642. The Missed Opportunity

"Mr. Selvam. You are the leader of our trade union in your company. Should you not have acted with  responsibility?" asked Senguttuvan, a member of the State level committee of the trade union.

"Are you suggesting that I should submit myself to the repressive approach of the management?" countered Selvam.

"Surya, an employee, spoke to the supervisor in an insulting way. The management suspended Surya for this. Instead of meeting the Managing Director (MD) and settling the matter amicably, you fought with the MD. Now he has hardened his stand against Surya and decided to take stringent action against him. The situation has become more complicated now."

"I asked the MD whether it was fair on his part to have suspended Surya, for using an inappropriate word against the supervisor, in an emotional moment. He didn't like me asking that."

"You didn't stop with that. You asked the MD, 'Did you not once call your persona assistant 'bastard,' when you were angry with him?' Wonder how I knew about this? Your MD himself told me!" said Senguttuvan.

"You spoke to my MD! When? You had never met him, without taking me along?" asked Selvam, shocked.

"Yes, I met him without taking you along. I met him only to pacify him about your inappropriate remarks. How could I have taken you along? You would have again said something untenable and exacerbated the problem. But, I didn't go alone. I took your deputy Manikandan along, since he was present when you spoke in an inappropriate way with the MD."

The fact that Senguttuvan had taken along Manikandan, whom Selvam considered a potential rival shocked Selvam even more. 

"What have you done, Senguttuvan? You have taken along my deputy Manikandan, without my knowledge, to meet the MD. Is this fair?"

"Having failed to exercise restraint in your speech, you can't expect that your action won't have any consequences" said Senguttuvan, with irritation. 

"Okay. What did you tell the MD? Did you apologize to him for Surya being disrespectful to the supervisor?"

"There was no need for that. I only apologized to him for the way you spoke to him. The MD, on his own, said that he was revoking the suspension of Surya. If you had told the MD, during your meeting with him that what Surya did was wrong, he would have revoked Surya's suspension immediately. You would have got the credit for getting Surya's suspension revoked. By speaking to the MD in a provocative way, you not only missed that opportunity but also earned a bad name for yourself. At least hereafter, be careful in the use of words" said Senguttuvan.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 65
The Power of Speech

Verse 642 (in Tamil):
Akkamum kEdum adhanAl varudhalAl
kAththOmbal sollin kat chOrvu.

Meaning:

Since (both) wealth and destruction result from a one's speech, one should carefully guard oneself against faultiness in one's speech. 

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'mudhalALiyudan pEchchu vArththai' by the same author.) 

Verse 642 (Soon)
Verse 640