The Budget
IF listening to the Budget speech of the Finance Minister was not a mandatory part of my efforts to make a living out of writing on tax matters, I would happily sleep through budget speeches as Rahul Gandhi was alleged to have done inside Parliament yesterday. I have tremendous respect for our Parliamentarians who have to fight that yawn during the prolonged boring budget speeches, though some occasionally succumb to it. Yawning in Parliament may be bad manners, if not un-parliamentary (though snoring, perhaps is), we must admit that it is an honest opinion.
Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.And this is said to be a global phenomenon. Vice President Biden is reported to have slept through President Obama's 2011 Budget speech. Door Darshan will have a tough time today to focus their cameras away from yawning and sleeping members.
After listening to so many budget speeches, I have not been able to understand why budget speeches can't be brief and just tell me how the Government plans to blow up my money and how the FM is going to tax me further.
Anyway the wise men have decided that Budget speeches have to be long and boring and the really interesting part comes only towards the end and the vital parts are never revealed – they are hidden in the notifications. It is said that Budget speeches are like mini-skirts:
1. What they reveal is interesting but what they conceal is downright fascinating.
2. What they reveal is trivial, what they conceal is vital
3. What they hide is much more important than what they reveal.
4. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.
And today all the wise economists of the country who spend more on their well-tailored suits than the rich Indian's per day spending of fifty rupees, will cry their throats out hoarse on National, Regional and local TV channels analysing every aspect of the budget except the notifications and the Finance Bill which really matter.
Is the Budget serving only the media? May be the government can earn some pretty revenue by having some advertising slots for the budget. Even the FM can announce, "I will now take a short commercial break, but please don't go away; you may be taxed soon". Can government make some money by selling the rights for the FM's Budget telecast?
Our only prayer to the Finance Minister is TAKE ALL THE TAXES YOU WANT, BUT PLEASE DON'T MAKE LIFE MORE TAXING FOR US.
If you have the time, you may like to go through the following from our archives.
1. My Wife's Budget Speech
2. The Budget Speech
3. Before parting...