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(A)Sathyam Fiasco: Ramalinga Raju is More Efficient than the Lakshar-e-Taiba

Discussion in 'Wednesdays with Varalotti' started by varalotti, Jan 8, 2009.

  1. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Sridhar and other friends,

    There has been terms "Nice Ride and Easy Money" spoken here to and fro in posts...

    Well i'm not going to argue......Just to let you all know ..I came in at 9.30 AM IST today to work and still at work.I have a pending task..which is a technical error... and so nothing is in my hands..Will have to break my back to fix that up till whatever time it takes..No escaping that.

    MOST of all, i dont get paid anything extra for staying back late...nor do i expect....for its just my duty according to the company and the client and ofcourse me.Its my responsibilty to get that fixed.. There are many people(non- IT sector) too who work 12 to 14 hours too..So its hard work that gets all of us the money.NONE can make easy money in IT/any job.There is no place for any emotions or family responsibilities and it definitely can't hinder the work.(business continuity).

    This is the life of an IT professional..It is not this one day...Almost thrice a week i end up going home late.

    So, definitely its not EASY MONEY !!!!! Please........................dont hurt our sentiments and work ethics..Its my request.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2009
  2. Parvat

    Parvat New IL'ite

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    Very well written piece with great clarity and empathy for the employees at Satyam.We were just digesting the facts about the Madoff scam inNY,when we heard this news.So much ego and greed and so little honesty all around,mind-boggling.
    regards,Parvat
     
  3. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    This query was sent to me by a Junior ILite Ms. Dhivya Rengarajan:

     
  4. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Aishwarya,

    I apologize if the words used here in this thread had hurt your sentiments. Of course the word "nice ride" was used. But to the best of my knowledge "easy money"was not used.

    And the word nice ride was used by your professional colleague, somebody working in the IT industry.

    Aishwarya, it's time we get the facts right. We may have to cast off all our soft sentiments to get to the bottom of the matter, to know the full truth. I have been in my profession for the past 25 years. And by God's Grace I have had the privilege of seeing people working in different sectors of the society. Many of my close relatives - my daughter, my brothers-in-law and my close friends are in the IT sector. In all the fields there are people who work hard and people who just loaf around. People like you who work for hours on end without any OT compensation or extra pay. And people who always look for an easy life. In short in all the fields there are people who work hard and those who hardly work.

    But it is only in the IT field where the salaries are relatively very high. The Manager of a Nationalised bank who controls advances to the tune of Rs 100 crores and deposits for a like amount, who has many onerous responsibilities is paid around Rs. 30 to 40 k per month. He works almost on all days. He comes to the bank around 8 in the morning and goes home around 9 in the night. I have seen Bank Managers working on Sundays too. In the IT field somebody in the junior level, let's say entry level plus +1 (or 2) gets the same pay.

    That's what has been spoken as nice ride. And Aishwarya please don't think that we in the other sectors are jealous of the IT people. On the other hand it is this "nice ride" phenomenon that gives me real concerns. Because this nice-ride might not lost for long. That's why I took the liberty of advising to define your standards of living with 40% of your income, so that when something like this happens you have some safety net to fall upon.

    Let me reiterate, Aishu, the whole country is proud of you. I had been to England in 1993 in the pre IT revolution days. And went to the US in 2007. The respect given to me in the 2007 trip was ten times more than what I received in 93. Back then people thought that we came from a country of snake-charmers and magicians. And now they know that our intelligence is the best in the world. I owe this respect to you guys.
    We are only concerned that you people should not waste your hard-earned money in unwanted luxuries. That's the key idea behind the usage of the term nice ride.

    love,
    sridhar

     
  5. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    And now let's try to find answers to Ms. Dhivya's questions:

    You are most welcome, Dhivya.

    A very pertinent question. You are right. Many companies manipulate the figure. All over the world. But what Satyam did, what Enron and WorldComm did was something very obvious and very gross. Many software companies jack up the degree of completion of the on-going projects to present a better figure.
    Reliance is a different ball-game altogether. They don't manipulate the figures. They manipulate everything else so that the figures are right. Reliance Telecomm was given a restricted Telecomm licence. But they flouted all the restrictions and earned something like Rs10,500 crores. Finally Government reluctantly woke up from a long slumber and told Reliance what they did was wrong. Enquiry was held, Reliance was found guilty and was asked to pay a penalty of Rs. 500 crores, which Reliance happily paid.
    I have heard that in those days Reliance used to manipulate the import-export policy of the Indian Government so that they made huge profits. I don't think Reliance or for that matter any other company so grossly fudged the accounts as Satyam did.

    Satyam had never applied for a World Bank loan. World bank is funding a lot of projects. Satyam was bidding for such projects. In the process Satyam had given some bribes indirectly to the World Bank officials. That was found out and Worldbank has banned Satyam for a period 8 years from all its projects.
    And Dhivya, you will be shocked to know that the World Bank has also banned the IT giant WIPRO for a period of 4 years for attempting to bribe the bank officials.
    World Bank ban has nothing to do with the fudging of books.

    The names of the two companies which Satyam wanted to acquire were Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra. Now Maytas is just another name for Satyam. Satyam reversed is Maytas. The Maytas properties was promoted by Raju's son. Maytas Infra has won the prestigiious Hyderabad Metro flouting all possible norms. Even at that time the Delhi Metro E.Sreedharan said that Hyderabad Metro is a 'future political scam'.
    Raju wanted his Directors to approve the take over of Maytas. They approved it subject to a lot of conditions, subject to another independent valuation. But Raju came out the meeting and announced that the Board has approved Maytas acquisition which made some Directors to resign from the board.
    Meanwhile Raju was talking with Merryl Lynch to help him tide over the crisis. But Merryl Lynch terminated the relationship and the news is that it advised Raju to come clean on the fudging of books. That led to the 7th January letter.

    We don't know yet. The newly constituted Board met yesterday. They have decided to appoint a new audit firm. Two or three big firms have given a proposal. They will finalise the appointment today (13th Jan). The first job is to restate the accounts and present the true picture. Only after that can the company approach Banks for short term loan to pay January salary.
    LIC and an American company have stakes in Satyam. They have asked for representation in the Board. Once they are in, they might think of merging Satyam with another company, of course if the price is right.

    If I were in your place I won't buy the shares now. Because you know next to nothing about the company. You know very well that the balance sheet is a big lie. So how do you know what the shares are really worth? Ok you buy for 10 Rs. The new auditors find that the company is worthless and the real price of the share is only Rs. 2. So when it merges with another company you will get only Rs. 2 per share.
    But it is also possible to get 50Rs. for a Rs. 10 share. But you don't know. Buying Satyam shares now is like jumping into a well with your eyes closed. You might land upon gold and silver. Possible. But there is every chance you might land upon filth. Just for the heck of it buy some 500 shares for Rs.10. If the share prices go up, you can always tease your DH. If it goes down, it is just 5k.

    done that, Madam.
    love,
    sridhar
     
  6. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Sridhar,
    Thanks for taking time to reply. I really appreciate it.
    I completely buy your point about luxuries and 40-60 % principle.
    Like, what Padmavathim has earlier said on this thread, there are also families like hers and mine who does not involve in luxury and see to it that our younger brothers and sisters follow suit.

    In today's world don’t you agree - A house, a vehicle, TV, Fridge etc have become necessities and not Luxury?? So are you saying that only IT people own all of these and the rest of the people are using "kumuti aduppu" and "mann chatii”? When you talk about luxuries - I agree that mostly unmarried people (freshers) do spend a lot of money. But once they enter family life they begin to realize and its 100% True. So you are talking about less than 20% of the IT population.

    To tell you the fact, when my DH said he would buy me an Oven, Food Processor, i told a big no. I told him people for years have been grinding in mixies and grinders and using stove top and I’m no special.

    Here's a guy in my team aged 27 years and a bachelor. He sweats his blood working ;not taking leave because he may miss his allowance and that money is so precious to him, not even buying a good shoe for himself and not ready to marry till he settle his brother's course. He’s the sole breadwinner for his family with Aged parents, a college going brother and a grandma in her ripe old age to support.

    As always there are 2 sides of a coin!

    Let me not digress anymore. This is a thread to discuss Satyam Fiasco and so be it.

    Thanks for giving me an opportunity to vent out my feelings.
     
  7. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Aishwarya,

    Families like yours and Padmavathi's are there, no doubt. You are very responsible,matured people. But in general, the spending of IT people is way too high compared to people in other sectors.

    And Aishwarya, when I talked about luxuries it was not ovens, mixies and grinders. I mentioned that eating outs, luxury pre-premier shows etc. I have seen people buying tickets to the movies at Rs. 450 a piece. That was what I was talking about.

    And Aishu, for normal needs like stove, oven, mixies, even shoes and chappals even ordinary salaries would do. Even peons in banks, clerks in offices, why, even blue collar employees working in factories afford those things these days.

    Finally luxury is a very, very relative term. Now the general consensus is that even room airconditioners are not luxuries. A car is not a luxury. But if the person resides somewhere in Kellys and had to go to SEZ, Tambaram, every day then having a Ford Ikon Petrol car that gives about 8 kms per litre of petrol is surely a luxury.

    In an industry where the wage rates are atleast 40 to 60% higher than the other industries, whatever you buy with that extra premium is always a luxury. Because even without something like a Satyam fiasco the industry will mature and the premiums will vanish.

    That's my point, Aishu. Please don't think I am blaming IT people. As a father whose only daughter is in IT industry, I don't want you kids to suffer on any account. That was the reason I was giving unsolicited financial advice,something which I have never done in my life.

    love,
    sridhar
     
  8. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    Thanks, Parvat. All depends on what the new auditors are going to find in Satyam's books.
    Ultimately it's the greed and the conspicuous absence of honesty and other values.
    love
    sridhar
     
  9. bhuvnidhi

    bhuvnidhi IL Hall of Fame

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    Exactly,Exactly!I second Aishu on her thoughts.

    Imagine we work for 13-14 hrs and if we get into a support kind of project we have to forget our sleep.We would never know when we would get a call , when we shud jump in for a so called "TELECON" wherein we will be blasted by 100 guys around in the middle of the night.God ! What a nightmare.I seriously cud not imagine how I managed all this.Imagine what wud happen to a married person in a support project.

    After all the slogging and the kind of "hang" we have during the week,I definitely do not feel like going back home and cook for myself and then eat.I would definitely like to pamper myself eating out in a nice hotel or hang out in a nice place.Yes , I did this till I was married.Now that I am married and have a kid, I have somebody to lean on(thankfully my hubby is not from IT...he doesn't carry tension home) which makes me feel more pampered than going to places.Itz just that the way I ease out myself has changed but not the "wanting' to let out my tension or pain.

    One of my friends used to say sadly "I don't know whether my kid will remember my face.Bcoz I come to office when he is asleep and by the I go home he wud sleep by then".I used to feel bad but never realised the pain till I had a baby.

    Thankfully , I am into PMO now and have a (sort of) cushion.I still feel bad for the techies in my projects and have a kid.

    And not but not the least, just think about the health problems we face.Our work is full of mental tension and we sit glued to our chairs for hours together starring at the "RADIANT" monitor.

    Yes, I put my health and happiness at stake for the money.And the money I earn is not for me to spend lavishly or unneccessarily .I just want my kids to be in a better place and help them cope up with the competitive world.At the same time , I do make my kid realise the fact that if we spend unnecessarily today , we will be in trouble tommorrow.

    I guess itz always give and take policy in life.I give my health and happiness for money.Nothing comes so easily on earth.

    I did not meant to hurt anybody but just wanted to pour out my feelings as I read through the post.


    Sridhar sir, Yes, what you said is 100% true.As a mom even I do not want my kid to suffer on any account.I am determined that I will tell her "Study whatever you want and be successful in that area.Run for job satisfaction and for growth in the career and not for money".I definitely do not want her to undergo the same pain.

    Regards!
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2009
  10. aishu22

    aishu22 Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Sridhar,
    As I said, Thanks for letting me vent out. But i really really appreciate the way you have responded to my reply with so much love and care towards IT guys. I know you are telling these message for our good and i listen...Period.

    Editing the post to say that, its because i know that It's Sridhar (a father figure to me) , i took this liberty - your DD


    Well as far the insider update from Satyam - All projects are in full swing going on .. So business continuity is happening and Satyam has won lot of new projects too.

    We do see some ray of hope finally.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2009

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