581. The Humiliated Minister

"Your Majesty! As per your wish, you have stepped down as the king and crowned your son. I will serve your son with the same sense of loyalty with which I served you" said Viswarupan, the Minister.

"Minister! I find a contradiction in your statement" said King Gunavarman,

"What is it, Your Majesty?" asked the Minister, perplexed.

"Now that my son has been crowned, he is the king now. But you addressed me 'Your Majesty!'" said the King, smiling.

"How else can I address you, Your Majesty! Perhaps I should address you 'Your Super Majesty!" said Viswarupan, smiling.

"In that case, hereafter you will be the Super Minister!"

"What do you mean, Your Majesty..er..Your Super Majesty?" asked Viswarupan, feeling perturbed.

"You called me 'Your Super Majesty' because, I have been superannuated as the king. Since you are going to be superannuated, you will become Super Minister."

Viswarupan kept quiet, not knowing what to say, while the king's court was stunned into silence, realizing that something was amiss. 

Gunavarman's son Ilamaran, who had just been crowned the king, attempted to say something to his father, but was signaled to be silent by Gunavarman.

Gunavarman told Viswarupan, "Viswarupan! You also need rest. From now onwards, sit at home and enjoy your retirement. The new king has decided to appoint Poet Nalkeerthi, who wrote the book of ethics, 'An Moral Code for the Mortals,' as the new minister."

Feeling humiliated by the king making the announcement in the court, in the presence of several dignitaries and officials present there, Viswarupan left the court, with his gaze directed at the ground. The king didn't attempt to stop him.

"Father! Why did you relieve Viswarupan of his position as the Minister?" Ilamaran asked his father, when the two were alone.

"For the same reason that I stepped down as the king and crowned you the king. Like me, Viswarupan has also become old!" replied Gunavarmar.

"You could have conveyed your decision to him in private and allowed him to step down honourably. Why did you make the announcement in the court, in front of several people assembled there? He was visibly upset. He felt humiliated."

"I didn't intend to humiliate him. If he felt that way, what can I do about it?

"You said that I had appointed Nalkeerthi as the new minister! But, I didn't. Why did you say so?"

"A king has to be well-versed in the concepts of ethics and morality. For this, he should read books on this subject. You are young. It will take several years for you to read such books and equip yourself with the concepts outlined in those books. I thought that having a person well-versed in this subject as the minister will help you learn these concepts in a better way and in a shorter time. Nalkeerthi is a scholar and an authority on the principles of ethics. He has written a book, presenting his knowledge of the subject in a simple way. That is why I appointed him as the minister, on your behalf" explained Gunavarman.

Ilamaran was not satisfied by his father's explanation, but decided not to discuss the matter further.

"Your Majesty! I am sorry that I have to bring a disturbing development to your notice, at a time you are still grieving over your father's demise" Manikantan, the Intelligence Chief, told King Ilamaran.

"Tell me. Though the period of mourning for my father's death is not over, the responsibility of governing the country is always with me" said King Ilamaran.

"The king of Kanva is making preparations to invade our country."

"Is this information reliable?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. For the past few years, the intelligence gathered by my men have been accurate."

"I appreciate your efficient functioning. Let me convene the Advisory Council to discuss the issue and take a decision."

"Your Majesty! I need to discuss a matter with you" said Manikantan, hesitatingly.

"Go ahead!"

"Do you know the whereabouts of our former minister Sri Viswarupan?"

"You are the Intelligence Chief. You should give me information!" said Ilamaran, smiling. 

He then added, with a sigh: "I don't know where he went, after leaving the court, angry and humiliated. I took a lot of efforts to trace him, without my father's knowledge. But my efforts were not successful. I understand that he had left the country. But, why are you asking me about him now?"

"It is Sri Viswarupan who has been sending me intelligence reports about the developments in Kanva country."

"What do you mean?"

"You should pardon me, Your Majesty! This was an arrangement made by your late father. At the time you were crowned, our country was facing threats from Kanva country. Your father felt that we should have an effective intelligence gathering system operating from Kanva country. He decided that Sri Viswarupan would be the right person to monitor the intelligence gathered by our men operating from Kanva. He staged a situation of Sri Viswarupan being humiliated in the open court, leading to his exit as a bitter man. This drama was enacted with the full knowledge and co-operation of Sri Viswarupan. It was the late king's intention that every one including you should believe that Sri Viswarupan was estranged from the king so that he could pose himself as an enemy of our country and spy for us! Your father shared this secret with me alone, since I was the Intelligence Chief. But he enjoined me to not reveal the truth to you, during his lifetime. With your father having passed away, I now feel free to reveal the truth to you" said Manikantan.

"My father had provided me with a minister well versed in ethics and morals to guide me in governing the country in accordance with the rules of morality and an excellent intelligence structure led by an able person to help me protect the country from the enemies. What a great legacy has my father left for me!" said Ilamaran, overwhelmed by mixed feelings of joy, gratitude and sorrow.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 581 (in Tamil):

oRRum urai sAnRa nUlum ivai iraNdum
theRRenga mannavan kaN.

Meaning:

Intelligence operations and highly regarded books –

a king should consider them his eyes.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'amaichcharukku nErndha anubavam' by the same author.) 

Verse 582 (Soon)
Verse 580

580. The Saboteur

Muthuswamy stopped Mukilan, who was about to fall at his feet.

"These practices would be considered appropriate in the political party you earlier belonged to, not in ours!" said Muthuswamy, smiling.

For a moment, Mukilan wondered whether Muthuswamy was subtly pointing out that Mukilan had defected from another political party. 

But, he immediately told himself that Muthuswamy was not a person, who would resort to such jibe. He would have made that remark casually.

"I am contesting from this constituency, as per the desire of our leader. I wanted to get your blessings first" said Mukilan.

"You will always have my blessings. I will campaign for you and work for your win. Start your election work immediately" said Muthuswamy.

Mukilan bowed to Muthuswamy and took leave of him.

Nathan, a long time supporter of Muthuswamy in the party, who had been sitting in the room and watching the scene, told Muthuswamy, "Sir! The party leadership has been unjust to you. Many in our party, including me, were anticipating that you would contest the election from this constituency and become a minister, after winning the election. The media had also been carrying reports to this effect. But our leader chose to give the ticket to this chameleon, who had joined our party only recently!" in a tone of indignation. 

"Our leader knows what is good for the party. He also knows that I don't crave for any position."

"Don't campaign for Mukilan, sir. He doesn't deserve your support."

"Why do you say so?"

"I got this information from a source in our party headquarters. Originally, our leader had intended to give the ticket to you. Mukilan misrepresented to our leader that if you contested from this constituency, people belonging to certain castes won't vote for you, and that it would result in our party losing the seat and persuaded the leader to give him the ticket, claiming that belonging to a particular caste gave Mukilan an advantage."

"Your information is correct!"

"You know about this already!" exclaimed Nathan.

"Some of my friends in the media sounded me on this. Even before the party formally announced the candidature of Mukilan, I had been anticipating this development.

"You could have talked to the leader and got the ticket for you."

"You know pretty well that I don't seek any favour for myself from the party. If the party or our leader gave me a position or responsibility, I would accept it. That has been my outlook."

"This is not fair. That man had the temerity to ask for your blessing and support, after cunningly snatching the opportunity from you. This is adding insult to injury. But, you blessed him and offered to canvass votes for him! You command the support of all sections of people in this constituency. But, for getting the ticket for himself, Mukilan presented a false picture to our leader that you won't get the support of certain caste groups, in our constituency. Why should you campaign for a person, who sabotaged you? If you refrain from campaigning for him, people will understand that he doesn't have your blessings and decide not to vote for him. Only when he loses the election, he will learn the bitter lesson that he can't succeed through sabotage and mend his ways. Our leader will also realize his folly" said Nathan.

"No, Nathan. I offered to campaign for him, only after knowing that he had grabbed the opportunity from me, through sabotage. He acted as per his nature. I will act as per my nature" said Muthuswamy, placidly.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 58

Compassion

Verse 58 (in Tamil):

peyak kaNdum nanjuNdu amaivar nayath thakka
nAgarigam vENdubavar.

Meaning:

Those who desire to cultivate the loveable trait of urbanity will, even after seeing poison being poured, consume it and remain placid.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'paRi pOna vAyppu' by the same author.) 

Verse 581
Verse 579

134. The Precedent?

"Mr. Sekar, After your disgraceful behaviour, we cannot allow you to continue to work in our college. Resigning your job is the only honourable option you have" said Pazhani, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the college.

"To err is human. Please give me another chance" pleaded Sekar.

No way."

"Sir! In the past, you have given a chance to people who have erred, to redeem themselves."

"Whom are you referring to?"

"Mr. Gopal."

"Mr. Gopal?" 

Pazhani smiled and looked at the other two members of the committee - the Principal of the college and the Secretary of the Management Committee.

The other two members smiled back at Pazhani.

It happened five years back. 

Complaints were received from several students against Gopal, a lecturer.

"He doesn't teach well."

"He leaves out several topics. Only after we referred the text-book, we realized that he had not covered some topics in the classroom."

"Some times, he just reads from the book, but doesn't discuss the points read out by him elaborately."

"He starts discussing a topic but gets stuck in the middle. It is not clear whether he has trouble recalling the other points or he is unable to discuss the topic further. He just abandons that topic at that point and proceeds to the next topic."

When complaints on the above lines were received, the Principal summoned Gopal and asked for his response.

Gopal asserted that the complaints were not true.

The Principal directed two senior professors to look into the issue.

The Professors tested Gopal's knowledge of the subject, by asking him questions on the subject he was teaching. Gopal could not answer some of the questions.

They also observed Gopal's class, by sitting in an adjacent classroom, without Gopal's knowledge. They then gave a report that the allegations made by the students in their complaints were true.

The Disciplinary Committee examined Gopal. When they confronted him with the findings of the senior professors, Gopal admitted that he had been having a problem.

Driven by a complacent attitude about his knowledge of the subject, Gopal had been lecturing in his classes without preparing himself, by reading the text-book or other books on his subject. Since he had not been referring to the books for several months, the knowledge he had gained over the years through studies and teaching began to slip away from his memory gradually. He attributed his failure to recall some points some times to a temporary lapse of memory. He became aware of the problem, only when he was examined by the senior professors.

"I had been negligent in preparing myself for classes, due to a misplaced sense of overconfidence about my ability to teach, without refreshing my learning through reading. It was a grave lapse on my part. I will ensure that this won't happen again" pleaded Gopal.

But the Disciplinary Committee was not inclined to allow him to continue to work as a lecturer.

"Sir! Please give me another chance. Please grant me leave of absence for one year, without pay. I will devote this period of one year to update myself on the subject, by reading books and practicing to give lectures on the topics. Let the senior professors examine me again at the end of one year. Take me back, only if they certify that I have thorough knowledge of the subject and that I am competent to teach" appealed Gopal.

The college accepted his request and gave him leave of absence for one year. 

As promised, Gopal equipped himself with thorough knowledge of his subject, during the one year break he was given. The senior professors thoroughly examined him, tested his ability to teach, by asking him to take mock classes and gave a report, certifying his knowledge and competence.

The college took him back as a lecturer.

It was this case that Sekar referred to.

Pazhani laughed out loud and told Sekar, "Mr. Sekar! There is no need for us to be talking to you at length. The nature of your misonduct and the nature of the lapse on the part of Gopal are entirely different. Mr. Gopal allowed his knowledge to dissipate by being complacent and lazy. He regained his knowledge by taking a break for one year and studying the subject thoroughly. You committed an offence by trying to sexually assault a girl studying in your class. The college peon who happened to witness this forcibly removed you from the scene and saved the girl. Since the girl's parents requested us not to bring this matter to the knowledge of the outside world, we refrained from filing a police complaint against you. We want to give you an honourable way out, by accepting your resignation and relieving you. But you are trying to evade punishment by citing a precedent that has no similarity to your misconduct. Are you going to resign, or do you want us to dismiss you? Give us your decision quickly."

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 14
Possession of Propriety 

Verse 134 (In Tamil)

maRappinum oththuk koLal Agum pArppAn
piRappu ozhukkam kunRak kedum.

Meaning:

If a Brahmin forgets the Scriptures, he can regain the knowledge by learning. But if a person violates propriety, he will lose his stature.  

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'iraNdu thavaRugaL' by the same author)

Verse 135 (Soon)
Verse 133

579. The Punishment

A high level enquiry into the allegations against Masilamani, who had been suspended from his position of the General Manager of the company, was conducted and the report submitted to the Managing Director Raghavan.

Raghavan had to send his recommendation to the Chairman of the company, on the action to be taken on Masilamani 

A few senior executives of the company were discussing the matter among themselves.

"Intoxicated by power, Masilamani acted arrogantly and did things to hurt people who worked under him! Now he is in the dock. I think that he should be sent to jail" said Mukundan.

"He didn't commit any wrong. The charge against him is that he failed to see the fraud committed, right under his nose, by some people working under him. It was sheer negligence" said Dorai.

"If he he were to detect the negligence of someone working under him, what would he say? 'How do I know whether it was negligence or a deliberate act? If you commit a wrong, you have to face the punishment, whether your wrongdoing was intentional or unintentional' and punish that person. A lot of people including you and I have been victims of his merciless behaviour. Even for a trivial thing like a typo in a letter, he would make hell and humiliate the person in front of others, as if that person had committed a grave irregularity!"

"What you say is true. He has punished people, who committed small mistakes, with unjust punishments like transferring them to another department and in some cases, with disproportionately severe punishments like recording adverse comments in their personal files leading to the denial of increments and promotions to them. If he perceived the mistake to be severe, he would punish the person mercilessly by transferring him to a far off place, suspending him, demoting him etc. Let us see what punishment is going to be awarded to him!"

"Mr. Raghavan. A fraud has been committed. But you have recommended that Masilamani be reinstated as the General Manager!" asked Kanakalingam, the Chairman of the company.

"The only charge against Masilamani is negligence. The fraud was discovered during the internal audit. We have identified the culprits, dismissed them, handed them over to the police and with the help of the police, even recovered the money misappropriated by them. Masilamani did not knowingly commit any wrongdoing. He is going to retire in two years. We may reinstate him in his old position, but curtail his powers. We may appoint another General Manager and entrust him with all the powers. Putting him back in his position, with all his powers stripped off, will make Masilamani a dummy. This will be an adequate punishment for him" said Ragavan.

"Masilamani showed no compassion to others, He awarded disproportionately severe punishment even for small mistakes. in many cases, you have intervened and reduced or annulled the punishment given by him. So, why are you showing mercy to such a person?"

"Sir! In dealing with Masilamani, I have adopted the same approach, as I had, with people affected by Masilamani's merciless approach. If a person has not committed a wrong intentionally, he should be shown mercy. This is my approach. If I can't show mercy to Masilamani, just because he has not shown mercy to others, it will mean that Masilamani determines what approach I should adopt! How can I allow it?" said Raghavan.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 58

Compassion

Verse 579 (in Tamil):

oRuththu ARRUm paNbinAr kaNNUm kaNNOdip
poRuththu ARRum paNbE thalai.

Meaning:

Being compassionate and tolerant even towards a person, who follows the practice of punishing people without showing them any mercy, is most admirable

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pOdhumA indha dhandanai' by the same author.)

Verse 580
Verse 578

578. Alternate Accommodation

"Sir! There are two hundred huts there. These people have been living there for twenty years. If you ask them to vacate now, where will they go?" asked Purushothaman, a resident of that area, and a popular man in that region.

"The government has ordered the removal of all structures constructed on water bodies. I am an official obliged to execute the orders of the government" said Selvanathan, the government official. 

"You have provided them accommodation at a place about forty kilometers from here. How will these people commute to the city for their work, from such a far off place?"

"The government can provide accommodation only in a place where there is government land. I have forwarded your request to my higher officials. The Secretary has assured me me that he would check whether the government could find land at some other place. Wait for a week. A satisfactory solution to the problem may be found."

"Sir! There are only two hundred huts here. Can you not recommend to the government to permit the people living in them to continue to live in this place?" pleaded Purushothaman.

"I can't recommend a course that is not lawful. Even if I do, the government won't consider it"  said Selvanathan, firmly.

After Purushothaman had left, the junior official, who was in Selvanathan's room asked him, "Sir! Has the Secretary told you that he would consider locating the hut-dwellers in a better place?"

"No, he didn't. But, I have an idea" said Selvanathan, smiling.

"Sir! Our application for approval of building construction is still pending" said Kishore, the Public Relations Officer of Kuber Industries

"You have constructed the building without first seeking approval from the government. Now, you want us to regularize the construction. How can we approve this?" asked Selvanathan.

"Sir! It is only an extension of the existing factory building. Since we needed space urgently to house the new machines bought by us, we did the construction, in anticipation of approval from the government. The construction has been made as per the rules and the norms. The government, in the past, has given approval for such actions to some companies."

"Well. If you believe that you are entitled to get the government approval, then you can approach the courts and get a court order directing the government to give you approval!" said Selvanathan.

"Pardon me. sir. I didn't mean to say that we are entitled to get the approval. We are only making a request for approval" said Kishore, upset by Selvanathan's blunt reply.

"Giving approval to a building constructed without seeking prior approval from the government is as per the discretion of the government. If your building plans, structures etc. are as per government rules and norms as claimed by you, I may recommend your case for approval. But, it is up to the government to decide on giving the approval."

"Please send the file to the Secretariat with your recommendations. We will follow up with the Secretariat and get the approval" said Kishore, feeling relieved.

"I can do that. But there are some issues relating to your company, about which I have to mention in my recommendation."

"What issues, sir?"

"We allocated land to you in Porur, for construction of houses for your employees. But, you have not utilized that land. It still remains a vacant land."

"We will construct, sir. But, it will take some time."

"I think you may not be constructing the houses at all. Your employees commute from various parts of the city. They don't prefer to live in Porur. Your employees' union has suggested to you that instead of constructing houses for the employees, the company pay them house rent allowance and transport allowance to cover their commuting expenses. You have also accepted that suggestion and signed an agreement to this effect with the union. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir. But how did you...?"

"The government knows every thing, Mr. Kishore. The agreement you have entered into with the union has been filed with the Labour department, which is another wing of the government!"

Kishore remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"Since you are not going to use that land for the purpose for which it was allocated to you, I suggest that you surrender it to the government. We sold the land to you at a concessional price. We will buy it back from you at the same price. Even if you don't surrender the land voluntarily, the government can take back the land any time, since you have not made use of it for the declared purpose, within a reasonable time. If we take back the land, by issuing an order, you may not even get any compensation from the government. But, if you surrender the land now, it will strengthen your application for building approval" said Selvanathan.

"I will discuss this with our Managing Director and get back to you" said Kishore and took leave of Selvanathan.

After Kishore had left, the junior official asked Selvanathan, in surprise. "Sir! The government has not asked about the unutilized land!" 

"No one at the higher levels of the government might have thought about it. We are also part of the government. So, we also have responsibility! Doing only what our higher officials ask us to do is a reactive approach. Our higher officials asked us to remove the huts in Porur and we set to do accordingly. But when I empathized with the problems of the people getting relocated and thought how we could help them, I remembered about this land lying vacant for several years. It is not right on the part of Kuber Industries to keep the land allocated to them unutilized. If we make them agree to surrender that land and then recommend to the government to use that land for relocating the hut-dwellers being displaced, the government will definitely agree. In fact, the government will use this opportunity to claim that it has acted in the interests of the hut-dwellers and try to earn some credit! As far we are concerned, we can feel satisfied that we performed our duty correctly, while also adopting a humanitarian approach!" said Selvanathan.

"I have a lot of things to learn from you, sir!" said the junior official, with excitement.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 58

Compassion

Verse 578 (in Tamil):

karumam sidhaiyAmal kaNNOda vallArkku
urimai udaiththu ivvulagu..

Meaning:

The world belongs to those who do their duty unfalteringly,

while being compassionate.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'mARRu idam' by the same author.) 

Verse 579
Verse 577

577 Father, or Son?

"Welcome, bard! You were not to be seen for a long time" said the Minister, welcoming the bard.

"You have eyes. So, you are able to sense that I was not seen for a long time. If you didn't have eyes, you wouldn't have sensed this" said the bard. 

"I don't have the intelligence to decipher your cryptic reply. The fact remains that you didn't visit the King's court, since the present king took over, after his father passed away!"

The bard closed his eyes for a moment and said, "True, Minister. When I heard you refer to our late king, my eyes closed on their own for a while. Tears welled up from inside my eyes. What a noble soul was he! He was visually handicapped, but his eyes brimmed with so much compassion as to qualify him to be called the embodiment of compassion" said the bard.

"You are implying that in contrast, the present king, though blessed with the facility of vision, is bereft of the virtue of compassion so essential for a king, aren't you?" asked the Minister, smiling. 

"You are putting words into my mouth, my friend! I never implied such an opinion. Do you want to make me a victim of the king's displeasure?" said the bard, also smiling, even while pretending to have been scared.

"Have no fears, my friend! Only we two are here. We, being friends, can converse freely, sharing our inner thoughts with each other. There is no one here to carry our views to the king's ears" said the Minister.

"What you say is true. Yet, the fact remains that you are the powerful Minister and I am a poor poet. I can't risk taking the liberty of speaking my mind."

"But a poet can convey a message in a subtle way through a well-crafted poem. Many poets have done this."

"How is it going to help? If a compose a poem with a subtle message that the king lacks compassion and recite it before the king, will he reform himself and embrace the quality of compassion? It is not uncommon for the son to not inherit the virtue of his father. Dhritarashtra had the quality of compassion. But his son Duryodhana didn't have even an iota of compassion" said the bard.

"I am unable to agree with your view that Dhritarashtra had compassion in him. Even after knowing that his son Duryodhana had planned to kill the Pandavas by making them stay in a house of wax and setting fire to it, he didn't do anything to stop the plot. On the other hand, he sent the Pandavas there. If he had mercy, would he have done so?"

"Oh! I will modify my statement and say that Dhritarashtra had more compassion than his son Duryodhana!"

"Okay. This is more acceptable, at least less unacceptable!" said the Minister.

"Our conversation about Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana has triggered in me an idea for a poem" said the Bard, feeling excited.

"That is wonderful. Since I have also played a role in triggering your idea, by talking to you on this topic, I expect you to share with me, the prize money the king will reward for this poem!" said the Minister, jokingly.

"I don't mind. But what if the king feels offended by my poem and rewards me with whiplashes?"

"In that case, you can have them all for yourself! I won't mind. By the way, can you share with me the theme of your poem?"

"I will give you an outline of the poem to you."

"I am all ears" said the Minister.

"When we were discussing Dhritarastra and Duryodhana, a thought struck me. Compassion is a natural attribute of the eye. When the eyes see someone suffering, they are filled with compassion. This is what should happen naturally. So, logically, if one has eyes, one will have compassion. If a man has no compassion, we will consider him a person lacking the ability to see. But, sometimes, the reality is different. 

"Dhritarashtra, who was not blessed with the facility of vision, had more compassion than his son Duryodhana, who was born with the facility of vision. This is the Mahabharata story. 

"In Ramayana, the other great epic of our country, there is a story of Shravana Kumara. who took great care of his parents, both of whom were visually handicapped, by carrying them on his shoulders and providing for their needs. 

"Once, when he was filling water in a pot from a river, mistaking the sound of water being filled in the pot as the sound of an elephant drinking water, Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya, who was hunting in the forest, sent an arrow in the direction of the sound, which hit Shravana Kumara.

"Dasaratha realized his mistake when he went near the spot and apologized to Shravana Kumara. Shravana Kumara, who was dying, forgave him, but requested him to take the water to his visually handicapped parents, who were thirsty. 

When Dasaratha went to Shravana Kumara's parents and apologized to them, Shravana Kumara's father Santanu cursed Dasarata that he would suffer the pain of separation from his son, the same way Santanu and his wife did.

"If we consider the father-son pairs in the above two stories, Dhritarashtra, who didn't have eyesight, had more compassion than his son, blessed with eyesight. Sravana Kumara, blessed with eyesight, was more compassionate than his father, not blessed with eyesight. 

"In our country, the deceased king, who had no eyesight had more compassion than the present king blessed with eyesight. However, it is said that compassion is an attribute, delivered through the eyes. This is the theme of my poem. How do you find the theme?"

"The theme of the poem is excellent. But how are you going to present the poem with this theme to the king?"  asked the Minister, showing his concern.

"After all I am going to tell the truth. Why should I be afraid? Anyway, I am not belittling the king in any manner. I am only saying that the father of the present king had more compassion than the present king. So, the king won't feel offended" said the bard.

The minister didn't say anything, his silence reflecting his concern.

"I was worried that your poem might make the king feel offended. But you have written a poem with a distorted meaning and got rewarded by the king!" the Minister told the bard, his tone expressing his anger and disappointment.

"I didn't distort any fact" protested the bard.

"The theme of the poem you presented before the king was different from the theme you had outlined to me. The poem you read out before the king says that the present king has more compassion than his father had."

"That may be the apparent meaning of the poem, as understood by the king. But my poem carried the meaning that the king's father had more compassion than the king."

"How do you say that?" asked the Minister, perplexed.

"Did you wonder why I wrote the poem in Sanskrit, rather than in Tamil, the language spoken by you, me and the king?"

"Yes. I did wonder about it. But since it is well known that you are proficient in both the languages, I didn't attach much significance to your choosing to write the poem in Sanskrit."

"My friend! In Sanskrit, the word 'dhata' has two meanings. It can mean the son and also the father. In my poem, I used the word 'dhata' to refer to the father. But the Sanskrit scholars in the king's court, fearing that the king would be angered by the real meaning of the poem, chose the meaning 'son' to the word 'dhata' and interpreted the poem to give the meaning that the son had more compassion than the father, though they would have known that the structure of the poem would permit only the meaning 'father' to be chosen for the word 'dhata' used by me in the poem" said the Bard, laughing.

"You are not only a bilingual poet, but a master of double entendre as well" said the Minister, appreciatingly.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 58

Compassion

Verse 577 (in Tamil):

kaNNOttam illavar kaN ilar kaN udaiyAr
kannOttam inmaiyum il.

Meaning:

Those who lack compassion have no eyes;

Those who truly have eyes can’t lack compassion.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pulavar sonnadhum poyyE poyyE' by the same author.)

Verse 578
Verse 576

133. Family Background

On receiving the phone call from the school in which Gunaseel was studying, Gunaseel's mother Manjula sent a message to her husband Swaminathan, who was in his office and hurried to her son's school. 

As she entered the school, Swaminathan's car also arrived there.

Both the parents together went to the Principal's cabin.

The Principal received them with a tight expression on his face and asked them to be seated. 

"Where is Gunaseel?" demanded Swaminathan.

"He is lying down in the room. I think he will become sober soon. Before that, I want to talk to you about him. Are you aware that your son has been drinking?"

"What do you mean, sir? Gunaseel is a boy of impeccable character. I could not believe what you conveyed to me over phone. We want to see him first" said Manjula.

"I was also shocked to learn that a student of ninth grade has drinking habit. But, some students have confirmed to me that they have seen him in the liquor shop, a few times" said the principal.

"We have not groomed our son that way. He might have been influenced by the company he has been keeping. He should have got into this habit, because of his association with some undesirable elements" said Swaminathan.

"The liberal allowance you give him every month as pocket money might also have been a reason!" quipped the Principal.

At that time, a teacher entered the Principal's room, bringing Gunaseel with him. Another boy also came along with them.

Gunaseel, who walked into the room, presenting the appearance of having been woken up from sleep, looked at his parents through his tired eyes. 

"How did you get into this habit? No one in our lineage had this habit!" asked Swaminathan, angrily.

Gunaseel didn't say anything.

"Who is that boy?" asked Manjula, pointing to the boy, who came along with Gunaseel.

"He was the one, who found Gunaseel lying unconsciously on the side of the road and brought him here" said the Principal.

"So, Gunaseel had drunk in the company of this boy! Did I not say that our son should have been spoiled because of his association with undesirable boys?" asked Swaminathan. "Don't you have a system of screening to ensure that only boys with a good character and background are selected?" he added.

"This boy doesn't study in our school" said the Principal, tersely.

"How did you become friends with him?" Manjula asked Gunaseel. "Moving closely with street urchins has made you take to drinking and adopt it as a habit!"

"Madam! You are completely mistaken. Your son didn't drink in the company of this boy. During the lunch interval, your son had gone to the nearby liquor shop, bought some liquor and drank it. While walking back to the school in an inebriated state, he fumbled and was about to fall down. This boy, who was walking on the road, saw your boy's condition, rushed to him, held him on his hands and prevented him from falling on the road. Judging that Gunaseel was a student of this school, by looking at his uniform, he brought him here. I asked the boy to be here till you came, so that you could, if you wanted, ascertain the facts from him. Why do you blame this boy for the wrong committed by your son? Is this the reward you are giving him, for going to the rescue of your boy who was about to fall down and get hurt?" asked the Principal, his tone conveying his unpleasantness with both the parents.

The boy showed signs of saying something and after hesitating for a few seconds, said, "My father is a drunkard. But I don't drink."

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 14
Possession of Propriety 

Verse 133 (In Tamil)

ozhukkam udaimai kudimai izhukkum
izhindha piRappu Ay vidum.

Meaning:

Class is determined by propriety of conduct; impropriety will lead to

being considered part of an ignoble class.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'nalladhoru kudumbam' by the same author)

Verse 134
Verse 132