The Hindu Business Line : Bad candidates are elected by good CAs who do not vote

STORY so far: The bane of most workplaces is attitude, I realise, because executives never really own their jobs even as they expect security and guaranteed pay. How else can one explain sticking to rules when claiming the benefits while throwing to winds things such as productivity and efficiency that make a difference to team-winning?

There can be no end to such philosophical musings, but I am thrilled by a visit to a farm just outside the city. The dotcom entrepreneur Shyam explains why it makes investment sense to buy a patch of earth. Fortunately, my company thinks of giving soft loans to staff for such an acquisition.

Episode 56

This week has been a busy one. Almost 30 per cent of my colleagues, including me, signed up for the farmland idea. The banker who came in for discussions with Gupta and Chandru seemed a bit puzzled about the idea, because he was only aware of people buying flats and white-goods, vehicles and washing machines, with loans.

"You want to plant marigolds and jasmine there?" he asked me, when we were having tea in the conference hall. "Also, rose and sunflower," I added. "What's going to be the cashflow from the farm?" he asked.

"If you insist on a cashflow statement," I said, "we can provide one where there are only outflows in rupees and inflows in units of satisfaction." The banker appeared disoriented, and so I fetched him another tea.

*********

A group of us visited the village there and spoke to the elders. Shyam was with us. He knew them all so well, and was enquiring about their cattle, roads and so on. "You don't miss big offices," I asked him, as he was sweating it out on a pair of slippers in trying to help a group of people who were getting a stuck bullock cart off the mud.

"This is where India lives!" he exclaimed and looked at me in puzzlement as if I could not see something that was so obvious. "Not that Shyam," I continued, "what I meant was the sort of ambience you have in a typical corporate setup, jet-hopping from one city to another, consulting and managing, and stuff like that."

Shyam said, "Swati, is it not easy to fool oneself into believing great things happen when they don't? Take this thumb rule: If there is value addition, we are doing something. Otherwise, we may have to step back to check if we are only achieving value destruction. And, remember, not everything that can be added is valuable."

He seemed to be talking some tattva, and I remarked: "One day, I may see you in ochre robes and a long beard." Shyam laughed, and added, "But definitely not in a spider hole."

*********

In the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon, Chandru called me and said: "Swati, did you?" I was annoyed, "Did what?" He said, "Vote?" I was perplexed: "For the general elections?" Chandru replied, "No, for the council." What council, I thought. "Corporation council?" I asked. Now it was his turn to get angry, so he scolded, "Did you forget that we have to go and vote at the CA Institute?"

Ah, I remembered, all of a sudden that the once-in-three-year ritual was on and we were to cast our votes to elect representatives for the Central and Regional councils. My table had a bunch of letters from different candidates, and this time around, there were many email requests too from CAs soliciting votes. This latter thing was already assuming spam proportions and there were mails from those in other regions too.

"Whom to vote for?" I asked Chandru. "Vote for the man who promises least — he'll be the least disappointing, said Bernard M. Baruch." I retorted, "Heavens are not going to fall if I didn't vote." For this, he replied, "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." I could remember that he was quoting from George Nathan.

At this rate, if I allowed him, I was sure he would quote Lyndon Johnson (There can no longer be anyone too poor to vote), G. B. Shaw (Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few), Bill Stern (Our elections are free — it's in the results where eventually we pay), or anon (No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in). "Four thirty," I said and hung up to finish as much work for the day as possible.

*********

It was almost five when Chandru and I entered the ICAI premises. I was sure the other CAs from my company would have voted the previous day, when we both were busy with the banker and villagers.

All of a sudden, a big group of people descended on us, as if we were some movie stars and they were all our fans. And they whispered things like "Don't forget candidate seven", "Give your best preference to so and so" and such.

When we reached the Lakshman Rekha where they had put some barricades to prevent candidates and their agents from crossing over to the polling area, I asked Chandru, "What number, six or four?" He shrugged: "It could be nine-eleven, for all you know." I thought a coffee would not be a bad idea before casting the ballot and, enticingly, somebody was bearing a whole tray of cups.

When I looked at Chandru, he said: "That might be one of those things sponsored by a candidate. If you accept that, you could be sacrificing your independence." I nodded. But I remembered that somebody had called me a few days earlier to extract a commitment from me that I would vote for him. As a carrot, he had offered to get my article published in Number Game magazine. Great, I had thought, though I could not remember who had called me.

*********

At the mailbox: "Hello!" writes Devang Shah, a CFP, MBA (IIM Ahmedabad), CWA from Mumbai. "I run a financial planning practice in Mumbai. I advise clients across asset classes and found your article on investing in land interesting reading. Particularly the question on whether ROI is the only yardstick to decide on whether an investment is worthwhile or not, touched a chord since one typical task in front of me is to get clients to get their minds off ROI and make them focus on their financial well being. If you find the time, do visit www.rightreturns.com."

Thanks Devang. I am happy that "Shyam's idea" finds takers! I visited your site and read with interest your `values'. Live a life of choice rather than of helplessness. A blend of therapy along with financial planning, almost. Another letter is from Venkat: "I agree with you that one should have a piece (peace) of farmland. Do let me know how I can go about."

Dear Venkat, great you found that piece of thought useful. To locate the right patch of land, I think you just need to go driving out of the city, unless you are waiting for Shyam's site to do the work.

(To be continued)

Swati_CA@hotmail.com

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