Corporate Corruption

Letter “C” seems to be riding high these days in India. Confrontation of Corruption by the Common Class of a Classical Character in line with Constitutional Charter! The waves are running high and the results have been unprecedented. As a matter of fact, it is the word "corruption" from which no part of the vast society is untouched in direct or indirect way. Hence, there was this whole euphoria and at times overly energetic responses from all the parties involved in past two weeks.

No doubt, the initiatives are being taken in the right direction (may be a little late). However, it remains to be concluded whether these initiatives will suffice in eradicating the letter “C” Completely. It is a humongous task to even think of all possible forms of corruption – leave alone its eradication. One of such form of corruption is the malpractices exercised by the corporate houses or even medium size entrepreneurial businesses in order to maximize the wealth.

It is not 'only' the politicians who are responsible for the wide-spread corruption. Businessmen see it in their every right to bribe the person of authority to ask for a favour. Big companies find it appropriate to manipulate financial records to mislead an investor's decisions. Investors do not leave any stone unturned to solicit insider information to engage in stock trading. Employees do their bit in colluding with external or internal parties to skim off company’s assets and monies. Are these not a form of corruption? Absolutely. Yes.

This is a form of a corruption which seems directly proportional to the number of transactions that take place within the business community. Ironically though, it is not the risk related to the volume of transactions that occupies the center stage in audit committee meetings. In fact, the risk that is most relevant is the risk of business continuity, risk of investor disinterest, risk of unproductive cash on the balance sheet or risk of underachieved business targets. And this is where the focus comes in the way of dealing in most ethical manner. Enough corruption still exists at various levels in the entire business cycle which relates to these risks. In theory, this constitutes a part of enterprise risk management (ERM).

Yet, we witness corporate scandals of big or small form not so infrequently. I wonder can ERM be most effective when the intent itself is questionable. Can any professional body design a way to curb those malicious intents? Probably no. The pre-requisite then is to conduct the business with utmost integrity and arm’s length way. Alas but true, the fight against corruption has a long way to go! There is a need to institutionalize anti-corrupt practices in daily affairs – in mind, body and soul.

Happy Independence Day!

Here is an occasion that speaks volumes of a country which is so vastly beautiful. Every part of her is diversified yet so elegant. Every river flowing through her is sacred yet so melodious. Every words of wisdom crowning her to glory is powerful yet so sweet. I pay a grand salute to the very existence of this country and the people who make it even more exciting and merrier. Happy Independence Day!

Playing for The National Pride?

A lot has been written and talked about India’s dismal performance in England in the ongoing battle of supremacy in the test cricket. For some reasons, it deserved to be talked about. It ought to have been abhorred by an ardent cricket fan especially after reading the tally i.e. 2-0 in England’s favour at the half way stage of the series.

There is no hidden truth about the fact that fast seaming, swinging and bouncy wickets are where India is not able to dominate the world of cricket (read test cricket). Though they have been improving their records overseas in the last decade, there is always a possibility that we might lose a test series in South Africa, Australia and England (England being least possible). At the heart of every Indian cricket fan, there is always this fear. Fear may come true, but a fan does not hope that fear to be most horrendous. Probably, this is what has happened over the past fortnight.

Honestly, we never did enough to be no. 1 for a long time and winning test matches overseas in patches has not helped either. Unless you win a series 2-0 or 3-0, you may not be branded the champions of test cricket. However, team India has done enough to be in top three for a long time and every expectation of them beating England in England is absolutely valid. It is still valid. Valid when you look into history and when you look into the capabilities of our stalwarts.

So what has gone wrong? Almost everything and media has touched upon all these factors in details. If I had to pick few factors, I would definitely question the schedule, players’ fees and relevance of IPL (Injury-prone League or Incredible Paisa League). Barely a week into celebration of that historical night, all our players came back to play IPL – mind you, none of these senior or not so senior players missed a single game. Gautam and Zaheer played till the last despite sustaining injuries. Viru played each game, waited until Daredevils were knocked out finally and then proceeded for an important shoulder surgery. Who cares if there are a series of international cricket to be played on hard turf?

More on the technique front, it is easy to put the front foot out of the line and smack the ball over the long on or mid-wicket boundary on the flattest of Indian tracks. The same swashbucklers were (are) targeted on every part of upper body from time to time and still, they care a zilch. There is no coach to train how to take the bat and body out of the line of a rising delivery. There is no board to create a good sustainable and technically rich talent pool and develop a cricket system which can protect the likes of Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer and Cheteshwar Pujara and assure them of a berth in test squad. It is a real shame that on the one hand players like Yusuf Pathan, his brother Irfan and Robin Uthappa are being paid millions of US dollars in IPL and on the other hand, we are struggling to find an able replacement of Sourav Ganguly at no. 6 in the test team.

There was a time when The National Pride used to drive billions of us to play for the country. Is it still going to be the same?

An evening at Marina Bay

It may sound strange to people who have known me in the past 5 years or so. Having done all kinds of travel across cities, states and countries, you may wonder that this is the first time that I made it to the Lion City. I am not sure if lions ever lived here, but the liveliness of the city roars like a lion. Cosmopolitan nature of Singapore is quite unique in its own way, although slightly dominated by Chinese culture.

The first thing that caught my attention once inside the city was Marina Bay Sands. The attraction was enough for a first timer like me to plan an evening stroll on one of lazy weekend day. So here I was on top of the complex at the SkyPark gazing the view of the wonderful city. Beautiful indeed! As I started the stroll towards the Fullerton Hotel after measuring the length and breadth of the MBS complex, I noticed a queue of photographers alongside the bay as if some big event was about to happen. It was a pleasant surprise to know that every Singaporean is gearing up hard for the upcoming National Day celebrations.

And this was a Saturday, hence a dress rehearsal for the big event i.e. 9 August. Suddenly, the activities started and wow! What an immense joy to watch something which came as a big celebration package. Tanks, military choppers and parachutes – everything was within startling distance from the eyes. Entire atmosphere seemed to celebrate the mood of nationalism and why not! Huge buildup of the crowd said it all. Not to forget the fireworks at the end was unforgettable. I imagine if this was the rehearsal, how wonderful will be the D-day!

The day ended with a comment made by one of my colleague from a city called Goya in Argentina – “They know how to live and enjoy life. They know how to make people happy." I knew a little bit of Argentina from him and his wife who is from Santa Fe. All and all, it was a very nice evening to remember!

When will an Indian movie win The Oscar?

Cinema is considered to be the free flowing expression of thoughts, a reflection of contemporary society and sometimes screenplay of highest levels of fiction. The range itself is so wide that making a successful motion picture that appeals to all class of society in the most positive manner becomes a daunting task. However, once in a while, some movies do come from the mainstream cinema that creates an impact of a lifetime and leaves unprecedented imprint on the audience.

I managed to view one of such movies recently and was deeply moved to the core by the delightful visual representation of an Indian society which was trying to overcome from several conservative inflictions just after a hard fought independence. Set in 1950s, ‘Mother India’ was a path-breaker in Indian cinema and depicted a great combination of sacrifice, maternal love, moral righteousness and inspirational will-power.

As I talk about good quality cinema, I can also see a splurge of movies in the recent times which are adulterated in more than one way. In the name of depicting the hardcore social set-up, some movies are going overboard in their usage of unwanted expletives, double meaning and cuss words. I fail to understand how the movie industry works. After so many failed attempts, they do not want to realize the fact that mere usage of unwanted words will not make the movie great and awe-inspiring. ‘LOC Kargil’ had more expletives than ‘Border’, yet ‘Border’ was liked more by masses. ‘Ham Aapke Hai Kaun’ was a complete family movie that worked wonders on the box office. ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ was shot in typical modern set-up and yet found a place for itself among all kind of audiences.

I do understand the fact that there are portions of society where abuses/ unacceptable violence exist. I also understand the fact that youngsters find it appealing to use the diluted language in daily affairs, sometimes perhaps out of emotions. I also understand the fact that by getting the “A” certificate and following censor procedures, a producer possesses the right to show this reality on big screen. The big question though is that flooding the movie with these so called adulterated dialogues will itself make the movie great and unforgettable? Will such movies leave a legacy in the history of cinema?

Few decades later, when one tries to commemorate greatest movies of all-time, movies such as Sholay, Anand and Lagaan engulf the thoughts. No one even thinks for once about those “A” rated movies. While we make arguably most number of movies every year in India, no wonder why only three Indian movies have been nominated (mind you, only nominated) by AMPAS in the best foreign movie category in the history of 82 years!

End of an era?

Seldom is a script so perfect that one would want to forget the power of the great divine force behind moments of joy. Nothing beats the ecstasy of that moment when things happen just as you wished them to. I was hoping for such a moment last evening when Roger Federer was playing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a semis berth in Wimbledon 2011. Needless to say how avid fan I am of Roger. Readers may recall one of my earlier posts on this gentleman.

I rushed from the office just in time to watch live telecast of this quarter final match. To my delight, it was a perfect start for my moment of joy in waiting. Within blink of an eye, Roger flew with the first set 6-3. Though Tsonga’s serve and volley became better in the second set, Federer as usual looked pretty much in control and as always it happens, he upped the ante in tie-breaker and won second set also very comfortably. Till the tie-breaker, none to them looked like breaking the serve of the other.

It was most pleasing to my eyes and I was relishing super exhibition of play by the classy Federer. Someone thought that he became complacent at that juncture. I thought that I became more complacent than what he would have. Tsonga seemed invincible in following sets with his big serves and Federer was not able to find even a small opening to break him. It just needed three break points for Tsonga to get better of Swiss that kept Roger at bay still waiting for his seventh Wimbledon title. To my dismay, my complacency was the reason that I could not witness Federer winning the match and make it to semis.

Moments after the match was over, one thought kept coming to my mind: is it the beginning of the end for this unmatchable genius of the game. Has he lost that Godly touch which has handed him sixteen grand slam titles over the last decade? It has been six grand slam tournaments since he clinched the title – a gap which is the maximum since he first won a grand slam. He has failed to make it to last four in three out of last six occasions. He is about to turn 30 – an age beyond which it is difficult to maintain that invincibility in tennis.

A fan is a fan however! This is still a last wish that before fading away, he holds on to that Wimbledon title once again. That he regains that no. 1 seed at least for a day for which he holds a record (237 consecutive weeks)! That he beats Rafa in his own den in a Roland Garros final once before he fades away from today leaving an almost impossible vacuum in the game of tennis!