The day is still to end, but I will stick my neck out and consider this a good budget day.
Every year around February there is much brouhaha and balderdash about the budget presentation by the Finance Minister (FM) in the Indian Parliament.
This is telecast live on TV and being a finance professional, it is obligatory for me to join my professional colleagues and watch the event.
In the initial years of my career I would sit with my colleagues and try to learn as much as I could from the Finance Minister’s speech.
In later years, my efforts would be focussed on hiding my ignorance during the FM’s speech and trying to sound intelligent in the half-baked discussions that would inevitably follow.
Now a days, I do not feel it obligatory to sound aware or intelligent when it comes to the budget. If you ask me something about the budget and I do not know, I’ll tell you exactly that- “I do not know”, the most cathartic response to any embarrassing question. I have finally arrived.
Prior to today’s budget telecast, I let it be known to all who would listen that I’ll be before a TV only when the direct taxes part comes up. I care about that because it affects my own salary. In-fact with new tax slabs announced today many will actually see their take-home salaries going up by INR 4K a month. That’s not bad.
Now before the day ends, I’ll be attending a “Budget Discussion” at one of the leading hotels in the city organised by one of the big five accounting consultancy firms.
I’ll try not sleep. Correction, I’ll try not to snore when experts try their best to flesh out the budget. When the inevitable Q&A time comes I’ll wake up and try to think up an intelligent question. If given a chance I’ll throw my well thought-out question as articulately as my accent and limited vocabulary would allow.
Of course I already know the response my question will evoke. The panellists showing a visible amount of patience to my “incisive” question will gently ask “Does anybody have any other questions?” Those next to me will be glaring as my snoring did not let them sleep and those in the rear will be swearing as my question would be delaying the free dinner and drinks.
Ahh…so now you know why I am going there…for the free dinner and drinks (not in that order).
Every year around February there is much brouhaha and balderdash about the budget presentation by the Finance Minister (FM) in the Indian Parliament.
This is telecast live on TV and being a finance professional, it is obligatory for me to join my professional colleagues and watch the event.
In the initial years of my career I would sit with my colleagues and try to learn as much as I could from the Finance Minister’s speech.
In later years, my efforts would be focussed on hiding my ignorance during the FM’s speech and trying to sound intelligent in the half-baked discussions that would inevitably follow.
Now a days, I do not feel it obligatory to sound aware or intelligent when it comes to the budget. If you ask me something about the budget and I do not know, I’ll tell you exactly that- “I do not know”, the most cathartic response to any embarrassing question. I have finally arrived.
Prior to today’s budget telecast, I let it be known to all who would listen that I’ll be before a TV only when the direct taxes part comes up. I care about that because it affects my own salary. In-fact with new tax slabs announced today many will actually see their take-home salaries going up by INR 4K a month. That’s not bad.
Now before the day ends, I’ll be attending a “Budget Discussion” at one of the leading hotels in the city organised by one of the big five accounting consultancy firms.
I’ll try not sleep. Correction, I’ll try not to snore when experts try their best to flesh out the budget. When the inevitable Q&A time comes I’ll wake up and try to think up an intelligent question. If given a chance I’ll throw my well thought-out question as articulately as my accent and limited vocabulary would allow.
Of course I already know the response my question will evoke. The panellists showing a visible amount of patience to my “incisive” question will gently ask “Does anybody have any other questions?” Those next to me will be glaring as my snoring did not let them sleep and those in the rear will be swearing as my question would be delaying the free dinner and drinks.
Ahh…so now you know why I am going there…for the free dinner and drinks (not in that order).
Your comment on the initial years, the middle years and nowadays is so correct. Its true, i think for almost all learning.
ReplyDeleteYou start off knowing nothing much, then you *think* you have mastered it all, and the finally realize...that you know very little at all...
Reminds me of a nice line of some song i hears i long time know:
"The more i know, the less i know about before...
The less i know, the more i want to look around"
nice cross section of growing up :-) my fav thing abt budget is reading teh full spech @ next days ET; kidn of love doing that... ;-)
ReplyDeleteand yeah - cut on diret tax.. hurray to FM :)
@dnr -- interesting words. thanks for your input.
ReplyDelete@xh -- interesting to know that you actually read the whole budget speech. so how do you rate P Chid's Thiruvalluvar against Manmohan's assorted English and Vernacular poets?