388 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
pre-eminently a country subject to seasonal swings.* Midsummer is naturally a period of diminished activity, while autumn brings renewed vigour in all activities of social and economic life. Not production alone is affected by seasons. On the side of consumption, Indian social life is also subject to seasonal variations. There are marriage season, holiday seasons and holy seasons. Even distribution has assumed in India quite a seasonal character. The practice of paying rents, wages, dividends, and settling accounts at stated intervals has been gaining ground as a result of contact with Western economic organization. All these generate a kind of rhythm in the social demand for money, rising at certain periods of the year and falling at others. Having regard to the seasonal character of the economic and social life, the fluctuations caused by the discount rate soaring high during busy months when it should have been low enough to liquidate the transactions, and falling low during
- It should be noted that the slack and the busy seasons are not uniformly distributed over the whole surface of the country. The distribution is roughly as
| follows :— | Col2 | Col3 | Col4 | Col5 | Col6 | Col7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months | Eastern India | Western India Bombay and Karachi | Northern India | Southern India Madras | ||
| Rangoon | Calcutta | Cawnpore | Lahore | |||
| Busy Slack | 3 Months 9 Months | 4 Months 8 Months | 6 Months 6 Months | 6 Months 6 Months | 9 Months 3 Months | 6 Months 3 Months |
| January February March April May June July August September October November December | Busy ” ” Slack ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” | Slack ” ” ” ” ” ” Busy ,, ,, ,, Slack | Busy ” ” ” Slack ” ” ” ” ” Busy ” | Slack Busy ” ” Slack ” ” ” Busy ” ” Slack | Busy ” ” ” ” ” Slack ” ” Busy ” ” | Slack Busy ” ” ” ” ” Slack ” ” ” ” |
| Busy Slack Busy Slack | Jan. to March April to Dec. … … | Aug. to Nov. Dec. to July … … | Nov. to April May to Oct. … … | Feb. to April May to Aug. Sept. to Nov. Dec. to Jan. | April to June July to Sept. Octo. to March | Feb. to July April to Dec. … … |