Thursday, February 4, 2010

Rocket Singh,Corporate governance and Ethics

I have been bored and aimless for the past 3 weeks. The kind of aimlessness which is bound to set in after the trauma of an horrendous xat result and 2 months of preparations from Cat in last week of November ,then university semester exams in December and then a campus recruitment drive in the start of the new year.After having somehow screwed myself out of the above trials and tribulations, finally, there was nothing more to strive for, no next exam looming over my head and hence no pre-exam night deliberations with my conscience ....to keep me awake in bed till 4 in morning.
One of the things which i have been unable to find a solution to and whose solution i knew - only i would have to find ... was that the mask the future me would have to wear in the workplace and how my little conscience can never come to terms with that as this mask often becomes us .... Something that scares the shit out of me.
Secondly , the corporate atmosphere is by most accounts a dirty , wretched place where one has to adopt unethical means to climb up the ladder and where most often honesty and hard work are overlooked for people who are good at doing the boss "favours". Where you have to kiss up to the son of a bitch/ bitch who is your boss and adopt unethical means to survive ...let alone get a promotion .... where you always have to wear this kissing-up mask ( unless you are an asshole by nature in which case the point of this post will be completely lost on you ). This mask ... is in essence a form of you which would best equip you to deal with your work surroundings ,ensuring your financial security by donning a mantle ...at the same time belittling the self that was you. I do not want to wear that mask .
IT was with the above problems still unsolved by my measly little mind that i started the watch the latest Ranbir kapoor starrer Rocket Singh - salesman of the year . As dubious as the name may sound... it was actually a very fascinating and inspirational movie ...one that answered my above problems.
Hardeep Singh is a straight old fashioned guy ...who still believes that business should be without corruption and bribes ...and is also bit slow to catch up with the conniving ways of the his sales world . Hardeep is recruited as a sales trainee in a big computer selling firm and is shocked when his boss berates him for not obliging an important client who asked for a bribe.
Hardeep's conscience wont allow him to cheat his customers ,make huge profits on sales from small customers and give that profit as bribes to the big corporate honchos. At office he has become the joker in the pack , the dumb trainee who has ruined his career , the straight honest guy, whom the ruthless corporate world wont allow to succeed.
Hardeep has become and is feeling like an ignominious employee and is faced with a choice.Whether to adopt the ways of the business world... to put up that mask and contrive people of their hard earned money and lose his character in the process .............or to leave the job . Hardeep decides on a third option . He is going to stick with the company and change the way it does business from within.
Soon Hardeep starts a small parallel company with the aide of other disgruntled colleagues and calls this company rocket singh sales.Rocket Singh sales has ethical business practices and provides computers to its customers keeping profits low..and concentrating on the human aspect of business more than the profit involved. Soon, Hardeep's parallel company eats into the profit of the mother company . Hardeep's boss finally realises that it was his own employees running this rival company,criminal proceedings follow...and soon Hardeep has to lose his company and his accomplices fired from their jobs .
Hardeep's company is merged with the mother company. But , the brand of Rocket Singh sales had become so reputable and its customer relations were so unique that its customers refuse to do business with the mother company once Hardeep and his pack leaves.Finally , Hardeep's erstwhile boss...the corrupted manager of the company begs Hardeep to return .. Hardeep refuses. The manager is forced to give back Rocket Sales to Hardeep .
Out of the above drawn out discussion ..what i am trying to say is .. one need not change just because the world needs him to ... follow your heart ...ye job chala gaya ... to koi aur dhund lenge yaar ... but i will always stick to my beliefs. The mask need not become me...will never become me.
As a parting note - the genres and storylines in hindi movies are fast improving... which is a great sign and bears testimony to an educating audience and nation. It is not often that i find answers from hindi flicks . :-)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

right you are dude, rocket singh is indeed an inspiration....may ethics and human bonds last forever..