SATYAM EV JAYATE

Seeing the events of the day, this quote flashed in my mind. Hence the title to this blog.

Mr. Raju, once heralded in the US to be as dangerous as Osama (because Satyam was taking jobs away from US), has turned out to be Hero-to-Zero in a matter of a day.

To the IT-junta, this was never a revelation. "Window-dressing" as it is called in our industry, has been happening for some time now. The fiscal year in US and the fiscal year in India do not overlap. So, there are cold quarters in US where Indian companies have to show consistent revenues and vice-versa. So, some additional assets from previous quarters are adjusted towards missing assets from the current quarter or missing assets from current quarter are adjusted against more-than-expected assets from next quarter. All this is done with honest interests to provide a consistent revenue pattern and avoid wild fluctuations in the share prices. And it is fine as long as there is no carry-forward of the manipulations across fiscal years.

Sadly, it does not work that way. The ever-growing demand from shareholders makes the companies take that dangerous stride and inflate the numbers beyond the Lakshman-Rekha called as the fiscal year end. Then the Ramayana takes plane. More and more hot air is pumped into the balloon. This hot air makes the balloon fly higher, than it can do safely, making everyone happy. But, soon the hyper-inflated balloon is stretched beyond its capacity and a small pin (Maytas deal going sour) causes it to burst.

So, as RS puts it, its a discovery and not an invention. And it would have not been uncovered at all, had the MAYTAS deal not gone sour. Probably, a bruised ego and a stained reputation pushed Mr. Raju in doing this.

All said, the whole reason underneath this fiasco (and the potential many others still under the covers) is the greedy shareholder. They need to understand that IT companies cannot yield high revenues and huge dividends quarter after quarter and year after year. It is easy for a company to reach from 1 million to 10 million in 2 years, but it is not possible for the same company to reach from 1 billion to 10 billion in even 5 years. But under pressure from the shareholders and stake holders, such things had to happen and will continue to happen.

Once a high-paying sector where freshers were hired at 20 thousand rupees a month has now shrunk to a stage where getting 8 thousand a month is considered lucky. College passouts choose an employer purely based on the pay and not on career prospects. MBAs are made to work as clerks.

Not sure whom to blame here -- the hunter or the hunted? Because, while the hunter (shareholders) was enjoying chasing the prey (IT companies and employees), the prey itself was enjoying the luxuries during the chase. Rather, the prey itself allowed itself to be chased faster and faster.

The only truth is, the cup once thought to be made of crystal has now turned out to be made of brittle glass instead. And it has cracked.
INSANITY RESTORED

Few days back --

Thanksgiving --> Christmas --> Holidays --> New Year...
2 day weekends --> 3 day weekends --> 4 day weekends --> Whole week off...
Half empty office --> Just 20 team mates in the office --> Just 10 of them (all indians) in the office --> Working from home --> Not even 1 person in the office...
Semi-formal attire allowed --> Denims allowed in office for 2 weeks...

Today --

Formal dressing... Everyone back in office... Full House... Frantic calls to and from India... Managers and developers panicking for deliverables due this Friday... Escalated Client calls... Production issues (few pennies of interest being incorrectly credited to the account)... May have to work on Thursday night to support production install... What a crazy day to start the new year...

Feels like insanity has been restored after all!!!
THE YEAR THAT WAS!!!

Naming this blog as a tribute to a favorite show during my childhood. This show made me fall into the habit ofdesperately look forward to a Friday evening. I have maintained that habit by the way ;-).

So, the year that just went by a few hours back gave me lots of memories, good and bad.

Let me list the bad ones first, so that I can end up on a good note --
1 - The worst one - Mumbai attacks. It left a permanent scar. I dont think i was more upset than on this day. And the fact that the torture continued for 3 days, ended lives of 300 including some good officers, made it worse.
2 - The global economy went from bad to worse. Every one step in the right direction was followed by two in the other direction. Feel bad for anyone and everyone who is impacted.
3 - Life in India for a common man is getting bad with every passing day. Politics is hitting new lows below the rock bottom (yes, it hit the rock long back). Safety has gone to the dogs. Caste and religion seems to be the only qualification. Scandals keep on mushrooming every now and then and just die a natural death. No one is convicted.
4 - Some sports (hockey, soccer, tennis (paes? bhupathi? sania?)) continued their nosedive and the politicians in charge of the respective sports associations are least bothered.
5 - Once again, I flattered to decieve on my promise to have breakfast daily.

And the good ones now --
1 - My first 5-wicket haul and a first-ever tournament victory.
2 - Joined a gym and am going their sincerely since then. Feel good about it.
3 - First time i had a hookah. Got that one struck off my all-time TO-DO list.
4 - Had my folks over and spent quality 3 months with them. A memory of a lifetime.
5 - India continued to do well in few sports (badminton, boxing and cricket with the olympics being the crowning glory).
6 - Indian economy is doing much better than others the credit of which goes to Mr. PM and Mr. FM. Along with Mr. MS Ahluwalia, these 2 continue to deliver the good stuff.
7 - My nephew created a new record in telephone conversation with me. Yes, 2 months ago we spoke for 7 long seconds when he asked me to get "Big Fiat Palio car" from here. Earlier our conversations never crossed 5 seconds. Hopefully, this year, we manage to get into double digits.
8 - Wifey continues to amaze with her culinary skills, apetite for bhel, addiction for cleaning and stamina to talk. Yes, she raised the bar even further this year.
9 - My father started to have breakfast and take vitamin tablets daily. He has been doing this sincerely since he restarted it last time.

So yes, the goods outnumber the bads, so all-in-all a better year. On this note, let me wish my (read-4) audience a very happy and a prosperous and a SAFE 2009. May all your wishes come true.