Wagging tongue

The chairman of one of India's largest companies noticed something remarkably and refreshingly different about this year's post-Budget environment

The chairman of one of India's largest companies noticed something remarkably and refreshingly different about this year's post-Budget environment.

For a change, he said, "People were speaking up. In the past, they would '''' in their pants, rather than speak the truth. Everybody was always busy outdoing each other, giving higher marks to the Budget than the next guy. This year, they feel that they are actually being heard."

Money matters: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the day of the presentation of the Budget file pic

Indeed, if one goes by the punditry and the profundity doled out by the captains of industry this year, what he said sounds remarkably incisive. Whether it was in Mumbai or Delhi, the seasoned Pranab Babu seems to have flung the floodgate of debate and discussion open once again.

While his thick Bengali accent may have been a tad difficult to comprehend for newbies, the fact is that there was nothing missing as far as his ability to hear was concerned. And what is even better, he responded with a mixture of statistics, logic and patience. This clearly loosened tongues, especially, when it came to the normally anxious and cautious businessmen, who constantly believe that they have the most to lose if the Finance Minister frowns at them.

For a document that was intrinsically political, thanks to all the technical debate, the clever Congressman in Pranab, has been able to do what he needs to, with state elections in mind. As far as businessmen's hopes are concerned, they are now willing to either wait for the changes or just hopeu00a0 the best for the economy as a whole.u00a0

Whether all this has actually created the potential for possible changes still remains to be seen. But hey, at least they are all chattering again!