719. Advice to A Budding Speaker

Many speakers spoke commending the young speaker, who delivered a maiden speech in the event.

Bard Senthilnathan, the last person to speak in the event, said, "Orators will receive many offers to speak in various events and functions. But, a budding orator should not accept all the offers. He should accept only those assignments, which involve speaking in an assembly of learned people, or people keen on listening to the speaker. If he gets a chance to speak in a forum comprising stupid or petty minded people, he should summarily reject it. This is the advice I would like to offer to any budding speaker."

After the event had got over, Gokul, a long-time associate of Senthilnathan, asked him, "Senthil, I was surprised by the advice you gave to budding speakers. Don't you think that only if a budding speaker makes use of all the opportunities that comes his way, he would be able to earn name and fame?"

"That was my idea when I was young. I accepted all kinds of speaking opportunities offered to me. But, I realized that speaking in an assembly of people not interested in listening to the speech had only made me depressed. Subsequently, I began to avoid speaking in forums or assemblies that would largely be composed of people with no interest in listening to the speakers."

"What kinds of audience responses would make a speaker feel depressed?"

"An audience with interest in listening to the speaker would listen to the speech earnestly, by paying attention to the speaker's words. Even if they didn't find the speech interesting, they would keep listening to the speech quietly, by way of showing their courtesy to the speaker. On the other hand, an audience, largely made of people with no intention to listen to the speaker, would openly display their lack of interest, through face expressions, gestures and other actions. They would raise both their arms, lock their palms and release them, as if they were trying to convey their boredom to the speaker! They would keep shifting their sitting positions, even without moving out of their chairs. They would engage themselves in whispering conversations with their neighbours. Some would do this, even while looking at the speaker through the corner of their eyes. Some would talk to their neighbours and laugh, as if sharing a joke, even while looking at the speaker straight in his eyes, clearly communicating a message to the speaker, 'you carry on. I have more interesting things to do, than listening to your speech!' Above all, some would do things diverting the attention of others, preventing others from listening to the speech, in the process. Now, in the cellphone era, they could resort to more creative speeches, to disrupt the speaker!"

"Were a renowned speaker like you also subjected to such experiences?" asked Gokul, with dismay.

"Gokul! The examples I gave just now were the experiences I had during my speech events!" said Senthilnathan, laughing. 

"This is surprising to me. I have invited yo to speak in many events organized by me. You politely declined some assignments, citing a health problem, or some other reason. Was your unwillingness to speak in an assembly of certain types of people the real reason for your doing so?"

"Gokul! You are my friend" said Senthilnathan, smiling. 

He didn't have the heart to tell his friend, 'Gokul! Most of the incidents narrated by me happened in the meetings organized by you!' 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Knowing Your Audience

Verse 719 (in Tamil):
pul avaiyuL pochchAndhum sollaRka nal avaiyuL
nangu salach cholluvAr.

Meaning:

Those who can speak lucidly in a learned forum,

should refrain from speaking in an unworthy forum, even by mistake.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'iLam pEcchchAlarukku oru aRivuRai' by the same author.) 

Verse 720 (Soon)
Verse 718

180. Dealing With Competition

"We have been in this business for the past many years. A person who started his business five years back has grown so much within a short time" said Madan, the Managing Director of Anand Industries, grudgingly.

"Sir, I think you are talking about Lakshmi Enterprises. They are operating at a much smaller scale than us. They can never be a competitor to us" said Sundar, CEO of the firm.

"No, Mr. Sundar! People have been talking about them, in the market. This is not a good sign. If we want to retain our market share, we should nip any competition in the bud."

"What do you suggest, sir?"

"Let us first gather complete details about Lakshmi Enterprises. I feel disturbed looking at their factory on the main road. It is a rented place. We should find a way to evict them from that place."

After two days, Sundar came to Madan, with information.

"Lakshmi Enterprises has taken their factory building on lease, for five years. The lease is going to expire in two months. The firm has been making arrangements to renew the lease" Sundar told Madan.

"We should ensure that the lease is not renewed. Get in touch with the owner of the building and request him not to renew the lease to Lakshmi Enterprises. If necessary, we can even buy that building from the present owner."

"Sir! We have not been able to make full use of the space we have in our factory building. Should we invest our funds in a new building?" asked Sundar.

"We may not be able to use the building, but we can give it for rent. Even if the building is going to remain idle, it doesn't matter. We should aim to drive our competitor out of business in six months and take over his customers."

"What if the owner of the building doesn't want to sell the building?"

"Offer thim a price higher than the market price. We will mobilize the required sum of money by raising some loans" said Madan.

"I don't understand why the owner of the building is refusing to renew the lease, at the last moment" Shanmugam, the General Manager of Lakshmi Enterprises, told Lakshminarayanan, the Managing Director.

"Ok. What can we do, if the owner of the property doesn't want to renew the lease? It will take two years for our factory building to come up in the land we have purchased recently. Till that time, we have to rent some other place for our factory. A factory building located in the industrial estate, has been vacant for the past six months. The building owner told me, when I met him in a meeting recently that he intended to give it on rent. We can rent that place. The area is slightly smaller than what we have now. But, I think we can manage" said Lakshminarayanan.

"Sir! I understand that Mr. Madan, the Managing Director of Anand Industries has given pressure to the owner of the building, not to renew the lease to us. It appears that Anand Industries is going to buy that building."

"Why should we be concerned about it? We have got another place to locate our factory."

"Sir! We should hit Anand Industries back in some manner. We can make a few of their top technical people quit Anand Industries and join us. I hear that the employees are not happy there. They will be willing to join us, even for the same salary they are getting there. We need more people, since we will be expanding our operations in two years' time. Mr. Madan will realize that this game can be played by both the sides, only if we hit him hard."

"Anand Industries is much bigger than us. But they want to grab our share of the business, which is quite small. Let, us not think like them and grab their senior staff from them. Let us just focus on our own business" said Lakshminarayanan.

"You have dropped a bombshell!" exclaimed Madan.

"The Government order is expected today. The government is taking over the land and building bought by us, for road expansion" said Sundar.

"Such takeovers will take time. Someone will get a stay from the court."

"This scheme had been announced by the government five years back. The implementation was pending, because of the cases filed by some people. With the cases pending in the court, everyone seems to have forgotten about the scheme. That was why this issue didn't come to our notice, when we bought the land six months back. Yesterday, the court gave a judgement in favour of the government. The government is acting swiftly, by issuing an order today. They will start working on the scheme without delay."

"But, the government will compensate us for taking over our land and building!"

"Yes, sir. But the price fixed by the government will be much below the market price. And, it may take a few years for the government to pay the price to us. They may even pay the price in two or more installments. We have purchased the property at a price much above the market price. The loss we will suffer may be substantial" said Sundar.

Madan began to wonder how much would the loss be and to what extent that loss would affect his business.     

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 16
Bearing No Envy

Verse 180 (In Tamil)

iRal Inum eNNAdhu vehkin viRal Inum
vENdAmai enum serukku.

Meaning:

Coveting the wealth of another, unmindful of consequences, will bring destruction. The nobility of living without coveting others' wealth will bring success.

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

Verse 181 (Soon)
Verse 179

179. Lost and Found!

"There is no interesting news. Tomorrow's paper is going to be dull" moaned Viswanathan, Editor of the daily newspaper 'News Waves.' 

"Sir! There is a news item about a passenger in a bus leaving a bag containing cash of two lakh rupees in the bus and another passenger, who found the bag, handing it over to the police. We can follow up this news" suggested Anandan, a reporter.

"These kinds of incidents happen quite often. The headlines about an honest auto rickshaw driver have become stale."

"Sir! If a passenger leaves his cash bag in an auto rickshaw, the police will be able to trace the auto rickshaw. Therefore, an auto rickshaw driver will know that if he were to take the cash, he would be caught. So, he would feel wise to take credit, by handing over the cash bag to the police. But, if a bus passenger takes the cash bag left by another passenger, he cannot be traced. There is no system to trace the people who had traveled by a particular bus. The passenger who found the cash bag could have kept the money for himself, without anyone finding about it. Therefore, his handing over the cash bag to the police is a praiseworthy act of honesty. Why can't I interview that passenger? Readers will be keenly interested in reading such interviews" said Anandan.

"Ok. Interview him. Let us see whether he has anything interesting to say" said Viswanathan, without feeling enthusiastic about the idea. 

Anandan went to the police station, collected the address of the bus passenger who had returned the bag found by him, went to his house, interviewed him and showed the interview to Viswanathan.

Dhandapani had retired from his job as an unskilled labourer in a small factory. After his retirement, he was working as a security guard in a small firm, for a modest salary.

His son, after completing his studies, had been looking for a job. His daughter, who had completed her schooling, was working in a factory as a helper. Dhandapani's wife was working as a domestic help and contributing to the family's earnings. 

In spite of three of the family members working and earning an income, the earnings were not adequate to meet the needs of the family. Dhandapai had been hoping that if his son got a job, the financial position of the family would become comfortable.

Dhandapani was traveling in a bus to his place of work, to work in the night shift. Since he had to get down only at the last stop of the bus, he was taking a nap, without the apprehension of missing his bus stop. He did not notice who was sitting next to him.

Dhandapani woke up, when the bus arrived at the destination. He noticed a small leather bag on the next seat. He opened it and saw that it contained currency notes.

Since every one, including the conductor and driver of the bus, had already got down from the bus and dispersed in various directions, Dhandapani went to the nearby police station and handed over the bag. He was consequently delayed in reporting for his duty and was reprimanded by his employer for coming late.

After going through the above narrative brought out in the interview taken by Anandan, Viswanathan said, "Nothing of interest in the story. We will publish it anyway."

The interview was published the next day in 'News Waves.'  

During the next couple of days, the newspaper received a spate of letters from its readers, appreciating Dhandapani's honesty and sense of duty and responsibility. Some readers had sent a small sum of money to the newspaper, as a token of their appreciation of Dhandapani's honesty.

Following the publication of Dhandapani's interview in 'News Waves,' several other newspapers, magazines and television channels followed up the story, by interviewing Dhandapani and his family members and coming out with stories, covering various aspects of the life of Dhandapani and his family members.

In about ten days, 'New Waves' had received a total contribution of fifty thousand rupees from its readers, by way of showing their appreciation of Dhandapani's honesty.

Anandan went to meet Dhandapani, with a cheque for fifty thousand rupees in his favour.

Dhandapani told Anandan that through him he wanted to convey his thankfulness to 'News Waves,' its readers who had sent money to the paper for presenting to him, other media and the people who appreciated his gesture but that he could not accept the cheque brought in by Anandan. 

"Sir! If I had taken the money, it would have amounted to theft. Should I receive a reward, for not committing a theft?" Dhandapani asked Anandan.

'New Waves' published Dhandapani's refusal to accept the reward and his statement on the front page of the newspaper. This brought in even more accolades to Dhandapani.

After about a week, an industrialist came forward to offer a job to Dhandapani's son.

Dhandapani accepted his offer and conveyed his gratefulness to the industrialist, 'New Waves,' other media and the members of the public, who showed their appreciation and kindness to him.

 

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 18
Not Coveting Others' Belongings

Verse 179 (In Tamil)

aRan aRindhu vehkA aRivudaiyArch chErum
thiRan aRindhu AngE thiru.

Meaning:

Wealth will find means to bestow itself on those who, knowing the virtue of not coveting others’ property, wisely desist from it.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'thavaRa vitta paNam' by the same author)

Verse 180
Verse 178

178. Pawn Shop or Bank Locker?

Vajravelu raised his head and looked back at the glass cupboard fixed on the wall, behind his seat.

"The cupboard is full. There is no space to keep any new article that may be received for pledge" he told his accountant Kumaravel.

"How will there be space, sir? Either, those who have pledged their belongings should redeem them by repaying the loans taken by them, or we should auction the articles that have not been redeemed by the due date. Neither of these is happening" said Kumaravel. 

Vajravelu laughed, enjoying the sarcastic remark of his employee. "How could I have been running this pawn shop for the past ten years, if borrowers have not been repaying their loans and redeeming the articles pledged by them? Have I not been earning enough to pay the salaries and take home enough money, to meet my family expenses?"

"Sir! You are talking as if you are not aware of the way this business is run. No other pawn broker keeps the objects not redeemed by the borrower, for an indefinite period of time, without getting them auctioned and recovering the loan amount due."

At that time, a customer entered the shop. Kumaravel turned his attention to the customer. 

He looked at the receipt produced by the customer, checked the ledger, did some calculations using a calculator and informed the customer the amount of money he had to pay, to close the loan. 

After the customer had paid the amount, Kumaravel took out a silver lamp from the cupboard and handed it to the customer, after getting his signature on a document. 

The customer looked at Vajravelu, paid obeisance to him, by bringing his palms together and left.

"The promissory note got expired six months back. Our man Arumugam had been trying to reach him for the past six months, but couldn't get to him. The man has just repaid the loan and redeemed the silver lamp pledged him. He had had no fear that we might auction the silver lamp pledged by him!" said Kumaravel.

Vajravelu just smiled.  

"I don't understand how you are so patient with the defaulters, even at the risk of losing your money and your hold on the article pledged, with the promissory note getting lapsed."

"We are running the business of lending money for interest. If the borrower fails to repay the loan before the due date and redeem the object pledged him, we have the legal right to auction the object pledged and recover the amount due to us. But, I don't like to exercise that right. Though a borrower has pledged his belonging to us, it still belongs to him. I don't like to auction it and take the money due to me. After all, a person who has pledged his property will have the intention to redeem it. Therefore, acting on the faith that the borrower will repay the loan and redeem his property, sooner or later, I keep the property, without auctioning it."

"But, some borrowers may not be able to repay the loan!"

"Yes. It has happened. Maybe, it has not happened after your joining my firm. So, you may not be aware of such instances. After waiting for some time, I would call the borrower, hand over the object pledged by him to him and ask him to sell it and repay the loan. Some people have done so."

"Then, why are we taking something as pledge. We can lend money without taking any security!"

"Taking an object as pledge is only to create a sense of obligation for the borrower to redeem it, by repaying the loan."

"But, what is wrong in auctioning a pledged asset, if the loan is not repaid?"

"Nothing wrong. After all, it is permitted by law. But, I believe that our auctioning the pledged article, asking the borrower to sell the article and repay the loan is being fair to them. When the borrower sells the object, he gets to decide the price. But, when it is auctioned, the borrower may not get a good price." 

"Sir! As you know, before joining your firm, I worked in another pawn shop in this town. The owner of that shop was very strict. If the pledged object was not redeemed before the due date, he would auction it promptly, after giving a notice to the borrower. I have seen him getting good profit from his business. I think we should also be businesslike, since we are also running the business, only with the objective of earning a profit."

"Why did you leave that shop?"

"As I told you during the job interview, they were not paying my salary in time. My salary was pending for three months. That was why I left that firm."

"Why were they not able to pay your salary in time?"

"I don't know, sir. Though the business was making profits, there was a problem of cash shortage, most of the time. Sometimes, there was not enough cash in the shop to give new loans. Some borrowers had filed cases against the firm, for auctioning their properties. The firm had to pay the fees to advocates on frequent occasions, whenever the cases came up for hearing."

"You say that that firm was earning a good profit. But, it was facing the problem of cash shortages. I may not be earning a big income from the business. But, the capital I have invested is intact. We never faced the problem of not having adequate cash to give new loans. I have been getting enough income from the business, to enable me to lead a comfortable life. I derive my income from the interest paid by people, to whom I lend money. And, I have been running this business, by treating the goods pledged by people as the property of the borrowers and not as my property."

Another customer stepped into the shop.

"Two months back, I pledged a gold chain of my wife and borrowed money" he said.

"Are you going to repay the loan and redeem the chain?" asked Kumaravel. 

"No" he said, hesitatingly. 

He then looked at Vajravelu and said, "Please don't mistake me. We are attending a marriage tomorrow. My wife has no other jewel to wear for the function. If you can give me the chain, I will return it to you the day after tomorrow."

"Is this a pawn shop, or a bank locker?" asked Kumaravel.

"If I give you your chain, will you give me some other object for pledging, till the time you return the chain to me?" asked Vajravelu.

"I don't have any other valuable object, sir. If you want, I can give you my television set."

"No need. I trust you. We will give you your chain. But, bring it back day after tomorrow, without fail" said Vajravelu. 

He then turned to Kumaravel and told him, "Get a request letter from him with the promise that the chain would be returned to us on the specified date and give him the chain, after getting his signature."

'This is a bank locker, not a pawn shop. There is no doubt about it!' murmured Kumaravel.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 16
Bearing No Envy

Verse 178 (In Tamil)

ahkAmai selvaththiRku yAdhenin vehkAmai
vENdum piRan kaip poruL.

Meaning:

The mark of lasting wealth is shown by not coveting others' wealth.  

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

Verse 179
Verse 177

718. Riverbank Lectures

It was 7 o'clock in the evening, when Arumugam returned home from the school.

"Why are you late today?" asked his wife Mekala.

"Our school has started special classes in the evenings, for the students who have been lagging behind in their studies. Hereafter, I will be able to come home only by 7 pm. Can you make me some coffee? I have to leave for my riverbank lecture. People will be waiting for me."

Mekala went to the kitchen returned with coffee in five minutes. "You say you will come home only by 7 pm, hereafter. Why don't you discontinue the riverbank lectures?" she asked Arumugam. 

"Let us talk about this, after I return home after today's lecture" replied Arumugam.

Arumugam returned home after 8 pm. After having his dinner, he came and sat in the living room.

Mekala came to the living room after a while, after completing her chores in the kitchen and sat near her husband.

"You are handling classes in the school, from the morning to the evening. In the evening, you are giving lectures on the river bank, sitting under a tree, to an audience comprising people from of diverse age groups and backgrounds, from the village. Now that you have to take classes for one more hour in the school, why can't you discontinue the riverbank lectures, in which you preach morals to the people?" asked Mekala.

"Mekala! My lectures at the river bank are not aimed at preaching morals to people. I just communicate various things I have learnt about this world, facts relating to nature, principles of basic science, truths and principles about life, living in tune with nature, moral values, making ourselves useful to other people etc. A number of people, ranging from kids to senior citizens, come to the riverbank and listen to my talks, with interest. When I tried to talk about these matters to my students in the school, they said, 'Sir! Please teach us topics relating to the examination.' But, a wide cross-section of the people of this village realize the significance of the things I talk about and are even inclined to implement in their lives what they have learnt from my talks. That is why I enjoy talking to these people. We water a plant, hoping to help it grow. And if we see that the plant is growing, won't we feel even more interested in watering the plant and helping its growth in other ways? Though the time available at my disposal has become less, because of  the increase in my working hours in the school, I don't want to discontinue or curtail my riverbank talks" said Arumugam.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Divining the Mind

Verse 718 (in Tamil):
uNarvadhu udaiyAr mun sollal vaLarvadhan
pAththiyuL nIr sorindhRRu.

Meaning:

To speak before an audience, who have a keenness for learning,

is like watering a sapling, growing by itself, in a nursery.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'mAlai nEra vaguppugaL' by the same author.) 

Verse 719
Verse 717

717. The Second Round

After the first round of interview for the position of a senior executive in the firm, four candidates were shortlisted for the second round. One candidate was to be selected in the second round.

The four members of the selection committee were chatting among themselves, before conducting the second round of the interview.

"There are four of us in the interview committee. The number of candidates is also four. How will it be, if each of us chooses a different candidate?" asked Padmanabhan, the chairman of the selection committee, in a lighter vein. 

"In that case, we three will accept your selection, since you are the chairman of the committee!" said Selvakumar, a member of the committee.

"No, no. I won't expect other members to accept my choice, just because I am the chairman" said Padmanabhan. 

"I said it in a lighter vein" said Selvakumar.

"We have already interviewed the candidates thoroughly, in the first round. What are we going to ask them in the second round?" asked Suryakant, another member.

"I have a suggestion. We have already assessed the knowledge, skills, aptitude and attitude of each of the candidates. All the four candidates are at a nearly equal level. Applying what one has learnt is an important requirement for a person to function in this position. Therefore, we need to assess how each person would apply his learning in the job. Maybe, we can give each of the four a topic in the field of their learning and ask them to explain that topic in five minutes. We will select the one who excels in explaining his topic. I feel that if a person is able to present what he has learnt, using appropriate words, it will be a confirmation that his learning has been thorough. This is my suggestion" said Sekar, another member.

"Excellent suggestion" said Padmanabhan.

Selvakumar and Suryakant nodded their heads, endorsing Padmanabhan's observation.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Knowing Your Audience

Verse 717 (in Tamil):
kaRRu aRindhAr kalvi viLangum kasadaRach
chol theridhal vallAr agatthu.

Meaning:

The value of the learning of those who are well educated will be revealed by their ability to present their learning in an assembly of scholars.

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

Verse 718
Verse 716

177. Ramkumar's Plans

When Ramkumar regained consciousness, he realized that he was lying on an hospital bed. He felt a heaviness and intense pain in his body.

After sometime, a doctor came to the room, examined Ramkumar and asked him, "How are you now?"

'You should tell me what my condition is!' thought Ramkumar. "What happened to me?" he asked the doctor.

"You fainted suddenly. Now you are alright. I will come and see you again" replied the doctor tersely and left.

In the next few hours, Ramkumar had several visitors including his wife Girija, a few relatives and friends. 

From what his wife and others told him and kept from him and from the sensations in his body, Ramkumar understood what had happened to him and what his physical condition was.

Three days back, Ramkumar suddenly fainted and fell down in his house. The doctors diagnosed that he had had a stroke. The right side of his body was paralyzed and there was intense pain in the left side of his body.

"What is the date today?" Ramkumar asked Girija. 

"April 20" said Girija.

"My God! We were supposed to have left for Switzerland today!" said Ramkumar, dismayed.

There was a sob from Girija. Ralkumar wondered whether the sob was caused by Girija's distress over his health condition or by her disappointment at the Switzerland trip having been aborted. 

At the time of completing his Engineering degree, Ramkumar had an ambition. It was to set up a manufacturing unit and make it grow into a corporate firm.

In keeping with his financial position at that time, Ramkumar set up a small engineering unit, investing a small sum of money as capital. By working hard and gaining the confidence of customers, he succeeded in making his firm grow well within a few years. 

When Ramkumar was thinking of ways to take his firm to greater heights, he got the acquaintance of a business consultant. Ramkumar sought the consultant's advice on the strategy to be adopted to make his firm grow big, within a short time. 

"You have immense potential for growth. Even people with no impressive track record set up companies and promote them in a big way, using sheer paper work. You have a solid factory, with assets like building and machinery. You have shown excellent performance, by growing very fast in a span of ten years. Your turnover and profits have grown manifold. Just prepare a scheme for expanding your firm. Using that scheme, we will go for a public issue, by offering shares to the public at a premium and transform your small firm into a corporate company" said the consultant. 

"I have already prepared a plan for expansion of my business. How much time will it take to issue the shares to the public?" asked Ramkumar, enthusiastically.

"Two years" said the consultant.

"It will take so much time!" exclaimed Ramkumar, feeling disappointed. 

"We can arrange for public issue within a couple of months. The two year period I mentioned was to make some adjustments."

"What adjustments?"

"You had invested ten lakh rupees. But the networth of your firm is one crore rupees, now. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"The first thing to do is to increase the value of your networth from 1 crore rupees to 3 crore rupees."

"It can't be done in two years!"

"That is why I mentioned by the word 'adjustments.' We need to make some book adjustments. Your books should show that in the next two years you would be investing substantial sums of money, for creating additional assets like new buildings, machinery and other assets."

"How is it possible? How can I show a source for the additional investment to be brought in?"

"Don't worry about those aspects. There are ways to do things. You don't have any loan now. You can show part of the funds coming by way of capital from you and part by way of loans from your friends and relatives. We can also take a loan from a bank by pledging your assets and show it as being invested in your business, to create new assets. In the next two years, you can show higher profits and show the profits as being invested in the business to create more assets. Since you can claim depreciation on the 'new assets' shown in the book, you will end up paying a lower tax, in spite of an increase in your profits. I will take care of all these adjustments. The only additional expenditure you have to incur is the consultation fee you will have to pay me!" said the consultant, laughing. 

Acting as per the advice given by the consultant and 'increasing' the value of Ramkumar's firm's assets to three crore in the next two years, Ramkumar went for a public issue.

The consultant revised the cost of  Ramkumar's expansion scheme from 20 crore rupees to 25 crore rupees. He presented calculations to Ramkumar, showing that he would be able to pocket 4 crore rupees, out of the increased sum of 5 crore rupees, after spending 1 crore rupees as commissions to various people.

"Is this not wrong? Does this not amount to cheating the people, who will be subscribing to our public issue?" asked Ramkumar.

"People who invest in shares do so, out of greed. They hope to earn big profit from their investments in shares, but they are aware that there is a risk of loss and that they may even end up losing their entire investment. So, there is nothing immoral about our strategy" said the consultant. 

Ramkumar was not convinced by the consultant's explanation. He was taunted by the thought, 'I have already overstated the networth of my company by 2 crore rupees. Now, I am overstating the cost of my expansion scheme by 5 crore rupees. How is this justified?'

However, he subsequently convinced himself that after venturing into an action, he should not give any room for such disconcerting thoughts.

The public issue of shares was a big success. The shares were allotted in due course and Ramkumar's firm got transformed into a public limited company, with thousands of shareholders.

With the company having grown big, Ramkumar, acting on the advice of the consultant, appointed a Managing Director, accepted the honorary position of the Chairman of the company and got himself relieved from the day to day activities of the company. 

For the first time in his life, Ramkumar found himself in a situation, in which he could use both his time and his money, as per his discretion. It was after he had planned to visit Switzerland, with his wife, son and daughter and made all arrangements for the travel that he was struck by stroke.

Ramkumar was able to hear the conversation his wife Girija was having with the doctor.

"When will he be cured completely, doctor?"

"I can't say whether he will be completely cured. One side of his body has been paralyzed. It may take several months, even several years for him to be cured of the paralysis. The more severe issue is the pain he has in the other side of his body. He has to live the rest of his life, with that pain. Even if the intensity of the pain gets reduced to some extent, you should feel relieved" said the doctor.

Ramkumar felt as if the intensity of his pain had increased many times.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 18
Not Coveting Others' Belongings

Verse 177 (In Tamil)

vENdaRka vehkiyAm Akkam viLaivayin
mANdaRku aridhAm payan.

Meaning:

Do not desire the gain obtained by coveting others' wealth. The enjoyment of the fruits of such wealth will not bring you any good. 

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'ninaippadhellAm nadandhu vittAl' by the same author)

Verse 178
Verse 176