Houston/Enron/Andersen, Hyderabad/Satyam/PWC?

I live in Hyderabad, and I am indirectly affected -- I have close relations and many friends who work for Satyam, though (disclosure) I work for one of their competitors as an (aging) geek.

Today has been a bad day for us, full of anxiety and worry. And fruitless speculation about what tomorrow brings.

But the biggest question I have, is what were PWC doing? Raju says this has been going on for a few years. Have they been sleeping? Can fraud like this be perpetrated without the connivance of the auditors?

I had the same question about the "independent" directors who voted yes last month: I would love the chance to ask any ISB student what he thought of his dean now, who chaired that infamous meeting and voted yes.

Oh and by the way, I don't think even Raju's own mother would believe that "I did not make a rupee/dollar" poppycock. These guys are from the construction business, which -- for most lay people anyway -- ranks as the most corrupt businesses all over India!

Can't wait for the financial malfeasance in China to show up. That will make even the American stuff look like nothing.

Does not surprise me in the slightest. After all we are talking about one of the cultures where they find it really difficult to say NO. Now let's see who else has been riding tigers all along...

Announcement 1: Will the Satyam Auditors please go immediately to the parade ground. Satyam auditors to the parade ground please.

Announcement 2: Firing squad, your presence, with loaded weapons, is required at the parade ground. Firing squad to the parade ground please.

... And that should include directors at global level.

What's with armchair sociologists berating 'Indian culture' or 'Indian <anything>' ? So a corporate scandal occured, hardly a unique event in any nation. Big deal.

Presumably you blokes were out in force excoriating Jews in general when the Madoff episode occured, to give one example ?

And so it begins, now that the UK is cheaper than Ireland and would quite like a few jobs back so that project managers have something to do I expect to see a lot more of this.

And dont blame the Indians, their over here helping to train us.

Phone Conversation:

Hello Ram, its me chawhdry here, I was going to say that Wipro could do the development work that nobody wants, as we in India want to manage the project and maintain our executive positions.

Hey Chawhdry, I have solution, we have some of these low paid English workers in UK they are very hard to make out in terms of accent and generally do not follow process well, but praise Vishnu they are much cheaper than our Indian Techies who are now more expensive than damn Doctors, and we will not have to create any Indian Management positions.

Ram, you genius, make them do the needful!

(Wipro have set up a technical base in Scotland and the North of England as of the end of 2008, so you cant say that nobody seen this coming :).

The project manager is about to prove a few darwin and john smith theories to be true, I for one welcome my new Indian overlords....