The Hindu Business Line : Secrets have trouble remaining secret in companies

Story so far: Even as moms and dads are busy working, there is a danger that the younger generation remains unattended and so tend to go wayward. Is there anything we can do, I wonder?

Episode 97

Since it has been a few weeks since I last wrote, let me give you a recap of the previous episode. It was about schoolgirls in isolated autos parked on a deserted beach one afternoon. I didn't intervene, afraid, as I was, of the menacing looking drivers around the vehicles. I had asked, therefore: What do we do about things like this? They say you see good things if you're good, and vice versa. So, whenever I feel I see wrong things, there's always that inner voice that tells me to keep quiet because the trouble is that my goggles are coloured.

Well, let me check the inbox. "Hi Swati," writes Kamal Anil Kapadia from Mumbai. "Are you against the girls or the current environment? True, parents should know what their children are doing in their absence or behind them. But as people adopt Western culture we see the younger generation dressed in a way that is not acceptable to our standards, and the lifestyle that the youths want may be forcing them to indulge in questionable activities.

"Nowadays you see remix songs which are more vulgar than `C' grade movies; and there are girls' contests, to which parents are happy to send their daughters to participate." It looks like grownups have a lot of problem adjusting with the new mores.

"Dear Swathi, with regard to your concern, I have four things to say," writes Radha Subramanian from Perambalur. "You are imagining too many things, rather than think optimistically that the kids were waiting for their parents. Two, to think in parallel with your concern, you might have asked the auto if it is available for hire, so that you could peep into the auto to know the details or do some face-reading of the inmates. Three, you could have called the cops, reporting about the auto number and telling them about your concern. And last, how nice if you had followed the auto to find out where it goes, though to do this you should not have any other work. "Ultimately, however, much is in the hands of the children who should know that whatever they do will affect their future; and their parents too should keep an eye (not spy) over their wards." Option two seemed frightening, and option three, I did try, in vain, though.

No perfect world this

"Dear Swati, we are not living in a perfect world," observes M. Radhakrishnan. "Therefore, we cannot expect things to go by the rulebook. We have to teach values, right kind of living and so on to our kids. If they break what has been taught to them, then they have to take responsibility for their actions. As some one said, `Nothing in this world is right or wrong, our thinking makes it so.' Therefore, let us not become morality police.

"As far as the responsibility of the school goes, when a student absents from his/her class there should be a mechanism through which it has to be brought to the attention of the parents. They, in turn, should watch the activities of their kids to avoid them going astray. With the kind of reports coming of late, we should first make our law keepers clean from any bad habits. You didn't find any cop because probably they were sitting inside the auto rickshaw!" That's a gruesome twist to the tale.

"Hi, it is true that a socially conscious person would be deeply affected by such a scene that too near the statue of our great Mahatma," writes K. Kesavan from Coimbatore. "But in this world where everyone is engaged in their own chores are there persons who dare to report the same and thereby create a win-win situation for the kids' parents and the society? As a responsible citizen your feelings are commendable. It requires a lot of courage to report such matters to those who are supposed to prevent such incidents and face the perpetrator as well." Ah, I did lack that, looks like!

"Isn't this something similar to finding an accident victim unattended?" asks Mamata. "Why does no one stop to help? Because no one wants to get involved in the lafdas that follow — such as threats, cops, court and so on. The decision will have to be made on the spot: Am I going to wait and help the girl on my own or am I going away? What children need is time and attention from the parents, giving them discretion to choose between the right and the not so right. What should be given to the young generation is trust and freedom with responsibility so that they do not take such disastrous ways to explore themselves." I do agree.

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Assignments to attend to

There were a few things that kept me occupied during the past couple of weeks. During the puja days, I was associating with a women's non-profit organisation that was showcasing the creations of many doll-makers belonging to the cottage sector. You may chuckle if I told you that on my suggestion, an artisan from Andhra Pradesh made clay dolls of the entire Council of Ministers, attired in a manner that suited the portfolio of each. Heads and bodies were separable, to accommodate portfolio changes!

Thereafter, I had taken time off from the office to assist a CA friend of mine in practice, to complete the tax audit work before the revised deadline. Interesting change from the usual routine, and I feel it may help those in employment to snatch a few days off to team up with practising professionals.

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Quarterly results

Last week there was a press meet that my company organised to talk about the past quarter's performance. A day before that, my boss had to leave for New Delhi to participate in an industry body's urgent session to lobby for anti-dumping tariff. Rather than await his return, Gupta and I thought of video-conferencing as a solution. I think I was too anxious that the technology didn't let us down, and so not too mindful of the queries that journalists were raising. Chandru was helping with the numbers, and we had the research chief to fill in with just enough sound bytes to satisfy the curious.

But suddenly our alarm bells got triggered when somebody asked a question about the real estate deal that the company was planning in Kochi. It was a classified info and nobody had spoken about it in the office because of the sensitive nature of the transaction.

It was about a month ago that I had accompanied the boss and Gupta to identify a quiet stretch, not far from the proposed IT Park there. Many international players were eager to outbid and snatch the place if only they knew.

Tactfully, however, boss answered by extolling Kerala as an IT destination, skirting any mention of the real estate deal. Before he could finish, there was another questioner asking about segmental reporting and so on, taking the session off to other topics.

In a competitive environment, how can companies safeguard their secrets, I asked myself. Send in your thoughts by Friday.

Swati_CA@hotmail.com

For archived episodes of this column click on: www.thehindubusinessline.com/nic/swati/index.htm

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