Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Thursday shared a memory from his childhood. He posted a tweet, recalling the spirit of Indian citizens during the 1962 war with China.
The post came after a social media user highlighted that Indian women collectively hold more gold than women in 10 other countries combined.
According to the data:
India (women): 25,488 tonnes
USA: 8,133 tonnes
Germany: 3,351 tonnes
Italy: 2,451 tonnes
France: 2,437 tonnes
Russia: 2,332 tonnes
China: 2,279 tonnes
Switzerland: 1,039 tonnes
Japan: 845 tonnes
Netherlands: 612 tonnes
Poland: 448 tonnes
Memories of a National Effort
Reacting to these figures, Mahindra wrote, “Impressive statistic. It brought back to me a vivid childhood memory.”
He recalled the nationwide drive to collect gold and jewellery for the National Defence Fund during the 1962 war:
“Back in 1962, during the war with China, the government created a National Defence Fund and appealed to citizens to donate gold and jewellery for the defence effort. From information available online, gold worth thousands of crores in today’s value was collected. Punjab alone, reportedly, contributed around 252 kg of gold.”
Sharing a personal anecdote, he added, “I clearly remember, as a seven-year-old, standing on the street in Bombay (now Mumbai) with my mother when government trucks drove by with megaphones, urging citizens to donate jewellery for the nation’s defence. I can still picture her quietly gathering some of her gold bangles and necklaces, placing them in a cloth thaila, and handing them to the volunteers on the truck.”
Patriotism Then and Now
The post, which generated discussion on Twitter, also prompted Mahindra to reflect on whether such large-scale voluntary contributions would still be possible today.
“Would voluntary acts of that scale, spirit and trust still happen in today’s world?” he asked. He concluded, “That memory of 1962 reminds me that a country’s national resilience ultimately depends not just on policy tools, but on the collective will of its people.”