At a time when India is referred to as the next economic miracle, Dr. Birla’s talk destabilized the understanding of Indian capitalism as one created in the process of transition to modernity. Arguing that cultural studies have ignored colonial economics, she pointed out that legal definition of what qualified as good business practices in the colonial period was achieved after much negotiation and compromise. She related the legal tangle of barsaat ka satta, literally betting on the rain, as an example of the challenge posed by the indigenous business groups to the colonial project to create modern economic subjects.