Monday, January 19, 2009

Questions for ratan, sunil & anil

Good Afternoon ratan, sunil & anil.

Nice to see that you put shareholder interest above everything else. You're in it to make money. That's what your chosen field is, that's your area of expertise is. Ethics, Equality, Social Issues are an SEP (Somebody Else's Problem). If they were your primary motivators, you'd have been in Baba Amte/Medha Patkar/Teesta Setalvad's place, right? And yes... Corporate Social Responsibility can be taken care of by financing a few education/technical training institutes & a few research grants. Everybody wins right?

WRONG! I disagree. You have displayed a gutlessness, a spinelessness that will spawn businessmen jokes the way America has lawyer jokes! (Can someone contribute a few good ones?) And ensured that you will not be remembered as a few good men.
You have further cemented the belief that businessmen are hard-nosed, cut-throat and not to be relied on. It's a telling comment on our money-minded society that only Ramalingam Raju is drawing flak for having poor moral fibre.

I'm not the only one who disagrees of course. Rahul Bajaj & Jamshed Godrej disagree with you.
Anjan & Zig disagree. IHM disagrees.

So I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. In fact I've already started.
  1. When I want an Internet connection, I'm not going for the broadband services your companies provide. I will look for an alternative. BSNL, MTNL, Hathway etc!
  2. I will switch cellphone providers from airtel to Vodafone, BSNL etc., but tata, airtel or reliance are not getting any of my business!
  3. My cousin was looking to buy a second-hand indigo. He asked me for advice. I dutifully pointed out to him that tata cars are after the first 2 years, high on maintenance, and their service centres have probably no idea of what customer satisfaction means. I also pointed out of course that ratan tata was the same man who was seen hugging narendrabhai. Ever seen him hug a customer?
  4. I will buy sunglasses from Life (a less expensive, but equally stylish brand carried by Shoppers Stop) instead of fastrack.
  5. And I would rather throw away good money on a Tissot than on your watches!!!
  6. I've anyway switched to Saffola Salt (pending Mr. Mariwala's views of course), and if necessary will make my own!!!
  7. Needless to say, no more shopping at westside.
  8. And if I'm looking to move to a set top box, it'll be DISH TV for me.
One parting question for you guys: Despite all the hugging, would you offer a non-English speaking, non-internationally acceptable, possibly partisan candidate with a dubious secular record, a job in any of your companies?

Such hypocrisy.... tsk tsk...

Sincerely,

Iconoclast

10 comments:

  1. I agree with everything you have said...I don't think Modi should be the PM...Supporters of Modi (including the above mentioned trio) want people to forget Godhra 2002 and move on - but why should they?Anyway, from what I have read, Modi is a tyrant - he hates dissent...
    As for the three musketeers - they are experts at sucking up to people who help them make money...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, unless Modi is absolved of his involvement in Gujarat, he shouldn't become the PM. And I believe he played a role. If not in causing the fire, then at least not opting to be the fire brigade for them.

    Hence, he should never become the PM. Advani, at worst, will do from the current set of BJP leaders. But definitely not Modi.

    On a side note, may I keep bringing you links as soon as I read them? -> starting with Teesta Setalvad who you think relies on ethics/equality/socialism for her brand of communalism.

    Link 1

    Link 2

    Independent links with which I'm not trying to make it an issue but if you read them, then you'll notice that Teesta Setalvad isn't exactly the activist you speak about in such respectable language.

    You can choose to not publish this comment if you wish. Because it's only for you and not really for readers as it deviates from your main post. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bones & Trailblazer,

    Thanks, but I think you meant "modi shouldn't be CM"!!!
    ____

    TrailB...

    I don't mind publishing your comment for now. It is off topic yes, and we can have this discussion on a separate more relevant post (on your blog or mine), but for the purpose of this mini-side-discussion, I will leave the links in here.

    Link 1: All it would've taken Trailblazer, would've been a little more research on the name Sehrunnisa Sheikh.
    But you were in a hurry to undermine Teesta & prove me wrong. Just type in Sehrunnisa Sheikh in Google & go through the links that come up please.
    One is here. Your link is dated 15.12.2004. My link is from 3 days later, where Sehrunnisa admits that she changed her testimony when the case was being tried in Gujarat because she was scared for her life.
    Another link (if you do the Google search I'm suggesting) talks of her being arrested because of her attitude in court.
    Is this the best you can do mate? :-)
    I'd say yes. Because as long as you're looking for the truth, you will only find the truth. And you're not the type to resort to lies just to prove that Teesta is unworthy of our unequivocal respect!
    It's also strange how you're trying to undermine Teesta, who is obviously trying to do something good, when only a few seconds back you were focusing on how wrong the bjp was in gujarat...!
    And I'll give you one more link to go through. This one talks about how justice was prevented in a monumental tragedy! And instead of ruing that, you are ruing the one person who is fighting for justice??? You may wanna think again, brother-man! :-)

    Link 2: So filing of a solitary case is proof enough of guilt? By that logic Sania Mirza must be guilty because of the 2 cases filed against her for contempt of the national flag? Wait. Let the case go to hearing. Teesta's a fair lady, who believes in the courts system. That much shouldbe obvious by her approach to problems shouldn't it?

    On Link 3: AT first reading, one is tempted to say, "I don't agree with her fully here, as peace is always a good option. It ends violence & allows us to move on"; but a second reading reveals that she isn't criticizing the effort for peace. She's criticizing the nature of the agreement. She is saying that the agreement is compromising & makes concessions!
    I also think Teesta has a very valid point. She's asking for Justice!
    So it's all fine to say, all is forgiven, but the perpetrators must be brought to book!

    I'm sure that's something even you will agree with!
    I think that's basically her point. Read it again & see if you agree with my reading.

    TrailB... There is virtue in patience, thorough research & in not jumping to conclusions. There is no virtue in looking for evil in good women & men. And there is no virtue in believing those who try to undermine such women & men.
    If my reading of you is right, you are more like Teesta than unlike. She too understands the pain of those poor Muslims in gujarat. And you do too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. For someone who criticizes Vinod for deleting comments, he himself has enabled comment moderation and deleted comments. Such hypocrisy, tsk tsk. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. kaffir...

    :-)

    There's no parallel (as vinodji doesn't have moderation enabled).
    I only pointed out that vinod is running away from the points I'm making.

    I publish your comments & Trailblazers above as long as they don't contain profanity & off-topic flaming (the kind you specialize in). You last 2 comments were deleted purely because you were getting abusive. Talk nicely and talk sense. I'll be glad to publish you.

    No hypocrisy here. :-)

    And why do you call yourself kaffir? Are you aware of it's meaning?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Trailblazer,

    Thanks for your comment.
    I'm transferring it to this forum, as this discussion may be more pertinent there than here.

    Let's reserve this for discussing the misdeeds of these 3 corporat-ors!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I did not like this kind of support to Modi. Sad that they who can make a difference didn't. Okay fine, no to Westend and anything Tata and Reliance ... my Reliance Mobile also. This is Gandhigiri.
    I like!

    Always loved Idea ads!

    ReplyDelete
  8. IHM,

    FANTASTIC!!! May your tribe increase!!!

    Need more takers to boycott these unsrupulous businessmen. Anyone else? Hai koi aur Maikalaal?? ;-D

    You may wanna tread easy on Idea. Birla hasn't endorsed this man in public, but has invited him to various inaugrations. Worth a shot but watch Birla. In case he messes up, we move to Vodafone. Western MNC. Chance that they have better sense... Otherwise BSNL/MTNL are always there. BSNL's network is rumoured to be solid... Let's go Swadeshi? Whatsay? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great Post. Will stick on to BSNL and Maruthi

    ReplyDelete

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