Epilogue and Apotheosis: Keynes Indophilus

Abstract

The strength, variety and continuity of the Indian Connection in Keynes’s writings and activities, prompts ‘the really interesting question’ which as Lytton Strachey said ‘is always the particular one’. How did the Indian Connection contribute to the making of Keynes the foremost monetary economist, policy adviser extraordinaire, international economic statesman, and the revered guru? What in the final analysis did India and Indians really mean to Keynes? Which, in the interface between Keynes and India, was more decisive and significant, the impact of India on Keynes, or of Keynes on India?

‘India is full of such wonders … To have done good work is something and I don’t the least doubt that I have done some.’ E. M. Forster

‘He achieved that rare and coveted combination of ‘Lakshmi’ (the Goddess of Wealth) and ‘Saraswati’ (The Goddess of Learning) in his own life … he added the celestial gift of an ‘Urvashi’ (The God Indra’s Dancer) to it by marrying Lydia Lopokova.’ B. P. Adarkar (Lord Keynes of Tilton — A Tribute)