I am not an orator but only a writer, so I make it a point to write down whatever I have to convey. A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at a forum, the venue of which was close to where the annual general meeting of a company—in which I was a shareholder—was being held.
As there was a comfortable time gap between the two meetings, I chose to exercise my right as a member first, before moving over to the function where I was the resource person. The present system of ballot box and e-voting procedure at the annual general meetings of companies were not in vogue then.
The directors occupied their respective places on the dais and with the required quorum being present, the chairman called the meeting to order. He then proceeded to read his speech, a pre-printed copy of which had already been handed over to all those who had a valid attendance slip in their hands.
Having gone through the material, I chose to ignore the speech and instead focus on my ‘material’. Seating myself comfortably in a corner, I began to go through the draft, making necessary changes wherever warranted. The person sitting next to me too had a paper in his hand with some matter printed on it. He appeared excited and raring to go. Seeing the sheaf of papers in my hand, he was rather intrigued.
“Sir, is that the background material for your speech?” “Yes,” I responded reluctantly. “Good God, running into pages?” he looked at me in awe. I simply nodded my head in affirmation.“What are you going to speak on?” he quizzed impatiently. “The need for transparency in the conduct of general meetings and principles and practices of good governance,” I replied in a hushed tone.
“You too are rehearsing like me?” he queried.“What ‘me’?” I shot back, unable to make out what he was driving at.“You see, my son could not make it to today’s meeting and as we are joint shareholders he has typed out what I have to speak.”
“I see,” I smiled rather disinterestedly cutting short his reply but seeing just a single sheet of paper in his hand with only a couple of lines typewritten on it, surprised me. “And what is that you are going to speak on?” I blurted out, unable to exercise restraint on my growing curiosity.
“It is a resolution. After the members have aired their views, when the Chairman takes up the adoption of accounts, I will be proposing the same,” he spoke with the innocence of a first-timer. I chose to leave the place in a huff much to the bewildered look of my friend.
M S Vaidyanathan
Email: maharajapuram.s.vaidyanathan@gmail.com