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It springs a surprise

S. MUTHIAH

THE POSTMAN the other day brought my wife a rather bulkier parcel than usual. When she found it was a book - and since magazines and company law tomes are all she reads - she tossed it aside. Now a book, especially one which looks well produced, is something I can't resist. And though this looked like an academic monograph and its title The Economics of Expertise was of little interest to me, the production and presentation caught my eye and I decided to flip through it. And, to my surprise, I found it was an imaginatively produced Annual Report, using a format I'd never come across in decades of association with the printing industry.

Much of the annual report of Polaris made little sense to me - and to most shareholders I would think; in fact, a course in `plain English' was called for, and I wish they'd get down someone like Martin Cutts from the `Plain English' movement in Britain - which is working on rewriting many a bit a British legislation - to work with them on writing something more reader-friendly. But if the intention was to generate attention by creating an Annual Report that was different, Arun Jain and his team at Polaris have certainly succeeded admirably.

Apart from the Financial Highlights, Chairman Jain's Letter to the Shareholders and a Preface, the first 60 pages include six chapters and a couple of case studies focussing on the activities of the company. Then comes a 136-page Financial Results, its visual presentation rather easier on the eye than usual. Together they comprise an Annual Report that's different - and warrants congratulations.

So too do two initiatives Polaris has instituted - and whose chapters made more sense to me. One is the office of an Ombudsman - though I would have liked to have heard how many cases he handled last year and with what results. And the other is the Ullas Trust, through which the company and its associated (NOT `employees,' please) reach out to "students from economically challenged sections in the corporation and government schools," offering both scholarships and volunteer "mentoring." The Ullas scheme, at present in Madras and Mumbai, is to be launched in stages in other parts of India where Polaris has offices. But it has, significantly, already been launched by Polaris Australia reaching out to Aboriginal students. And that is indeed path-breaking.

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