"It happens everywhere.... not just India, It happens everywhere......it happens everywhere......it happens everywhere......it happens everywhere...." For some reason his chanting was more uncomfortable than the fact he was implying towards. Also, he seemed to be repeating it more to convince himself rather than counter my statement. For one, I had never made a statement to the contrary. I was merely telling him and another Indian colleague about the financial scam at Satyam and I got a glimpse, once again , of how uncomfortable people can be when confronted with facts.
I don't intend to get into discussions of how, where, why the Satyam scam happened. I do intend to play upon the name Satyam - Truth - to bring out how "Satyamev jayate" - Truth Shall Prevail is like a dose of homeopathy in more than one ways. If it works, its either too slow to be taken seriously or it still needs to be understood better.
Taking one leaf out of the Satyam saga, why do I get the feeling that none of the Satyam employees would be in a good mood since this story came out ? Could it be that they fear their salary transfers might suddenly stop and they'll be one of the 51000 odd new IT professionals added to the already deep pool of similar professionals, looking for a job ?
But then Mr Ramalinga Raju says this has been the situation for the last few years which means the above said employees should have been worried all this while. It just so happens that the said employees weren't aware of the state of affairs and could have lived happily for some more time in the future till they could have, at least theoretically, voluntarily left the company.
Within the last few months, we have had so many instances of companies, glorious and grand in their books, biting the dust simply because their numbers didn't add up to our expectations. What happened to the individuals who were associated with these companies ? I guess its like the people touched by a war - we'll never get to know the stories individually but will definitely see the repercussions in the social and demographic fibers in time to come. However, will there ever be a macro level exercise of introspection ? Of looking inside their own collars, soul searching ?
In other words, would there ever be a meeting of all credit card selling agents and their managers where they decide not to sell credit without making sure people understand what they are signing up for ? Without bothering for their own little sales targets that is ?
Would there be a world ruling of software and service companies where they promise to not sell anything which is completely future proof and then resell the exact same premise a few years later at new improved higher prices in multi-millions ?
For that matter, will there ever be a tooth paste which isn't recommended by some dental association and which wouldn't make your teeth last longer than your skeleton ? Or a soft drink which wouldn't make you the apple of every one's eye but would tell you how harmful it is for your teeth and what damages it does to the environment where its made ?
Or an Indian Idol which is actually an idol for the entire nation and not just a voted because of region/religion etc ? In fact, how about an Indian Idol that's actually paid the contracted amount by the channel/sponsors themselves without asking the public to pay for it via exorbitantly priced SMSs ?
Its everywhere you look - film stars selling their violent films as 'innocent family entertainment' while blaming media for mis-reporting on themselves; media making 'breaking news' out of every sneeze in the world; doctors, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals earning millions out of people's miseries, sub-standard goods with promises of quality and support .... the list , as they say, is endless.
But then, this is what forms the new open "economy".
The very first time I had come across this verse - "Satyamev Jayate. Shramev Jayate" - Truth shall prevail. Hard work shall succeed - it was under a representation of some laborers at work. I wasn't really able to make the connection all this while between hard work being the truth and the poor laborers somehow winning in the long run. I think I now have the link - economy needs hard work to be productive but that's just a by-product - raw goods. This product needs to be sold. Selling needs some "Truth" to be created, some more hard work, to create the demand and that's what powers the economy ! And then we all win ! For the time being that is.
Never mind the side effects: failing economies, falling companies, rising unemployment and flailing environment. Just pretend that you are selling something better than you know and sell it. If you can sell it you win !
So, there you have it - Satyam, the company, still stands for truth, despite the missing millions in cash reserves. Until Ramalinga decided to blow the whistle and open his eyes, all was hunky dory - well almost. At least the revenue was coming in, employees were getting paid. The few court cases and World Bank ban would have taken its toll later. Just like the freely distributed credit is making its impact in faraway lands, poorly executed IT and other projects are ruining companies , so on and so forth. May be its just me but I think its very similar to soft drink companies
depleting regions of potable water so that they could sell their products in the same and different regions - for effects to be felt by current and subsequent generations.
Its just that we need to recognize this new form of truth as a requirement for this new world of ours. Of a different variety but this is the honest truth - we are a race which needs lies presented as facts to take us to the next level of civilisation. Unfortunately, just like homeopathy, in fact just like any science, it would work only while we believe it does. If we start opening our eyes, like Ramalinga Raju, we'll have to declare this economy as bankrupt.
2 comments:
Well I do agree on most of it ...but wud differ on the last few lines..I believe India is still a growing story.c when the world isnt growing at all..or has slowed down..v r still goin high.......if not at 8% then atleast @ aroun 5 to 6% ..satyam in particular if u read deep on ..there r certain incidents which were planned to still continue with the myths opened in public..u c had this maytas deal been approved by shareholders/ mutual funds ..it wud have covered everything
Hi Aarti
Thanks for commenting on my thoughts. However, I am not suggesting that these are the ills of Indian economy singularly. My point is that sales and "honesty" do not mix well in open market and competitive business models. The social side effects for these dishonest deeds are visible in the long run but there aren't many people looking back at it from that point of view as we all want the resulting progress that apparently comes out of this.
Just as you mentioned, the Maytas deal in Satyam's case would have covered up the facts and the stock would have still traded well for some time to come. No one know how that would have affected the well being of both these companies, their employees and their projects in that case.
As for the Indian economy still doing better than others, this is another fact that we should open our eyes to : we are still a developing economy and thus shouldn't take the positive growth itself as a good sign. It should be a positive growth commensurate to our potential which is no less than China, in fact better , if anything.
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