Giving in India

I'm writing on giving/gifting in India, on how, and why, it is done, amongst merchants, towards both religious and secular institutions. I'm going mad because there isn't enough sources for me to write on. Yet, there are more than what I require, for me to consolidate, gather, and make sense of. Big terms like Social capital by Pierre Bordieau, Sanskritization by M.N. Srinivas, Credit by C.A. Bayly, and vicarious ritualization by Milton Singer, got my brain overheating. And off I go in search to make sense of these vague terms. Other than my secret glee of knowing the names and works of these scholars (anthropologists, sociologists, ethnologists, historian), all these seem transient. So transient, the next semester I would be looking at a bunch of different names.

"I'm your biggest fan I'll follow you until you love me, papa-, paparazzi" - Lady Gaga

I somehow feel that I'm a paparazzi following the works of these scholars. I dream them, read them, memorize them, recite them, apply them. Gosh.

As if I would need any of these when I graduate. The unfortunate thing is that I take a long time to remember what they say, and eternity thereafter to forget what they say. The education system about force-feeding, vormitting, and carrying on, isn't really what I'm apt at.

Significance: It is understood that Indian merchants spend a lot of money on giving, through the ages, much more than their Western counterparts. It is also noted that generally, they give to religious causes, education/public works and infrastructure, and political causes.

Irony of explaining how they give: They have given to various causes through the ages. However, Rudner argues that the Chettiars stated giving to secular causes only because of the British, and calls it religious endowments (Palsetia also uses the term in Parsis), which connotes an extremely capitalistic slant. Similarly, Douglas Haynes argues that there is a shift from offering tribute to giving philanthropy, because of the British, arguing that it is clever politics at work. Milton Singer proposes that it has to do with Hinduism, that it is the effect of Sanskritization, as opposed to the Weberian thesis on Hinduism being incompatible with capitalism.

Is there a dichotomy between religious giving and secular giving, or is it an extension of giving in general? If so, is it linked to Hinduism?
Why they give:
1.Religious – Hinduism, want to get to heaven
2.Economic – advertising par excellence, networking, creditworthiness
3.Social – altruism might bring forth fruits that might be valuable
4.Reputation – part of the “vicarious ritualization”, increasing one’s social capital
5.Political – want their names to be kept forever, either in names of buildings, or knighthood, or political titles

*Note: motives can never be generic and they are very often guesswork. Avoid postulating the exact reasons they start out with. Rather, look at a list of reasons for giving.

Is there a pattern to the giving across India? Could the pattern be extended to Asia in general (NAKS)? Why or why not? Is this form of giving similar to the Western concept of philanthropy? Why or why not?