CFO Rules
I was reading latest issue of your magazine where you have featured Rajitha Uppugundri, Senior Director of Finance. I was reminded of your cover on Rajiv Dutta, CFO of eBay about a year back. His insight into keeping a company on the right financial track was interesting. Both these articles reflect how the financial team at eBay is aligned to the company’s strategy. In fact you have brought out the article on Rajitha’s career at a time when ‘corporate culture’ and ‘transparency of accounts’ are the buzzwords. I would be interested in reading about financial executives who have failed in their responsibilities, since they have much more interesting things to say.

Mahendra Gowda
New York, NY

A Honest Hindustani?

The last word article “Indian Pie Carving” is anything but clear. The author, in the course of some 1200 words has only managed to muddle an issue, which I doubt exists in the first place. What the author calls “pie carving”, is a concept not alien to other nations too. Besides, the right to start a business and compete is as fundamental a right as the right to freedom of expression that the author has excercised. The author goes overboard with his criticisms, not all of which are founded in fact. Is not undercutting prices practically a way of life in the U.S.? And we did not fare too bad. So why this constant harping on Indians? The fact remains that for a dynamic economy, a market with competitors who are willing to take a few jolts to reinforce their product or service is a must. In one thing, the author is right though. The fittest will survive. And the rest will die away. And is that such a bad thing. After all, no one aims to be a failure.

Koushik Mannar
Los Angeles, CA

Politics, Politics

Harvi Sachar’s Editorial “Politics, Politics” made for interesting reading. He hits the nail on the head with the comment that the Indian community needs to integrate within the American culture. Indians in the U.S. rarely have a voice in anything beyond their affairs. This sometimes project us as a people who are indifferent to the country that adopted us, that made our fortunes. This is really unfortunate. The more I think of it, the more I feel that Indian and the U.S. are two countries that are exceptionally similar. India and the U.S. would make better allies than the U.S. and U.K. Both India and the U.S. believe that a man earns his position whereas the U.K. believes in position by birth (royalty). In many other respects also we are similar. It is us, Indian Americans, who should take the initiative for this similarity to solidify into an actual equal partnership.

Prasanna Kumar
Chicago, IL