What’s in a name ?

Well, Shakespeare had no inkling about Raju’s Satyam. Or for that matter about our B Ramalinga Raju. But, if he had known Raju and his very rather scheming grey matter, he would have thought twice before coming out with, “What’s in a name”!!
Satyam means the truth. And indeed, behind the façade of Satyam, the most heinous “asatya” has been in operation! That kind of Asatya that has left thousands of investors wondering what has hit them. The bolt from the blue has taken the wind out their sails..both literally and figuratively. Investors were sailing high on the Satyam waves when all of a sudden a tsunami sucked them in and left them in deep despair. This scam has caught us with our “pants down”!! How? Not so long ago we had Chidambaram shouting from the roof top that our “fundamentals are strong” and here we see how “strong” they actually are!! The timing of the scam has added to the misery of both the ordinary man and the man known as Dr.Man Mohan Singh. I am reminded of a saying in Hindi,” Ghareebi mein anta geela”!! As if we did not have enough turbulence!!
Scams have happened before and shall happen again. That is the beauty of the human mind. It is fertile and easily corruptible. It is malleable and bends more easily than a fresh young sapling. And Ramalinga Raju was one more who succumbed to the glittering world of wealth. The head which once rode high knows not where to hide today. The man whose company(pun intended) was sought by one and all has to live by himself in a cell for convicts and criminals. Such is the twist of fate.
What bothers me is not the scam or its scale. But what really bothers me is that there was a systemic failure- fooling the Auditors, the Banks, the SEBI, the other watchdogs of the Stock exchange. And this is serious because in my opinion there will be many more Rajus lurking in the dark world of corporate corruption. Some will never be brought to book. Some will never be known to the world, having breached the systemic lines with such ease and dexterity. It is obvious that this scam is similar to the Mumbai massacre in terms of systemic failure. And like the sudden awakening after Mumbai, we need heads to roll and a new enthusiasm injected to ensure that Rajus of the future are either buried even before they are born or castrated to ensure impotency in corruption.
So many so called safe guards, so many procedures, so many checks and balances..where were they when Raju swung into action? How they collapsed at his feet as if they never existed!!! Let me not sound like Laloo, but allow me to borrow his style and language,’ Raju ka narco karaeeye”! Indeed, let us not sweep the matter under the carpet. It would be prudent to get to those who connived, in any manner. Dig out the other unscrupulous brains who are hand in glove in this scam. As some one wrote, “The father of all scams” should not be left to those who parrot, Law will take its course”. We have learnt by now, Law has no flow and takes no course. Law is as capable of taking the course of those who implement it.
So, let us not be idyllic in perspective but be proactive and aggressive and fish out the big and small fishes that swam along with Raju. Let us give “life” to the otherwise dead “andha qanoon”. A small question before I sign off, “ In your opinion, how many such scams are already gnawing our economy and we are blissfully unaware of them??