The face of the person, who was sitting next to me in the metro train, appeared familiar.Even as I was searching my memory, trying to recollect the identity of the person, he asked me, "You are Mr. Arunachalam, aren't you?"
"Yes. But, I am sorry I am unable to place you, though your face looks familiar" I said, sounding apologetic.
"My name is Ganesan. I was your classmate in the school" he said, hesitatingly.
I immediately recognized him. I also realized the reason for his hesitation.
"Hey, Ganesan! How are you?" I asked, excitedly.
"I am fine" said Ganesan. I could sense a feeling of reservation in his tone.
Though my destination was a couple of stations away, I got down at the station, where Ganesan got down. After all, I didn't have anything important to do!
We went to a restaurant and took our seats.
Ganesan and I studied in the same class. We were close friends.
When we were studying in eighth standard, that incident happened.
The whisper that went around the class, carrying the message that Ganesan had stolen the pen of Raghu, another classmate of us, created a sensation in our midst.
Ganesan was taken to the Headmaster's room.
After that, I never saw Ganesan. People said that he had joined some other school.
Since my father strictly advised me not to have any truck with boys with a proclivity for stealing, I gave up the idea of getting Ganesan's home address, going there and meeting him.
The regret of losing touch with a good friend like Ganesan lived with me for a long time. I could not believe that he stole a pen.
When we were sitting in the restaurant, Ganesan didn't speak much. He appeared to have been suffering from the embarrassment of the incident that had occurred in the school.
"Hey, Ganesan, You will always be my friend. When people said that you stole a pen, I didn't believe it. Even now, I believe that you were innocent. You can be free with me" I said.
"Thank you for your faith in me. But, I did steal Raghu's pen."
I looked at Ganesan, surprised by his words. But, he became enthusiastic. My expression of faith in him should have given him a great relief and encouragement.
"I was worried that I would have fallen in your esteem and that you would have begun to hate me. But, you have so much faith in me! So, I feel that if I tell you the truth, you will appreciate it. As you know, our family was one of small means. Those days, the pen was an expensive object. A new pen would last at least for a couple of years. Nowadays, either we throw out or lose three or four ballpoint pens in a week. In retrospect, it looks both funny and amazing that a fountain pen was a luxury! Losing a pen was like losing a valuable asset. But that was the reality.
"One day, I lost my pen. I was reluctant to tell my father about it. Buying a new pen would have been a strain on the tight finances of my father. I saw that Raghu had a pen which had some resemblance to mine. But it might have been more expensive. As you know, Raghu came from a rich family, He had the practice of changing his pens quite often. I stole his pen, when he was away for a while. I thought he won't think much about losing a pen. But he had seen that I was having his pen and complained to the class teacher.
"The class teacher reported the matter to the Headmaster. The Headmaster summoned my father to the school and interrogated me in his presence. After I had admitted my guilt, he spoke to my father in an insulting way. My father didn't ask me anything when we both were returning home from the school and even after we had reached home.
"I told my father that I would join some other school. I joined a school which was at a distance of two miles from my house. I had to walk to the school every day. I thought that it would be some sort of a punishment for me and I thought that that suffering, though minor, would give me some satisfaction and relief from the feeling of guilt."
I noticed that the corners of Ganesan's eyes had become moist, as he was recalling and narrating his experience.
"Forget about it! It was an impulsive act done by you in your boyhood" I said, trying to soothe his feelings.
"Committing a wrong in my young age, without thinking about the immorality of my action or about its consequences and making my father suffer a huge embarrassment in the presence of my Headmaster impacted my morale in a big way. I resolved that I would live my life, strictly, following the moral code, without committing even a small misdeed. And, I have been living my life as per my revolve."
"Oh, that is very good" I said, by way of appreciating him.
"I am working in a company as the Purchase Manager. The interesting thing is that originally I was working in the Administration department. The company found out that the man holding the post of Purchase Manage had been taking commissions from the suppliers and sacked him. They wanted to post a man of integrity as the Purchase Manager and they chose me for that position!"
The sense of pride felt by Ganesan was reflected in his tone - the pride of changing his path after committing a wrong and traveling in that path without swerving a little.
"My father is living with me. He is proud of me. This is enough for me. In a way, the wrong I had committed turned out to be a blessing in disguise to me. It facilitated my turning a new leaf and changing my life for the better."
"You are really great! You have converted a slip into a leap and gone ahead in life" I said, congratulating him heartily.
"I have been talking about me, all along. What are you doing?" asked Ganesan.
"I worked for a bank. I have taken voluntary retirement. I am now sitting at home, relaxing" I said.
"Good for you" said Ganesan.
In contrast to Ganesan, I grew up without committing any wrong in my young age. But, when I was working as an executive in a bank, I committed a fraud, driven by greed and a foolish belief that my fraud wouldn't be discovered. But the fraud was discovered and I lost my job. I was also sentenced to prison for three years. I had come out of prison recently and been searching for a job.
But I didn't want to share these details with my friend.
Section 1
The Path of Virtue
Chapter 14
Possession of Propriety
Verse 132 (In Tamil)
parindhOmbik kAkka ozhukkam therindhOmbith
thErinum ahdhE thuNai.
Meaning:
Let propriety of conduct be laboriously preserved and guarded; Though one may know, practice and excel in many virtues, propriety will be the the one that will stand by one.
