IIT, Harvard Baker scholar and a Bengali! Sounds like the kind of description matrimonial dreams are made of!
A CEO convicted on 4 of 6 counts and a possibility of a jail sentence anywhere between 10 to 25 years- possibly anybody’s worst nightmare!
Interestingly both these descriptions belong to one man. I will always remember June 2012 as the fall of a hero – the first Indian born CEO of global corporation – Rajat Gupta charged with trading insider information.
When a hero falls, it shakes up your own foundation. This incident and many others that have occurred reminds us that it is not enough to be on the same page but we need to read the same book as well. Our GDP, purchasing power, standard of living, income etc has grown and we are finally on the same page with other countries but when it comes to our ethical standards we are not reading the same book!
During Rajat Gupta’s trial, I happen to read an interesting article titled “Rajat Gupta is not a criminal, he is just an Indian” (First Post’2012). The title sounded very offensive to me at first, but as you read you do tend to agree with the author. The trial that Rajat Gupta faces today could have been faced by any of us and very unintentionally.
Imagine you are thinking of applying to a company. What would be your first move? Read about the company? Learn about their products? Of course not! “Who works there?” “Do I have contacts?” That will be your first question (First Post’2012).
Most of us mistake nepotism for networking and that’s when things can get tricky.
It is also very important to understand what information is confidential. I can bet a lot of Indians might be whispering “Rajat Gupta just gave away some information. What’s the big deal?”
It’s a very big deal because he leaked confidential information to which he had access to by the virtue of his position as the board member of Goldman and P&G.
A lady applied at a famous MNC once. She provided elaborate information on her role with her job detail and client details. She didn’t get hired there. According to the MNC, this information was unethical! They thought that if she were to ever quit their company, a lot of their company’s information will get passed on with her CV!
Ideally if you are putting in your client details, you need to take their permission. Unfortunately, most of us are so busy gaining brownie points; we don’t even realize the enormity of this issue!
In some cases, it is not about ignorance, or to get ahead in competition, it is also about bad habits. How many of you have mugged up a book / chapter for an exam? How many of you referenced the author in the examination hall? I bet nobody. Common! If we have to reference, every line would need referencing because we rote everything! But this is known as plagiarism - an offence that can lead to expulsion of students from Universities abroad.
In 2006, everybody wanted to know “How Opal Mehta got kissed, got wild, and got a life!” - a book written by an American Indian high school graduate who was enrolled in Harvard and had got a two book deal worth $ 500,000. But in two weeks later and till date people want to read about “How Kaavya Viswanathan got rich, got caught, and got ruined” (Sepia Mutiny). This lady had gone on to copy 40 pages from another novel! US media went berserk covering this and till date she is referred as the “copycat” or “plagiarist”.
People in India don’t realize the momentum of this. Partly because our educational system encourages roting and killing creativity and partly because we think “who will know?” Stealing ideas is as unethical as stealing jewels or money!
Whenever I am in an auto in Mumbai, I feel very scared of the unnecessary shortcuts taken by the auto driver - unnecessarily trying to be ahead of the other vehicles by taking wrong turns or by cutting lanes. I have never seen a significant time saving with this approach but a significant chance of meeting with an accident and getting fined by the traffic police. I think we all Indian have auto driver within us. Taking unnecessary unethical short cuts has become almost the norm.
Unethical short cuts are happening everywhere. You think you have seen enough with Common wealth games and then you know there India has got talent with 2G scam. Forget cheating human beings, we have stolen fodder also. We already had match fixing in international cricket, now we have IPL. Before music directors would steal only from English songs now we don’t even spare devotional songs.
Thought taking these short cuts could helps us earn some brownie points, get a little ahead in the competition but in the long term, people find out. It comes out in the open eventually bringing the individual and the nation in the spotlight for the wrong reasons!
Very interesting Aditi.
ReplyDeleteThe very system of jugaad which helped us cope when times were difficult, resources /opportunities scarce is likely to be counter productive when times change. On a slightly different note possibly, my take on whats happening ... http://hmmmmlog.blogspot.in/2012/01/why-cricket-teams-loss-bothers-parent.html would like to hear your take on this one :)
Aditi,
ReplyDeleteYou views are reflective of thought process with strong belief in value system, morality and ethics in everyday life and I appreciate your thoughts.
I have tracked Rajat Gupta case and always wondered the need for him to pass on the confidential information for some quick bucks after achieving so much in life. If the money was the motive then I believe that he had all the capabilities to start business venture and achieve the richness he desired. In the end I came to the conclusion that it was a moment of weakness for him which he couldn’t overcome and ultimately landed in the trouble. I think Rajat Gupta should not be crucified severely and painted as criminal of society for momentary lapse of judgement even as I view his act as unethical and wrong. As I understand it was the greed that undone him and though his illegal and unethical act provided him with some riches but it didn’t resulted in systemic problem. If the motive of greed is considered so criminal in Rajat Gupta case than all the chieftains of big banks and financial institutions including some current serving ones such should also be prosecuted for the greed to juice up their bank profits to inflate their own bonuses which have caused and will continue to pose systemic risks. The trial and indictment is itself a kind of punishment to him and some way should be found to use his knowledge and experience for societal good as penance.
I am in total agreement with your views on auto drivers.
I really appreciate your professional approach. These are pieces of very useful information that will be of great use for me in future.
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