Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Aug 10, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Aug 10, 2002 |
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Corporate
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Accounting Standards Columns - Say Cheek Salt & pepper for an exact recipe D. Murali
THE Tatas are in the news for the wrong reasons. They are fighting a pitched battle with the accountants, whom everybody believes as belonging to a tribe that is now trying to rise from the abyss. For the lay, suddenly, there are numerous questions buzzing around. Aren't reports read with a pinch of salt? Why then the flurry of fuss? You don't have to be so stingy with the company. It makes salt and so can afford to study the auditors' report with bags and tonnes of sodium chloride. The problem, it appears, is that the auditors put too much pepper in their write-up. At one time, the company was fighting with Captain Cook, right? The whole report is about how and why the cooking happened. Nobody disputes that the meal was prepared, eaten and burped, but there are differences about the exact recipe used. Shouldn't we befriend anybody who fights with the accountants? With accountants being seen globally as public enemy no. 1, this could have been an angle that the company's PR would have considered. What is the meaning of Tata? The group's Web site tata.com educates thus: As a noun, it means `trustworthiness, reliability, ethical business practices', and as verb, `to fulfil a promise, to carve a better future', but there is also an alternative meaning, `an uncommon surname in India'. For the origin of the word, I looked at www.jamshedpurlive.com which states that one of the ancestors of the Tata Family, Behram, took the name of `Tata', probably a nickname meaning `hot-tempered'. It seems his descendants admit that Tatas are somewhat peppery. Does anyone know who said `ta-ta' to whom? One school of thought says, the firm said `ta-ta' to the partner who was thumbing his nose at Tata. According to another school, the affected partner said `bye-bye' to Tata, and nobody told him `ta-ta' at the farewell since that would have been an affront — as much as it would be for Ashram children to sing the nursery rhyme `Ba-ba black sheep'. Giving a report and withdrawing it is like what? Withdrawal is a known technique that is practised by many for a variety of reasons. If you want an analogy, it is like giving a birthday gift and taking it back after you opened it and found it not to your taste. A case of pot calling the kettle black, can we say? You're quite close because Kale said, `What they did is kala', but they retorted, `You, Mr Kale!' Is life going to be happy ever aff..after? A mischievous case of stammering, but the l'affaire TFL is sure to have its affter-effects. An affliction that can't be wished away. There has to be some affirmative action, such as affected people being required to file affidavits, to show their affinity to truth.
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