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On the difficulty of being good
| January 26, 2009 - 05:54
B. Ramalingam Raju has been much on the minds of the citizens of our Republic, whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow. It is thus a good time to reflect on Satyam's moral significance for our post-liberalization era. Although the story is still unfolding, there are intimations of sadness and tragedy about a man who has committed the greatest fraud in Indian corporate history. The swindle was worth Rs. 7136 crores, and the deceit went on for seven years. As a result, the public—both Indian and foreign investors—have lost around Rs 23,000 crores in the value of their shares, and over 40,000 employees face an uncertain future.
Raju built through skill, talent and dedication a great company. Ten years ago, I looked him in the eye and I saw sincerity, competence, and great purpose. I saw ambition, not greed. Soon after that I ran into one of his customers in the U.S. and she spoke glowingly about Satyam's dedication to quality, reliability, and integrity. There is no tribute greater than a satisfied, passionate customer, and it explained to my foggy mind, at least in part, why India had become the world's second fastest growing economy.
Why should a person of such palpable achievement turn to crime? Was it just greed or was it because his stake in Satyam had dwindled to 8.6 %, and the company was in danger of slipping out of the family's control? Raju had two sons and possibly a sense of filial duty drove him to create companies in real estate and infrastructure, two sectors of our economy that are only half liberalized, where politicians insist on bribes up-front for favours delivered. Since revenues from the new companies were far away, Raju dipped into Satyam to pay the politicians. It might have worked but no one counted on a downturn and a liquidity crisis. Desperately, he tried to restore the stolen assets back to Satyam by merging it with his son's companies but that didn't work.
When Raju crossed the line from his cheerful and familiar world of open and competitive capitalism into the dark nether regions of crony capitalism, he was no longer in control. He had walked from the transparent world of reformed India into the shadowy underworld of unreformed India, whose rules are set by crooked politicians. Why did he do it? Greed is too easy an answer. It might have been hubris, like Duryodhana's in the Mahabharata, who thought he was master of the universe and could get away with anything. It is easy to believe your infallibility when everyone in Hyderabad tells you so.
The better comparison, I believe, is with the father. Raju was ruined by his Dhritarashtra-like weakness for his sons. We should nurture our children, but we don't need to leave them a company each, certainly not by crossing the line of dharma. It takes moral courage to resist the sentiment of partiality to one's family. This is why the Mahabharata challenges the old sva-dharma of family and caste, preferring instead the newer, universal sadharana-dharma, which teaches us to with behave impartially with everyone.
Satyam is a case of fraud and criminality. So, let us also stop wringing our hands, looking for regulatory answers. It is not a governance failure. Internal and external auditors, and independent directors are guilty only of negligence. This was such an ingenious crime that that no still understands it. Remember, there are crooks in every society, and they will get around the most fool-proof systems. So, don't try to reform the system—it will only create more red tape and kill the animal spirits of capitalism. The important thing is to quickly get to the truth, and put the guilty behind bars. Ideally, make the crooks sing and book their political protectors as well. Don't blame liberalization either--the answer is more reform, not less, in order to break the nexus between politicians and business in the unreformed sectors of our economy.
Raju's story causes us discomfort because it challenges our unexamined conception of success. Surely, there is a better way to live, we ask. Yudhishthira also challenged the kshatriya concept of success in the Mahabharata. When he insisted on taking a stray dog into heaven, he performed an act of dharma, showing that goodness is one of the few things of genuine worth in this world that might take away some of the familiar pain of being alive and being human in these post-liberalization times.
I think it should be an
I think it should be an interesting book. Guess I'll by it soon to compare it with Rajaji's Mahabaratha
SIR, WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
SIR,
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE CANNOT BE UNDONE.THE BIG QUESTION IS WHAT IS TO BE DONE NOW TO BRING BACK THE INDIGENOUS DHARMA-BASED LIFE STYLE? DON'T YOU THINK OUR RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND SAINTLY PEOPLE SHOULD BE GUIDING THE PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT TO REINFORCE THE VALUES IN SOCIETY WHICH IS PLAGUED WITH CORRUPTION, VIOLENCE, AND CRIME.THE FEAR OF SIN IS SOMETHING WHICH IS TALKED ABOUT IN ALL SCRIPTURES AND THAT PERHAPS IS THE LESSON WE ALL SHOULD LEARN TO MEND OUR WAYS OF LIFE.
I FIND THE AUTHORS GROWTH AND
I FIND THE AUTHORS GROWTH AND SEARCH SO NICE....I THINK THERE IS A BASIC INTRINSIC GOODNESS IN ALL HUMAN BEINGS......ITS A DIFFERENT MATTER THAT WE IGNOREIT..........IF WE LEARN TO LISTEN TO OUR GUT , THEN IM SURE WE WILL FOLLOW THE TRUE PATH...I HAVE A STORY TO TELL WITH THE BOOK..I HOLD IT IN MY HAND ....I JUST FORGOT TO PICK IT UP IN THE RICKSHAW WHICH DROOPED ME TO THE RAILWAY STATION......I HAD MADE NOTES AND KEPT IT IN THE BOOK..HOPE THE FELLOW/LADY WHO FINDS IT READS IT AND ENJOYS IT AS MUCH AS I DID....THAT WOULD BE GOOD AND WOULD NOT BE A WASTE......WOULD LOVE TO READ MORE ABOUT GURCHARAN DAS
I appreciate deeply the sense
I appreciate deeply the sense in which author Gurucharan Das seeks for answers to these contemporary failures from an ancient text. But I feel the answers also luxuriate in ambiguity just like the scriptural text quoted! For eg., reference to the quote: "We should nurture our children, but we don’t need to leave them a company each, certainly not by crossing the line of dharma." I see nothing wrong in wanting to leave a company or two for children!! And what I would like to know is the line of dharma!?
I'm afraid unless we have well defined answers; which the author fears we may not - it might just be a good academic holiday!
Having learnt Sanskrit upto
Having learnt Sanskrit upto Matriculation and reading versions of Mahabharat I thoroughly enjoyed your book.However the lesson i got was
the main difficulty of life is "samay ke pahile or bhagya ke uper kuch nahi milta"
I haven't understood how would you write the word 'anrishyamsa' in Devnagari. Is it anything to do with 'ni(:)samshaya' meaning 'without doubt'?I would like to not that on page 152,line 19 in the italized passage the word shoul be 'parjanya' instead of 'paranjaya'
A catholic girl asked me to tell her the story of mahabharata. The difficulty was that she thought mahabharat, Ramayan and Bhagwad Gita are all religious books.I think there is a need to modernise Mahabharat by omission of Mythology.
I've been reading 'The
I've been reading 'The Difficulty of Being Good'. A wonderful journey for me . I can only imagine what the original journey for Shri Das must have been like.
There were some surprises however e.g., no chapter on Vidura. Perhaps 'the difficulty of being good' is recognized as applicable only for the powerful. This to me was a great surprise.
The lives of Sonia Gandhi and Ambani being interrogated as possible "karma yogis" was another surprise. I was just thinking - would anyone in the 30's or 40's have interrogated Lord Irwin or someone like that against a potential karma yogi yardstick when Gandhi was available?
Among the various modern people who figure in the book, I was disappointed to note the conspicuous absence of any mention of NR Narayana Murthy who in his work has tried to negotiate his way thru the 'difficulty of being good'. I'd have expected Shri Das as a top executive would have taken cognizance of that.
It's a wonderful book for all that and written by a higly sensitive and thinking Indian - therefore a great personal experience for me.
In the ultimate analysis, I was left wondering what might have been the result if Shri Das had not spent the time in Chicago. The Chicago School as an anthroplogical and Indological specialty facility is, despite its much wonted Sanskrit expertise, is ultimately an imperialist enterprise.
Assuming this book could still have happened without that sabbatical, it would certainly have been different. I'm intrigued at the possibilities.
ya, its an intellectual and
ya, its an intellectual and thought provoking journey .but Sonia Gandhi - a karma yogi? or a careful moulder of his son's path to make him next P.M of India?
Can't we see the personal, selfish motto behind so called karma yogis?
ya,i would have appreciated , he might have elaborated his views on vidura.
After all, the so called greedy Dhritarashtra is whose son?is he not Vyasa's son?
When Vyasa's son behaves like this, what about the behaviour of the ordinary king's son ?
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