The Hindu Business Line : Story about a great storyteller

CR is credit but this book is about a different CR, C. Rajagopalachari. "In 1900 after finishing law, CR, as he was now called, started his practice in Salem." Thus begins a story that could be instructive for accounting professionals.

"With his formidable intellect, dazzling memory and penetrating analytical ability, he carved a niche for himself in a very short time. CR commanded an astronomical sum as fee, principally specialising in cases relating to capital offences. One day, a client whom CR had saved from the gallows approached him and wanted his knife back as it was an heirloom. An enraged CR remarked that one could even forgive a harlot for selling her body but not a lawyer who sold his intellect. He said, `I am looking forward to the day when I shall quit this profession.'"

This event marked a turning point, writes C. R. Kesavan in Unfolding Rajaji by, published by East West Books (Madras) P Ltd (ewb@touchtelindia.net). "CR sharply reduced his cases, accepting only briefs that were morally justified." Rajaji was a great storyteller, as those who have read his `epics' would acknowledge. To wrap, here is a quote from his jail dairy (1922): "Elections and their corruption, injustice and tyranny of wealth and inefficiency of administration will make a hell of life as soon as freedom is given to us. Our future lies in making our youngsters good citizens by giving them from early days an education, which is likely to create good conduct, righteousness, and mutual love." Apt for the current times too.

Service in practice

SERVICE means different things for different people. For successive Finance Ministers, however, it is a revenue head, and future Budgets would see more services included in the tax net, to add to the long list.

That services are a new phenomenon, though hogging an increasing share of the GDP, can be seen from the fact that the Constitution of India does not provide any specific entry for the taxation of services.

In 2003, Parliament passed the Constitution 95th Amendment Bill allowing the Centre to levy service tax which would be collected and shared by the Centre and the States. However, a separate Act for service tax is yet to happen. It is about a decade since service tax was born and having worked in the Tax Research Unit of the Ministry of Finance around that time, T. R. Rustagi puts together his knowledge and experience in Service Tax in India, published by Deeparchie Publications (deeparchie@rediffmail.com).

With a chapter for each taxable service, you have easily about 60 of them, while the essential portions of Finance Act, 1994 are given separately. To assist in practice, a host of cases have been provided, apart from Notifications and Rules.

A future direction of reform in service tax could be when it merges ultimately into a single VAT. "Otherwise it will become a cascading tax and cause serious distortions." A disservice, that would be.

King Khan

HE IS the Santro man, Pepsi guy and AirTel chap, the actor, the entertainer apart from many more. What makes him tick? See Hall of Fame Shah Rukh Khan by Biswadeep Ghosh and the editors of Stardust, published by Magna Books (www.magnamags.com).

"If he were to cross a certain line he could be eccentric, mad and a total genius," cites the book, quoting Sush. But that could be true of many. A useful comment, however, would be: "When he does a shot, it's almost like the rest of the film doesn't exist. Just that moment counts and he gives it everything he has."

The book cautions, "Not everything about anybody should be emulated. So, feel free to be a Shah Rukh fan while staying away from smoking, if you can; since it is one of the Shah Rukhisms one gets to see often."

Knowledge ignition

THE `blast' man in `blue' with a billion plus people after him is Kalam who is able to nudge out film stars and sportsmen as a motivating icon for the youth. His dynamic thoughts imbued with `visionomics' have been an inspiration for many books. A recent one is The Socio-Economic Thoughts of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam by Dr P. Jegadish Gandhi, published by Vellore Institute of Development Studies.

"Dr Kalam and myself were products of the prestigious St. Joseph's College, Trichy," writes Dr K. Venkatasubramanian in his foreword and I'm enthused to add my own name, because you never know how the rub-off can work! He is not a rubber stamp, nor a copybook President. "He distributes knowledge ignition cards to youngsters." The latest E=mc{+2} is Kalam's visionary model: GDP{-2}{-0}{-2}{-0} = f (Pa, I, S, T) + <108,SYM,108>N. On the LHS is two-digit growth of GDP in 2020, though we've already started talking about it having been achieved in the last quarter of 2003. On the right are: Pa, growth of agriculture and food processing industries; I, physical infrastructural facilities; S, social infrastructural facilities; T, technology factors; and <108,SYM,108>N, constant growth rate of population.

An offbeat glossary at the end of the book is an A-Z "collection of powerful phrases" that Kalam uses, such as: a standard human being, active ageing, bird story, core competence for knowledge society, coping strategies, indomitable spirit, joy of removing the pain, small aim is a crime, when great minds meet and we can do it. Can you?

Business is complex

OH, NO, not one more book on management, you might be saying, but this one from Dreamtech Press (www.wileydreamtech.com) is different. Business & Management: Principles and Guidelines" by John M. Ivancevich and Thomas N. Duening has `global, technological and consumer orientation'. Business is live and so the book includes examples from the current context. What about people who claim to have common business sense?

"People also believe they know how business is transacted and understand the laws that pertain to business, which are bandied about in informal conversation." However, operating in a complex socio-legal environment, business is often complex. Also, "commonly accepted business practices in one country are considered unethical or even illegal in another country." BPO makes an appreciation of global business all the more essential. At the end of most chapters, the authors have included a list of `suggested Web sites' apart from questions and business application. Engaging read.

Tailpiece

"Sir, in every occasion, you speak exactly for 20 minutes. What's the secret?"

"I pop a lozenge into my mouth at the start, and wrap up when it's totally dissolved."

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

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