Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00participated in the concluding session of the conference. The theme of the conference was The
00:00:03Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics. In his address,
00:00:07the President praised the role of the NGT in the field of environmental protection
00:00:11and justice. He said that the tribunal has quickly resolved a large number of disputes
00:00:15and has developed an effective compliance architecture in matters related to
00:00:18rivers, air quality and waste management.
00:00:22है
00:00:27Your hard work is recognized nationally.
00:01:00What are you waiting for? Apply today at
00:01:01www.awards.gov.in
00:01:04or contact your nearest CSC center. Your
00:01:07contribution, the pride of the nation, National Gopal Ratna Award
00:01:112026. A
00:01:14our ancient circumstances in little laugh, a little love,
00:01:17Amul, the Taste of
00:01:19India. A little scene,
00:01:23so sweet.
00:01:26The Taste of India.
00:01:30This is Amul, the whole
00:01:33world's Amul.
00:01:37Taste of India, Taste of
00:01:40India. Children know that as long as Dad is there,
00:01:44everything is fine, but they don't know what will happen if Dad isn't there tomorrow,
00:01:48because you haven't taken term insurance. Be a little
00:01:52sensible, get term insurance from Policy Bazaar.
00:01:55Family first. A crore term insurance
00:01:58एक करोड़ का टर्म इंश्योरेंस
00:02:16a standard form for long-distance
00:02:30is not even available. If there is anything, it is my mother's blessings! Wow!
00:02:33What a scene! You must have heard this dialogue
00:02:37from Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Trishul.
00:02:40If you are from my generation, you must have
00:02:43heard it. It was a hit movie. And Gen Z must have
00:02:47(jata jhoot). It is heard it on Instagram, because recently it went
00:02:50viral. When I heard it for the first time,
00:02:53I wondered, what is this "phooti kaudi"?
00:02:57Is it just an idiom? Or was it
00:03:00really a currency? Today we will take you
00:03:04on a journey where India's
00:03:07money was not paper notes or digital numbers,
00:03:10but small cowries
00:03:14from the sea. Cowrie shells. On this
00:03:18journey of ancient currency, we will see India's changing
00:03:22trade journey, our understanding and our
00:03:25civilizational progression. So let's go from barter
00:03:29system to digital payments on this exciting
00:03:32journey.
00:03:37को
00:03:51a sophisticated understanding of Welcome to Infinite India, The Bharatiya Way. A series that breaks myths,
00:03:55puts speculation aside and reminds us
00:03:59who we were, who we are. Today we all
00:04:02know one thing: 1 rupee equals
00:04:06100 paise. And then 2 rupees,
00:04:095, 10, 100, 500. This
00:04:13is today's currency note system that we have known since childhood.
00:04:16Now tell me one thing, can you buy anything
00:04:20for less than 1 rupee today? Very few things, perhaps nothing.
00:04:24Inflation has made 1 rupee almost
00:04:27useless. When people say that
00:04:30inflation has increased, it means
00:04:34that the power of 1 rupee has decreased.
00:04:37But imagine, there was a time
00:04:41when having just 1 rupee was a big
00:04:44deal. When people had so little money
00:04:48that even 1 rupee was considered a substantial
00:04:51amount, then people needed
00:04:55smaller units than 1 rupee.
00:04:59Today we say 1 paisa
00:05:02is the smallest, but in ancient India,
00:05:051 paisa was also a considerable
00:05:09amount. So what would be smaller than that?
00:05:12That's where our story begins, the "phooti
00:05:16kaudi". There was a time when everywhere
00:05:19there was only one way of transaction,
00:05:23the barter system. But
00:05:26as we started evolving, this system
00:05:29became difficult to operate. Human needs
00:05:32increased, and the barter system, which works on the double
00:05:36coincidence principle, (double
00:05:39coincidence principle means two people
00:05:42who are exchanging goods both
00:05:45need each other's goods and
00:05:49their value is also the same) and this double
00:05:52coincidence system does not work in complex economies.
00:05:56It's obvious, isn't it? Then currency came into existence.
00:06:00But in the beginning, trade was not done with coins or
00:06:03notes, but with small shells
00:06:07that came from the womb of the sea,
00:06:10i.e., cowries.
00:06:12so couri uh shells worked as early currency for few practical reasons,
00:06:16first they were durable, they were hard to counterfeed and they were also
00:06:20naturally uniform in size and appearance, which is again
00:06:23important when you look at
00:06:26ancient bat, and they were also portable, which means you could move them from one place
00:06:30to another, they were not too heavy or they were not, they were
00:06:33not, they were very much portable, so in that sense and
00:06:37they were also available right, terms of quantity, they were quite available across
00:06:40and the supply was not an issue. so these are some reasons cory
00:06:44shells were used and of course given the fact that bharat
00:06:48is is sort of we have the the eastern uh the western
00:06:52and the southern parts of bharat exposed to an ocean you know the
00:06:55supply of the shells were also quite quite a
00:06:58plenty so that way you do not have a supply issue ye
00:07:02What you are seeing is a cowrie.
00:07:05In ancient times, people of India
00:07:09used to buy things with these cowries. And
00:07:12a unit smaller than a cowrie was a "phooti kaudi" (broken cowrie).
00:07:16Three broken cowrie shells
00:07:19made one full cowrie.
00:07:23That means when Amitabh Bachchan says
00:07:26"not even five broken cowries", he is saying
00:07:30"I have so little money
00:07:33that not even the smallest unit is left."
00:07:37But what did he have? His mother's blessings. The biggest
00:07:41unit. Cowrie was not just a currency,
00:07:44it also had a religious connection.
00:07:48In Sanskrit, cowrie is called
00:07:51"kaparda". This word is also
00:07:54used for Lord Shiva's matted hair
00:07:59believed that these cowrie shells
00:08:02are a symbol of Lord Mahadev's
00:08:06matted hair, because Lord
00:08:09Shiva's hair was primarily
00:08:18Due to this belief, you can still see people wearing
00:08:22cowrie necklaces in some temples today.
00:08:26If seen from an emotional angle, this is not just
00:08:30economics, this is the confluence
00:08:33of religion and economics. Money
00:08:36can also be sacred when it is associated with faith and
00:08:40dignity. We all know that these
00:08:44cowries are found in the sea, especially from the
00:08:48Indian Ocean, and from the region
00:08:51we know today as the Maldives, millions of cowries
00:08:55used to go to South India, Bengal,
00:08:58Odisha, and travelers of that era
00:09:01like Al-Biruni and Ibn Battuta mention this
00:09:05cowrie trade in their travelogues.
00:09:08Cowries were so popular
00:09:13that in some places like Odisha,
00:09:16cowries continued to be used until the 18th
00:09:19and 19th centuries, and then the
00:09:22British stopped it. Then came a time
00:09:26when trade increased. Trade and markets moved
00:09:29from villages to large kingdoms. Large transactions
00:09:33became difficult with small currency.
00:09:36Imagine if you want to buy
00:09:39an ox, and the price is a
00:09:43thousand cowries, you won't carry money in your pocket, but in a sack, right?
00:09:47When trade increases, the
00:09:50form of money also has to change. This is where
00:09:53"damri" was added. This is "damri",
00:09:57India's first big step
00:10:00towards metallic money. For the first
00:10:03time, we introduced currency made of metal.
00:10:06Damri was usually made of
00:10:10copper. And
00:10:13the calculation was 10 cowries equals
00:10:151 damri. When a merchant had to carry a small
00:10:19coin instead of 10 cowries,
00:10:23it was simple, efficient. And the interesting thing is
00:10:27that the effect of this damri was not just in the market,
00:10:31it also came into our language. You must have heard,
00:10:34"damri damri ka hisab" (every penny counts). You may not have heard
00:10:38it from Amitabh Bachchan, but perhaps from some other actor. Such was the value
00:10:41of damri, metallic
00:10:44currency is the stamp of a nation and an
00:10:48important step in the development of a nation's economic
00:10:51journey, because in trade exchange now
00:11:06some research by scholar such as professor kalyan raman
00:11:09argues that some of these coins were there even during those times
00:11:13that there were some references of similar coinage within
00:11:16bharat which were there in circulation as some form of b so i think you know if you know lot of research credits
00:11:20some of these coins to modern turkey around the seventh century
00:11:23bce with with some references to China as well and I think you should
00:11:27give credit of course in the other parts of the world where it was evident,
00:11:31but I think Bharat was not far behind, I think we also had
00:11:34various representations of mata and and coinage was was an
00:11:37important reference point and you can see that in a lot of our ancient
00:11:41text and also lot of the inscriptions, so definitely I
00:11:44think if not for the the earliest definitely we were one of the
00:11:48earliest in the world to use coinage
00:11:51as an important form of water and and and it reflects
00:12:25Listen carefully, it's a little complicated. Two damris equal
00:12:28to one dhela. An interesting character comes
00:12:32in between dhelas: pie. 1.5
00:12:35pie equals one dhela. It's a little complicated.
00:12:39That means if the merchant says, "It will cost two dhelas,"
00:12:43and the customer says, "No, reduce it by half a dhela,"
00:12:46then the middle ground is found with pie. This was fractional
00:12:50currency, neither yours nor mine. We should not
00:12:54underestimate pie. It tells us
00:12:57how advanced and subtle India's
00:13:00economy was. When society became
00:13:04city-based, cities like Pataliputra,
00:13:08Taxila flourished, then the need for
00:13:11fractional currency was felt. This is the
00:13:15real sophistication, when
00:13:18the market becomes so aware that every incomplete
00:13:21calculation can also be completed. You know for instance in the
00:13:25arthshastra, there is also a person who measures the price
00:13:29points, whose in charge of measuring the price points of
00:13:33various districts, what we call inflation today was
00:13:36measured in some form of the other by statistical agency, such was
00:13:40the nuances or the sophistication that they had or at least an
00:13:44understanding of the monetary system as we see it today,
00:13:47As great empires like Mauryas and Guptas
00:13:51emerged, trade spread even further.
00:13:55Then "paisa" entered this story,
00:13:58which is still used today.
00:14:02Math became even stronger.
00:14:05Three pies equal to one paisa.
00:14:09I think Indians' math is so strong because our
00:14:13currency system is so complicated. This paisa
00:14:16was often made of bronze or copper
00:14:19alloy. Strong,
00:14:23standardized, and portable.
00:14:26The seed of globalization was sown then.
00:14:29By the time a merchant set off from Kashi
00:14:33and bought silk from a Chinese
00:14:36merchant in the far east, or sold spices or cotton
00:14:40in the far west, trade was done with
00:14:44those very coins. This paisa was not just
00:14:47the value of the metal, but it was a promise,
00:14:51a pledge that behind this coin, there was a
00:14:59we were definitely one of the first in the world to min coins and also
00:15:03have as as coins is a form of butter so in a
00:15:06sense what is the coin right? a coin represents
00:15:10if if we are transacting between two individuals
00:15:13a particular product the coin
00:15:16represents basically a barter so that i can give
00:15:20this much set of coins for me producing a
00:15:23particular product and and then selling it to another person, so I gain that currency
00:15:27and that is again circated everyone. Ye This coin is genuine and
00:15:31the journey of this currency continues.
00:15:34The economy grew stronger, transactions started happening
00:15:38on a larger scale, so currency also started evolving.
00:15:42This is where "ana" was introduced.
00:15:45Four paisa made one
00:15:48ana, and ana was usually made of
00:15:51silver. It was used for large-scale
00:15:55transactions, like buying a small
00:15:58piece of land, buying jewelry, or
00:16:02bearing the expense of trade in faraway
00:16:05countries. That's why you must have heard
00:16:09some people in old movies and stories
00:16:13mentioning "ana". It was on the lips of both
00:16:16the common man's dreams and the rich's
00:16:20transactions. Now we come to the
00:16:23peak of our story: the rupee. Look at this
00:16:27calculation carefully: 16
00:16:31annas make one rupee. So the
00:16:34idiom you hear, "16 annas true,"
00:16:37originated from here. When something needs to be said
00:16:41as absolutely 100% true,
00:16:44people say, "This is 16
00:16:47annas true," because 16 annas
00:16:51only then made one full rupee.
00:16:54The rupee at that time was a silver coin,
00:16:57slightly larger than an anna, in the form of a silver
00:17:00coin. Its root word is
00:17:03the Sanskrit "ropya", which means
00:17:07silver, or wrought silver. The rupee was a symbol
00:17:11of India's strong trade and skill.
00:17:14In the 16th century, Sher Shah Suri issued
00:17:17standardized and precisely weighted coins,
00:17:20and later an organized,
00:17:24strong coinage system was established
00:17:28which lasted for a long time. But when European companies'
00:17:31invasions began, they introduced a
00:17:35different system. Their motive was
00:17:38only one: to establish their rule
00:17:41over the whole country, and for that,
00:17:45controlling trade and the economy was necessary. So
00:17:48in 1835, the Coinage Act came,
00:17:52where new silver rupees were issued, and on
00:17:56them were pictures of British emperors like William
00:17:59the Fourth and Queen Victoria,
00:18:02and this coin became standardized
00:18:05in most parts of the country.
00:18:09Time moved on, and the rupee remained
00:18:13a companion of India's journey even after the British,
00:18:16because its origin was our own. Today we call it
00:18:20"rupee". Gandhi's picture on the notes,
00:18:23national symbols, lines of
00:18:27languages. But one thing has not
00:18:30changed: the name. The rupee
00:18:33is its descendant. Rupee.
00:18:36And today, the story has moved even further.
00:18:39Now the rupee is not just paper, not just
00:18:43a coin. Now it has become a QR code,
00:18:46a mobile app in UPI ID has become a means of
00:18:49currency transfer. Today India is
00:18:53at the forefront of online payments in the world and
00:18:56is moving towards an almost cashles society.
00:18:59है,
00:19:03indeed I think this reflects
00:19:06not just economic thinking, I think it reflects
00:19:10society which is which is which is
00:19:13far ahead of its times, imagine going back 2000
00:19:16years, you know most of our ancient
00:19:20masters had had understood not just the concept
00:19:23of of commerce and trade, but also
00:19:28the systems that underpin it and the importance of artha in
00:19:32in in kaliyuga itself
00:19:35right, there is no text. to my
00:19:38knowledge from any of the other kingdoms and any of the other
00:19:42civilizations that focuses primarily on on on
00:19:45arth right? the artha shastra for instance is
00:19:49primarily written for economic sort of a template for
00:19:52economic prosperity or textbook. so to that effect, i
00:19:56think the the ability of our past thinkers to
00:20:00give due credit to to the importance of artha in the
00:20:03purusharthas and also
00:20:06emphasize the system. behind it and also have an
00:20:10adaptable system, so we spoke about you
00:20:13shells which were there during that time, and
00:20:17and it evolved, so you
00:20:19had coinage coming up at various points
00:20:23of time, and then in the modern world we we,
00:20:26post independent bharat we moved to
00:20:29cash as a mode of transaction, and we adapted to that as well, and then we
00:20:33also adapted to the idea of
00:20:36credit card and... payments and then subsequently to digital
00:20:40technology and UPI, each of these faces what you notice is
00:20:44that we have being able to adapt and
00:20:48and also provide unique solutions. to the idea of commerce and
00:20:51trade and and it's it's very inbuilt in us, so for
00:20:55instance, just to give you an example of how
00:20:58inbuilt our commerce was, lot of communities in
00:21:01bharat have
00:21:04historically been trading with the rest of the world,
00:21:08for instance nartikots a small community
00:21:11based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, they were
00:21:15international traders, they were even during the great depression they were trading
00:21:19in various parts of the... and and and and given their
00:21:22experience they were able to be pioneers in in in bar
00:21:26trade and in in financing and and and
00:21:28were started banks as well including the Indian Indian bank
00:21:32in Bharat so what I'm what I'm trying to say here is
00:21:35that not only did we have a system of
00:21:39monetary system which is adapting which is agile we also
00:21:42had culture of artha a culture of business a
00:21:46culture of business across time.
00:21:50right through the girls, the shrines and also
00:21:53ancient businesss and and brought unique skill
00:21:57sets in various parts of bharat, in various
00:22:00districts in various communities, they had their own
00:22:03unique skill set which was exported to the rest of the world, sochiye
00:22:07Where we used to trade with shells from the sea,
00:22:10and now with a few buttons on a mobile phone,
00:22:13payments are done. This is not just a journey
00:22:17of currency, but a reflection of strong and successful
00:22:20economic progress. So
00:22:23let's recap this entire journey of currency.
00:22:27The smallest is the "phooti kaudi".
00:22:30Three "phooti kaudis" make one
00:22:33"kaudi". Above that, the "kaudi",
00:22:37the cowrie shell that came from the sea,
00:22:40the first currency of the market. 10 cowries equal
00:22:44to one damri, a copper coin, the beginning of metallic
00:22:47money. Two damris
00:22:50make one dhela, and in between comes pie.
00:22:531.5 pie = 1
00:22:56dhela, the biggest weapon of bargaining.
00:22:59Three pies = one paisa,
00:23:03made of bronze or copper,
00:23:06trade. Four paisa equal
00:23:09to one anna, a small silver coin, dear
00:23:13to big transactions and the rich. 16 annas
00:23:17equal to 1 rupee, a strong
00:23:20and large silver coin, from which
00:23:23our rupee or rupiya is born.
00:23:26And today, the story of this rupee has entered
00:23:30a new era through UPI and digital payments.
00:23:33When we make payments with cash, coins,
00:23:37UPI, or even cards, we cannot even imagine
00:23:41where it started, and with the rupee
00:23:44symbol that we see,
00:23:48a story of trade, state, religion,
00:23:52and society is also connected.
00:23:54This journey from "phooti kaudi" to rupee
00:23:58and today to UPI is not just the evolution
00:24:01of currency, it is also the evolution
00:24:05of our civilization. This was our journey
00:24:09today, from "phooti kaudi" to rupee,
00:24:12a unique journey from India's ancient economy
00:24:16to today's digital age. So next
00:24:19time you hear this dialogue, "I don't have
00:24:22even one "phooti kaudi", smile
00:24:26because now you know that behind that "phooti kaudi"
00:24:29lies the entire story of a civilization,
00:24:33and this is 16 annas true.
00:24:36Namaste, Jai Hind.
00:28:30की है.
00:30:03Namaste, you are watching DD News, with me is Gaurav Srivastava. So let's start the bulletin
00:30:07and first let's look at the headlines
00:30:10of the moment.
00:30:13Rahul Gandhi again embroiled in controversy. During the Students' Echo program,
00:30:17he was accused of insulting women power. BJP called
00:30:20the Congress leader's attitude
00:30:22deplorable.
00:30:26BJP's campaign against drugs in Punjab continues. Under
00:30:30the Drug-Free Punjab Yatra, Union Minister