not need kitchen-free homes, bio-hacked immortality, or an economy-driven existence at the cost of societal well-being. It needs leaders like you to wield their influence with a consciousness rooted in Dharma, gratitude, and ‘Jan-Kalyan’.

And that is the Nikhil Kamath we all know you are capable of becoming.

With deep respect and hope,

NK