During the past two months, I have interacted with several finance & other experts. While all of them are undoubtedly experts in their fields, few would qualify to be called professionals. And the reasons are manifold.
- Right from law firms, accountancy firms, medical practices etc, all have been tainted by the profit motive. Pro bono work is rare, and is given undue media coverage.
- Earlier the conception of a professional was that of a person who would have service motto as the driver, put clients first due to which profit would follow. But now, under the guise that clients are big boys who do not place reliance in them, investment banks have made a fine art of disclaiming any fiduciary responsibility. Clients have become counter-parties.
- Under the guide of CRM/value based fees etc, clients who cannot pay much are relegated to the background, both quality and availability wise. Or those who work on those accounts view that as a punishment posting.
- The unwritten social compact for professions was that in return for sacrificing some prime years in low paid public service(articleship, rural internship, clerkship), there would be material rewards later. But now, professional aspirants wish to avoid rural medical internship, do dummy articleship or go only for premier clerkships-and still they expect that same level of status/earnings.
Show me a 'professional' who is content with 'grunt work' and low pay, and I'll show you a liar! But I met some professionals in every sense of the word, who make life better for everyone they meet. The unfortunately small list is below.
- Publications Counter guy at WIRC-ICAI:-This guy sits behind a counter and dispenses the ICAI books/material to those who want to buy them. But his job is not that easy. Navigating the byzantinere requests of often non English speaking people, he goes around his work with a smile
- Those helping with probono work:- Prashant Bhushan is an excellent example of this, irrespective of what his other motives may be.
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