Satyam's Satya - Living with insecurity

If there is one thing that is definite about life, it is uncertainty. For the shell shocked, dazed and stumbling Satyam stakeholders, there was little difference between the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Ramalinga Raju’s mea culpa.

In an instant, very like Hiroshima, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives have been affected, nest eggs, savings, educational plans and even life insurance policies (yes, they invest in Satyam too!) have been vaporized or dramatically eroded to next to nothing.

And very like Hiroshima, the damage will continue to affect and afflict our future generations, eating away like a disease at the very fabric of what we perceive to be our social security system.

Our children and their children are already handicapped, challenged even before they are born, by the fact that their very fundamental education and childhood is now directly in jeopardy. And so are the aged and elderly, the retirees and their parent dependants – all bereft of their little pensions and savings.

When the terrorists hit Mumbai, it was hard to believe that a handful of motivated and dedicated foreigners could bring this massive city and the country to a standstill – our perceived circle of safety was broken, violated with impunity and still remains that way.

Now another hit – our perceived circle of safety, our Indian citadel of IT prowess, our super Indian-brain’s ability has been again hit – this time, by just one man, who decided to “ride a tiger” and then “could’nt get off!”

This ‘great leader’ worked quietly behind the scenes for years to deliver the coup de grace in one fell swoop – how different is he from Kasab and his overseas bosses in the ISI, who staked out the city and practiced their ingress so many months before the real thing?

I recall the story of the CEO’s driver killing his boss in Noida last year – because he sacked him from his job for stealing! He and his cronies just stopped the car on the road and bludgeoned his erstwhile boss to death – on a public road, not very late in the evening.

These incidents have made us question our own personal circle of safety – does it even really exist? As the CEO of Transworld, a Pune based Technology Company, I have the advantage of using my own safety and security products – products that our multi-national customers use to protect thousands of lives on the road and highways everyday.

But will a safety device like our Mobile Eye GPS tracking system really protect us from terrorism from the likes of Kasab and Raju? Perhaps not – but I know that by using something like the Mobile Eye, I am eliminating one small uncertainty, one risk less to live with, one more chance at life without strife.

While that great permanent feature of our lives, Insecurity, will continue to live on, we can substantially reduce its effects with small and definite steps, steps that tell our loved ones, our co-workers and colleagues – we care about you.

I will always remember something that an executive from Castrol-BP, a long standing Mobile Eye customer and a pioneer in Road Safety, said “What is the value of an accident that did NOT happen?”

Posted by Vikram Puri at 1/9/2009 8:00 PM
Categories: uncategorized

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