By Pradip K. Thanawala, C A
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Dear readers, Just before we celebrated the festival of lights, we lost two iconic personalities, both of international stature, albeit in different fields. The first was the demise of Steve Jobs a name one identified with Apple, and the second was the death of our own Jagjit Singh. Both made a difference to our lives one by making the world more accessible and the other by soothing our frayed nerves and lifting our spirit by his melodious music.
The exit of Steve Jobs will be remembered by all of us for a long time to come. He was always full of new ideas and was a great thinker. He said “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. It is this lack of innovation and leadership which is at the root of many of our current problems. People heading organisations, States and the country need to act differently. Whenever we face a problem we all tend to look at history for solutions. Despite all the talk of new thought our leaders take decisions based on precedent. It is here that we need a change and a break from the past.
Let me illustrate this. To meet the challenge of inflation the Reserve Bank of India, has at regular intervals increased the interest rates. Despite four or five increases in the past few months inflation is not showing any signs of being tamed. This is not to say that I have any other solution to offer. However I believe that it is necessary for the regulator to look at other options, deregulation being one of them. To that extent freeing of the savings rate is a step in the right direction. But this step by the Reserve Bank of India may not be sufficient. What we also need is for the government to step on the accelerator as far as the reform process is concerned. It is true that every decision of the government will be under intense public scrutiny but that does not mean, that to avoid public gaze one stops taking decisions altogether. The government must quickly come out from its stupor.
At the level of organisations including our very own we need to think differently. For over six decades the Society has played a pivotal role in updating its members about professional development, increasing their knowledge base and sharpening their skills to ensure that they render service of the highest quality. All the programmes of the society, its seminars, workshops, lecture meetings, publications as well as its flagship the Journal have maintained high standards of quality. However I must be candid and admit that the response is not the same as it was a decade ago. I think there is nothing wrong with our content we only need to rethink the manner and form in which we deliver it.
What I am trying to drive that is that if one is to change for the better it is necessary to look at what the future holds and innovate rather than look at history. Undoubtedly one learns lessons from history but even that is written with reference to the context which was in the mind of the author. To quote Winston Churchill “History will be kind to me for I shall write it”. Therefore while our glorious past must make us proud let us think and act differently for a bright future.
It is nearly 4 months since the time that I took over as the President of the society, and I thought that the middle of the year is the right time to share my thoughts with you in regard to what I mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs. What we miss at the society is a feedback from members. I would urge all of you to write to me about what we should do to ensure that the society continues to serve you to your satisfaction.
With warm regards,
