701. The Stenographer's Impressions

Senior Executives of Vijay Engineering had assembled in the conference room at the company's head office, for a meeting with the senior executives of Pradeep Enterprises.

Krish, the stenographer of Vijayan, the Managing Director of Vijay Engineering, was also present in the meeting, sitting in a rear row, ready to take notes of the discussions. 

The meeting was organized by Vijay Engineering, with the aim of roping in Pradeep Enterprises as a customer of Vijay Engineering, by making a presentation to the senior executives of the latter, about the high quality of the products and services offered by Vijay Engineering. 

Before the meeting was to begin, Vijayan told Pradeep, the Managing Director of Pradeep Enterprises , "Sir! If you have no objection, my stenographer Krish will take notes of the discussion."

Pradeep nodded his head in agreement. 

After the meeting had been over and the senior executives of Pradip Enterprises had left, Vijayan called the senior executives of his company, who took part in the meeting, to his cabin. Krish was seated in Vijayan's room at the back. 

They discussed the deliberations of the meeting they had had with the senior executives of Pradeep Enterprises.

Referring to a specific proposal discussed in the meeting, Dhanapal, the Marketing Manager said enthusiastically, "Sir! I think they liked this proposal."

Vijayan looked at Krish, sitting behind every one. Krish nodded his head sideways, conveying his disagreement with Dhanapal's claim. 

"Mr. Dhanapal, I think you are wrong. They didn't like this proposal" said Vijayan. 

"How do you say so, sir?" asked Dhanapal, in a polite tone.

"This is what Krish's notes show. Am I right, Krish?" asked Vijayan, looking at Krish. 

Everyone turned back to look at Krish's face.

Krish nodded his head, confirming Vijayan's statement. 

"No, sir. I remember well. When we mentioned this proposal, they didn't say anything against it. Krish might have made wrong notes, by mistake" said Dhanapal, standing his ground. 

"It is true that they didn't say anything against the proposal. But, it doesn't mean that they liked it. They might have refrained from saying anything negative, by way of courtesy."

"In that case, how could Krish have made notes that they didn't like it?"

"Mr. Dhanapal, Krish didn't just take shorthand notes of the points discussed. He also made notes of what he had discerned from the face expressions and gestures of our guests, during the times various points were discussed" said Vijayan, smiling. 

The executives looked at Vijayan, with a perplexed expression.

"When we listen to people, we pay attention only to their words. We often don't pay attention to their face expressions and gestures. Even when a person is silent, we can understand what is in his mind, by studying his face expression. But, this requires a skill and persistent efforts to sharpen the skill. During the past two months, when Krish has been my stenographer, I realized that he had the gift of understanding what is in a person's mind, by studying the person's face expressions and gestures. Whenever some visitor came to my cabin and talked to me, Krish would observe that person. After the person left, Krish would tell me what he had read from that person's face expression.requires I have found that his reading has always been right. That was the reason I asked him to be present, during this important meeting" said Vijayan. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 71
Divining the Mind

Verse 701 (in Tamil):
kURAmai nOkkak kuRippu aRivAn egnAnRum
mARA nIr vaiyakku aNi.

Meaning:

He who reads the mind of the other person just by observing him, even with no words spoken by the other person, is ever an adornment to the world, which is endowed with unchanging oceans.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'surukkezhuththALarin kuRippugaL' by the same author.) 

Verse 701 (Soon)
Verse 700

700. How Did This Happen?

When Sundaram, the Manager of the firm, went to the cabin of Proprietor Vedamuthu, responding to his summons, Vedamuthu was furious.

Vedamuthu, who had been following the practice of first offering a seat to Sundaram, whenever he entered his cabin, didn't ask him to sit. The moment Sundaram stepped into his cabin, Vedamuthu started taking to him, venting his anger.

"Mr. Sundaram, I have entrusted the running of my firm to you. How can you be so irresponsible?"

"What did I do, sir?" asked Sundaram, perturbed by the Proprietor's words. 

"Ram Enterprises have been paying our bills, with a lot of delay. They arbitrarily deducted some amount from some of the bills, claiming that the quality of our product was not good. So, I took a decision to stop supplying our product to them and apprised you of my decision. But, you have supplied the product to them, defying my instruction!" 

"Sir! When Ram Enterprises made a request for supplying our product to them, I declined their request, stating the reason. But, I when I came to the office this morning, I found that the product was supplied to them yesterday, when I was on leave. I thought of bringing this to your notice, soon after your coming to the office. But, before I could do so, you called me" said Sundaram.

Vedamuthu thought for a while, called the peon and told him, "Ask Kumar to come to my cabin."

After a few minutes, Kumar entered Vedamuthu's cabin, seated himself on a chair and asked Vedamuthu, "You wanted to see me, uncle!" 

"Get up from your seat, first. Don't you see that the Manager is standing? How can you take your seat, before my asking you to?" flared Vedamuthu.

He then looked at Sundaram and said, "Please have your seat. In my perturbed state of mind, I forgot to ask you to sit. I am sorry" he added, apologetically.  

"It is fine, sir!" said Sundaram and took his seat.

Kumar got up from his seat, startled by Vedamuthu's display of anger and asked him, "What has happened, uncle?"

"Stop calling me 'uncle.' This is my office. You are an employee here. Sundaram is your boss. Other employees are your colleagues. I have heard that you have been trying to command every one in the office, as if you had the authority to do so, taking advantage of the fact that you are related to me. I wanted to call you and reprimand you, in private. But, before I could do so, you did something worse. You misused your authority and committed an irregularity" said Vedamuthu, his tone indicating that his anger had still not subsided. 

"No, uncle...I mean, no, sir! I didn't intend to..."

"The Manager has given clear instructions to all the staff that we should not make any supply to Ram Enterprises. He gave that instruction, in compliance with the decision taken by me. But, yesterday, when the Manager was on leave, goods have been delivered to Ram Enterprises. Was it done as per your instructions?"

"They begged me over phone that their position was precarious and that they desperately needed the product. That's why I agreed to their request." 

"Who gave you the authority to decide to supply the goods to Ram Enterprises? The other employees would have told you that the Manager had instructed that we should not supply our product to them!"

Kumar nodded his head, silently. 

"You have taken this decision, knowing that it was in violation of the instructions given by the Manager. Considering that you are my relative, the other employees did not want to disobey you and carried out your instruction. If you want to continue to work here, you should understand your responsibilities and know your limits. You should be aware that you are like any other employee working here in the same rank as you. If you cannot accept this and conduct yourself appropriatey, you are free to look for some other job" said Vedamuthu.

"Please forgive me, sir! I will not act this way again" said Kumar, in a feeble voice. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 700 (in Tamil):
pazhaiyam enak karudhip paNballa seyym
kezhu thagaimai kEdu tharum.

Meaning:

Taking advantage of proximity to the ruler and acting out of character will bring ruin.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'idhu eppadi nadandhadhu?' by the same author.) 

Verse 701
Verse 699

699. 'The Boy From Our Village'

"When I went to meet the minister in connection with our application for approval, I was pleasantly surprised to find Manickam in the minister's office. You know, what! He is the personal secretary of the minister!" said Murugappan, with excitement.

"Manickam? You mean...?" asked his brother Ganesan.

"Yes. The boy from our village, son of Kathiresan!"

"Oh! I heard that he cleared the IAS examination and became a government official. That boy! What did he say?"

"He told me that he would go through our application and then talk to the minister. When I made enquiries about him in the office, people said that he was a confidant of the minister. It seems that the minister had him posted as his personal secretary, by making a request to the Chief Minister."

"Given that Manickam is so close to the minister, the minister will definitely listen to him. Our job will be got done easily" said Ganesan, his tone indicating that he shared the excitement of his brother. 

"What do you mean, Manickam?" asked Murugappan, stunned.

"Yes, uncle. I went through your application. As per the rules, we cannot give approval for your proposal" said Manickam. 

"The application has traveled up from the lowest level, passing through many levels of government, with officials at every level recommending it. You should be aware how much trouble we would have taken to get the application moved from one level to the next higher level, carrying a favourable recommendation" said Murugappan, winking his eyes, to convey a cryptic message to Manickam.

"The minister won't give approval for any proposal that is not in conformity with the rules" said Manickam, tersely. 

"Manickam! I have heard people saying that the minister would act as per your recommendation. You hail from our village. Won't you help us?" pleaded Murugappan.

"I am sorry, uncle. The minister had me posted as his personal secretary out of his confidence in my integrity. He strongly believes that everything should be done, strictly in accordance with the rules. I won't be able to help you, since your application does not conform to the rules" said Manickam.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 699 (in Tamil):
koLap pattEm enRu eNNik koLLAdha seyyAr
thuLakkaRRa kAtchiyavar.

Meaning:

The clear-visioned do nothing base, deeming that they have the monarch's grace. 

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'namma Urp paiyan' by the same author.) 

Verse 700
Verse 698

698. An Unceremonial Exit

"Karikalan has sacked me from his cabinet. What wrong did I commit?" Kathiravan furiously asked Nalankilli, the president of the party.

"Dropping a minister from his cabinet is the prerogative of the Chief Minister" said Nalankilli, tersely.

"Of course, it is. But, I was a senior minister. I am senior to Karikalan in the party. I am elder to him in age. Considering these factors, should he not have talked to me about any issue he might have had with me, before announcing the decision in public."

"Your being a senior leader is the issue!" quipped Nalankilli.

"What do you mean, Nalankilli?"

Before Nalankilli could answer Kathiravan, Nalankilli's telephone rang."

"It is the Chief Minister" said Nalankilli, looking at the name displayed on the phone's screen. He then answered the call. "Please tell me, sir!"

After listening to the words from the other end, Nalankilli said, "Yes, sir. We will do as you say. Please leave the matter to me. I will take care of it."

After the call had ended, Nalankilli asked Kathiravan, "Did you hear me, when I spoke to the Chief Minister?"

"I couldn't make out what you two were talking about" said Kathiravan. 

"My question was not about what I spoke to the Chief Minister, but about how I spoke to him. You would have observed how I used to talk to him before he became the Chief Minister. I would address him by his first name. In his early days in the party, I had even addressed him as I would an errand boy. After all, I was much senior to him in the party. It was not inappropriate for me to have taken liberty with him, considering that I was occupying a higher position in the party hierarchy and that I was older than him by several years. Now that he has become the Chief Minister, I have to address him with the respect due to his office. Won't you agree?"

"What are you driving at?" asked Kathiravan, having begun to understand the point made by Nalankilli. 

"You are a senior leader in the party alright. But, when you had been a member of Karikalan's cabinet, you were addressing him in a disrespectful way, as you had been doing earlier. During your conversations with other people in the party, you referred to the Chief Minister in a casual way, without showing the respect due to the position held  by him. Just now, when you were complaining to me about the Chief Minister's dropping you from the cabinet, you referred to him by his name and spoke about him in a casual way. People in power will resent others taking liberty with them and displaying their closeness to them in the presence of other people. That was the reason the Chief Minister dropped you from his cabinet. Since you are an experienced and valuable person, you may get an opportunity to be included in the cabinet again, after some time. At that time, please act appropriately, in maintaining your relationship with the powers that be" said Nalankilli. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 698 (in Tamil):
iLaiyar inamuRaiyar enRu igazhAr ninRa
oLiyOdu ozhugp padum.

Meaning:

A Minister should behave in accordance with the authority in the person of a King and not belittle him considering that he is junior to or younger than the Minister or that he is a relative.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'padhavi nIkkam' by the same author.) 

Verse 699
Verse 697

697. 'House Arrest'

"Minister! I am happy to hear from you and the Chief of Guards that crimes have been brought down, as a result of people committing crime having been caught and convicted. Do you have any special information about those lodged in prisons?" asked King Pamabadran.

"No, Your Majesty. As per your directions, the prisoners are given healthy food. Their health is periodically checked by the physicians. If a prisoner dies in the prison due to old age or sickness, his relatives are informed and his body is cremated as per his family tradition at government expense. Under your governance, everything is being done properly" said the Minister.

After a brief pause, the King asked, "Has any person been kept under house arrest?"

"Your Majesty! There is no system of keeping anyone under house arrest in our country. This has been the status from the time of your late father" said the Minister.

After coming out of the King's chamber, the Chief of Guards asked the Minister, "Sir! When the King asked whether any person had been kept under house arrest, you answered in the negative!"

"Yes, I did. Why, have you kept anyone under house arrest?" asked the Minister, looking at the Chief of Guards, with an innocuous smile. 

"Sir! There is Amudhavalli..."

"We have not kept Amudhavalli under house arrest. As per the directions given to us by the late Thungabadran, father of the present King, we have made arrangements for Amudhavalli to stay in her house safely and live there comfortably, without stepping out of the house. That's all!"

"Sir! As you know, she was the concubine of the late king..."

"My dear friend! The late king had made this arrangement with the objective of keeping his relationship with Amudhavalli hidden from his family members. The arrangement was made to prevent Amudhavalli coming into contact with anyone or anyone from outside her house contacting her. Just as security guards are present in your house and my house to give protection to our family members, security guards have been posted in Amudhavalli's house for her protection. It was the late King's diktat that this arrangement should continue during the lifetime of Amudhavalli and that this fact should not be known to anyone other than the two of us. Bear this in mind!"

"But, from the King's question posed to us, it appears that he has  come to know of this arrangement!"

"I don't know whether the King asked this question after coming to know of the fact or out of a blind suspicion. But this matter is not something he needs to know about. This information is not useful to him anyway. That is why, I gave him an evasive answer, even after he specifically asked us whether any person was kept under house arrest. We have not kept anyone under house arrest. We have given protection to some people. That's all" said the Minister, with a chuckle.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 697 (in Tamil):
vEtpana solli vinaiyila ejnjnAnRum
kEtpinum sollA vidal.

Meaning:

Ministers should tell the king things he is interested in, but should not talk about useless things, even if he asks about them.

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

Verse 698
Verse 696

696. Getting the King's Approval

"Our country has been gripped by a severe famine. People are struggling to get food. You may have to bring this to the notice of our King and arrange for help to be extended to the starving people" the Treasurer told the Minister.

"That is what I have been thinking about. The only way to give immediate relief to the people is to release food grains from the government granary and distribute them to the people free of cost. As you know, our King is against offering anything free to the people. I have been thinking how to convince the King to agree to offer food grains to people free of cost" said the Minister. 

"The situation will improve, only if the monsoon sets in. But, there are no signs of the rains arriving" said the Treasurer, with concern.

The Minister's face brightened instantly. "I have an idea" he told the Treasurer. 

"You have arranged for mass feeding in many parts of the country. The King has announced that the mass feeding would continue till the monsoon set in. How did you get the King to agree to your proposal?" asked the Treasurer, with amazement. 

"Our king has no inclination towards philanthropy. Since you are my friend, I am telling you this. But, he has abiding faith in Astrology and Religion. He will not accept a suggestion based on a humanitarian approach. But, he will readily accept any suggestion based on Astrology or Religion. So, I asked a reputed astrologer to tell the King that our country had been going through an astrologically unfavourable phase and that if the King organized mass feeding throughout the country, it would result in early occurrence of the monsoon, leading to the bad phase coming to an end" said the Minister.

"How did the astrologer agree to convey a false message to the King?"

"He agreed to my suggestion after I convinced him that his action would save the country from a catastrophe. What he said was not false either. When people are fed, does it not mean that the effects of famine are being overcome to a great extent? The King readily agreed to the suggestion given by the astrologer.

"I told the King that it won't be enough if the government alone provided food grains and money for the mass feeding. I explained to him that only if the wealthy people, the merchants and the landlords also participated in this program by contributing money and grains, the mass feeding could be carried out for a few months, till the time the monsoon arrived. He accepted my suggestion and called upon the wealthy people to contribute money and grains. Because of this, a lot of people including those who are only moderately rich are contributing their mite to the mass feeding program. I have the satisfaction of having facilitated the starving people getting at least one square meal a day, till the time conditions become normal. I got this idea, after listening to you saying that things would improve only with the onset of the monsoon. I should thank you for this idea!"

The Minister looked at the Treasurer with a feeling of warmth and smiled.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 696 (in Tamil):
kuRippu aRindhu kAlam karudhi veRuppila
vENduba vEtpach cholal.

Meaning:

The minister should gauge the mood of the ruler, await the ripe time, avoid what he abhors and speak what is essential, in a way it charms him.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'arasarin sammadham' by the same author.) 

Verse 697
Verse 695

695. The Suitable Candidate

"One of my personal assistants is retiring. I have to post another person in his place. I have heard that both of your personal assistants are very efficient. Will you spare one of them to me?" Chief Minister Selvan asked his cabinet colleague Anbumozhi, smiling at him.

"There are many efficient candidates suitable for the position, in the secretariat. Why do you want to steal one of my assistants?" replied Anbumozhi. 

Having worked together in the party since their younger days, the two men were intimate and friendly. Though Anbumozhi served under Selvan, the two talked like friends, when they were alone.

Having observed the leadership qualities of Selvan from close quarters, since his early days in the party, Anbumozhi readily accepted Selvan as the leader. On his part, Selvan gave Anbumozhi the respect and the recognition due to him, both in the party and in the government.

"Everyone says that your two assistants are the best of the lot. They also say that it was your training that has moulded them into perfection!"

"If that is the case, is it fair on your part to deprive me of an assistant trained by me?" 

"You can appoint someone new and train him to be the best, just as you had trained the two men with you now."

"Ok. I will spare one, as desired by you. I suggest that you take Murugan."

"Of your two assistants, I hear that Babu is more efficient than Murugan. I can understand your desire to keep the better of the two with you. I accept your offer. I will take Murugan" said Selvam. 

"I am not offering Murugan to you because I want to keep the better of the two. You being the Chief Minister, I believe that Murugan is more suitable than Babu to be your assistant" said Anbumozhi. 

"Why do you say so?"

"I will show you. I will go to my cabin now and call you over phone, and keep the call open. Please listen to the conversations that will take place in my room. I will then come back to your cabin and explain" said Anbumozhi and left the Chief Minister's cabin. 

Anbumozhi returned to the Chief Minister's cabin after a few minutes. 

"What do you think, Chief Minister? Do you understand why I said that Murugan was better suited than Babu to be your personal assistant?" he asked Selvan, smiling. 

"I understand, Anbumozhi! After getting back to your cabin, you called Murugan. He knew that you had returned after meeting me. But he didn't ask you anything about your meeting with me. He listened to your instructions and left. You then called Babu. The moment he stepped into your room, he asked you, 'Sir, did you discuss something important with the Chief Minister?" You said, 'No.' He then listened to your instructions. Before leaving your cabin, he again asked you, 'Sir! Did the Chief Minister give you any information about some new developments?' I realized that he was curious to know what transpired in your meeting with me. I understand that you didn't recommend Babu, because you felt that his inquisitive nature made him unsuitable to function under me, considering that as the Chief Minister, I will be handling many sensitive matters" said Selvan.

"Yes. If I spoke to someone in private, Babu would be curious to know what we had discussed. Most of the time, he could not even contain his curiosity and ask me about what was discussed. But, Murugan won't do so. He had never asked me to tell him about anything that I discussed with anyone in private. He knows that I will tell him about things he needs to know and wait for me to tell him what I choose to" said Anbumozhi.

"You have been thoughtful in suggesting Murugan. I appreciate your decision. A person like Babu, who has too much curiosity, may even listen at the doors!" said the Chief Minister. 

"Possible. But I believe that so far he has not done such a thing. Perhaps, I have to be more cautious. But, you are lucky. You are getting a good assistant, Murugan. Congratulations!" said Anbumozhi, laughing.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 695 (in Tamil):
epporuLum OrAr thodarAr maRRu aporuLai
vittakkAl kEtka maRai.

Meaning:

When the king is engaged in secret counsel (with others), ministers should neither overhear anything, nor pry into it with inquisitive questions, but (wait to) listen, when it is divulged (by the king himself.)

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'amaichcharin udhaviyALar' by the same author.) 

Verse 696
Verse 694