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 698
Verse 696

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

694. What Had Gone Wrong?

"Conducting a consecration ritual for the temple is a laudable thing. I am always happy to render my help for such causes."

Murthy was elated by Kasi's words. 'It appears that our objective will be achieved easier than I had anticipated" he thought.

He turned to Ramaswamy, sitting beside him. Ramaswamy was also beaming. 

'The other seven members of the 'temple consecration committee' seated behind him would all have been excited by Kasi's response,' Murthy thought, with satisfaction.

The people of the town, after having decided to conduct a consecration ritual for the temple, constituted a committee with nine members and entrusted it with the task of mobilizing the funds, by seeking donations.

The committee members decided to first visit Kasi, a prominent and wealthy person in the town, known for his philanthropic nature. The encouraging words spoken by him, immediately after hearing the proposal, naturally enthused the members.

After briefly apprising Kasi of the plan, Murthy looked at Ramaswamy. On receiving his signal, he told Kasi, "Sir! We will take leave." 

He then took out a notebook from his bag, showed it to Kasi and said, "Sir! We bought a new notebook, got it placed before the idol of the Lord in the temple and brought it with us. Please write your name as the first donor and the amount you will be donating."

Kasi did not extend his hand to receive the notebook from Murthy. He told him, "I will enter my name later. I am not particular that my name should be on the top. Collect donations from other people. I will give my contribution after some time." 

"No, sir. We want your name to be on the top. You can pay the money later. Please write your name and..."

Kasi interrupted Murthy, by waving his hand. "I don't know how good the harvest is going to be this year. I have to consider such factors before making a commitment. You may come to me later."

He stood up and went inside, signaling that they should leave.

A perplexed Murthy got up from his seat. Others followed suit and all of them walked out of Kasi's house.

After coming out of Kasi's house, Murthy told Ramaswamy, "He was so enthusiastic at the beginning. I don't understand why he changed his mind within minutes."

Ramaswamy told the other members, "You may go home now. We will meet at Murthy's house at 5 o' clock in the evening and discuss our further course of action."

After the others had left, Ramaswamy told Murthy, "Let us talk while we walk."

After walking a few steps, Ramaswamy told Murthy, "We two were sitting in the first row. The other seven were sitting behind us in two rows. You couldn't have noticed what some of them were doing."

"I thought they were sitting idle" said Murthy.

"If they had been sitting idle, things would have gone well. Kasi would have given us a substantial sum as his contribution!"

"What do you mean?"

"Subbu and Mani, sitting in the third row, were chatting with each other and giggling. Guna and Karunakaran sitting in the second row looked back at them, with concern. I thought of asking Subbu and Mani to be silent. But, realizing that doing so would have made it glaring, I kept quiet. Since you were engaged in conversing with Kasi, you didn't notice it. But Kasi noticed it."

"Oh! As you had said, I didn't notice it. But, was it such a grave offense making Kasi feel annoyed?" asked Murthy.

"We should be very careful in the presence of the elderly, the powerful, the rich and the elite. These people are highly sensitive. They expect others to be polite, humble and calm in their presence. Kasi should have felt offended by the two men in our group chatting and giggling and considered heir behaviour disrespectful. That was why he retracted from his decision to give us a donation. You and I should meet him after a couple of days and apologize to him about the behaviour of the two members of our group. I hope that he would be pacified, if we do so. While talking to our group members this evening, let us exhort them to behave appropriately, while meeting other people. We will pull up Subbu and Mani privately and make them realize how their inappropriate behaviour has hurt our mission" said Ramaswamy.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 694 (in Tamil):
sevich chollum sErndha nagaiyum aviththu ozhugal
AnRa periyAr agaththu.

Meaning:

Whisper not in others’ ears nor giggle with them

in the presence of dignified elders.

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

Verse 695
Verse 693

693. Bhupathy's Confidence

It took three days for the cabinet minister Bhupathy to realize that the Chief Minister, who would call him to his cabin and talk to him at least once a day had not called him for the past three days.

'How did I fail to notice this?' Bhupathy cursed himself. 'Perhaps, immersed in my work, I failed to realize this."

Bhupathy called up the personal secretary of the Chief Minister and asked him to fix up an appointment with the Chief Minister.

"Sir! The Chief Minister is very busy. He has instructed me not to give any appointment to anyone" said the secretary.

"He would have said so in a general way. Tell him that I want to meet him. He will definitely give me an appointment,"

After a short pause, the secretary said, "I am sorry, sir. The Chief Minister particularly told me not to give you any appointment."

That evening, Bhupathy went to the party office, where he met the party president.

"I find that the Chief Minister doesn't want to see me. Is there any issue?" Bhupathy asked the party president. 

"The Chief Minister had received a complaint about your department. He summoned the secretary of the department and asked for a clarification about the issue raised in the complaint. The secretary told him that you had taken a decision, overruling his recommendation. The decision taken by you has created a bad name to the government. That is the reason the Chief Minister is unhappy with you" said the party chief.

"Oh! It should be about my relaxing some terms in the contract for the construction of a bridge. I did so for expediting the construction, by removing some impediments. But the construction had been completed and the bridge opened for the use of people. The outcome has been good, after all" said Bhupathy.

"Well, I don't know with what intention you relaxed the terms of the contract. But, there has been a complaint that relaxing the norms enabled the contractor to circumvent some provisions of the contract relating to the safety of construction. There is a perception among the people that quality could have been compromised in the construction of the bridge."

"This is a bogey raised by the opposition parties!"

"When you decided to act against the recommendation of the secretary of the department, you should have apprised the Chief Minister of the situation and taken his concurrence for your line of action. Won't your failure to have informed the Chief Minister of your plan of action, despite your being close to him, give rise to suspicions about your intentions?"

"If I talk to the Chief Minister in person, he will understand my position."

"You know about our Chief Minister. If anything happens to shake the confidence he has on somebody, it will be very difficult for that person to regain his confidence."

"I plan to meet him at his residence this evening. I will explain things to him and convince him" said Bhupathy, confidently.

The party president checked a message he had just received on his mobile phone and told Bhupathy, "I think there will be no need for that. The Chief Minister has just dropped you from his cabinet. This news should be on all the television channels now."

He then switched  on the television set that was in the room, using a remote control, to facilitate Bhupathy to watch the news.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 70
Getting Close to the Ruler

Verse 693 (in Tamil):
pORRin ariyavai pORRal kaduththa pin
thERRudhal yArkkum aridhu.

Meaning:

If people close to the ruler want to safeguard themselves, they should avoid (the commission of) serious errors, for if the ruler's suspicion is once roused, no one can remove it.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'enna thavaRu seydhu vittEn' by the same author.) 

Verse 694
Verse 692