The Hindu Business Line : Too much New Year cheer to think of economics

STORY so far: We go ahead with our plans to go `down to earth' and visit villages and invest in farms. But banks seem to find the idea queer. The week is busy with elections to the CA Institute's councils and I see how some of the candidates spend enormous sums for electioneering.

Episode 57

There have been friends who have been ringing me up during the whole of last week, not so much to lobby for my vote in the CA elections, but to lament about the state of affairs. "You know how much so-and-so spent?"

Kayvee asks me. "Don't know," I say. "25 lakhs!" Gosh, that's enough to start a small industrial unit, I tell myself. "He belongs to a big firm, you know," continues Kayvee. "How would they account for it?" I ask.

"Swati," calls another friend, Vij. "Elections are not for gentlemen... and ladies." I ask, "Why, Vij?" He asks, "Didn't you see how the only thing that didn't happen was to print posters and tie banners?"

Yet another caller, Gops, tells me how he found the marking of the ballot tough. "There were similar-sounding names and I think I messed up the preferences." What could be the solution, I wonder. He suggests: "Next time, there should be some symbol allocated to each candidate. Better still, they can print his or her photo alongside."

*********

One evening during the music festival, when I decided to take a brief stroll just after the aalap was over and the tani took control of the proceedings, I found Teeyen, the famous economics professor in the lobby.

"Hello, sir," I greeted him. "I am not an artiste," he said, thinking I had mistaken him for some vidwan. "I have read your works and found them interesting," I said. "Reintegrating India with the World Economy". Percussionists were still busy inside the hall, and we were happy to escape to the catering shed and continue our chat over hot filter coffee. He spoke about the current growth rate at 7 per cent and, to me, it looked lot better than the savings bank rate that I was getting.

"Aren't our forex reserves too high?" I asked him, only hoping he wouldn't ask me a reverse question. "China has four times more, do you know?" he asked, but knew that I didn't know. "We have a bizarre situation, a current account surplus." I nodded, intelligently.

"We are prepaying institutional loans," he added. I said, "Isn't that good, sir. That shows we are strong and so can take care of ourselves." He seemed puzzled, "Hey, you are sending the wrong signals when foreclosing a loan at 8 per cent.

What you are conceding is that you can't put that to use and earn more than 8 per cent." We had drained the coffee cups by then, and I ordered some pakoda. "We are at the top of the world with BPO," I said happily, to inform him if he didn't know. "What you are getting here is only service BPO," he added.

"Industrial BPO is going to China." I persisted, "But IT-enabled services will be the engine of growth, taking us to new heights." He looked at me sympathetically, paternally, and said, "Do the pakodas contain some alcohol?"

*********

Back in office during the last week of the last month of the year, everybody seemed to have too little time to do his or her work. Wherever I went, I found my colleagues busy composing e-greeting or filling up cards with loving messages for their friends, writing addresses on the envelopes and turning the whole premises into a despatch section.

Those who were not doing so were studiously attending to work, I thought, but was disappointed when I found that the predominant chore was to fill up the office form for this reimbursement or that, as if there was no tomorrow.

"You are right, Swati," said Brenda. "Tomorrow would be too late. The accounts department would not take it." I made a mental note of this point. In the afternoon, when I met Chandru, I asked him if the rules in the office were so draconian as to deny benefit to employees who filed in their claims late. "No, it's not so Swati," he said.

"But it is tough to change the mindset of the staff. They think money is safer with them than with the office. Hence the hurry."

*********

"Did I tell you Swati," began the boss, when I met him in the evening. "That we have decided to begin a new practice starting this year." I knitted my eyebrows because he was giving me no clue.

"We have entered into a tie-up with the All-O-Mall to get a special 20 per cent discount for the staff." I jumped with joy, "Great!" Five days before the end of the year, we all received the special card that would entitle us to the benefit. Spending limit was pegged at Rs 1 lakh. Compared to the usual discount of 5 per cent that the shop was offering to other customers, we were having a steal.

*********

As special customers, a group of us went shopping one evening to All-O-Mall and the range was so breathtaking that for a moment I thought the economy was growing faster than 7 per cent.

How soon we get deluded, I told myself. People see the stock markets and think all is bright and beautiful, even as the kid in a neighbouring slum goes to bed hungry. We are so happy with company's compliments and we forget all those lining up at employment exchanges.

The dazzling lights and decorations ring in the festive cheer but we don't know how some of the manufacturers are struggling to stay solvent.

One wonders, at times, if the economy is booming or simply making a distress sale. These are thoughts that can drag you into introspection. "Happy New Year!" somebody is greeting me and I pull myself back to reality. "Hi, thanks!"

(To be continued)

Swati_CA@hotmail.com

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