713. Nityseelan's Folly

"I invited you to speak in our club, expecting that your speech would make our members feel good. But, you have disappointed me" said Nityaseelan.

"Disappointed you! How?" asked Bard Ganesan

"I have watched your performance in debates in the television channels. You would entertain the audience with your humorous speech. That was the reason I invited you to speak in our club. Most of the members of our club are businessmen or high level executives in large organizations. They have been under stress most of the time, due to the challenges faced by them in their work environment. I thought that your humorous speech would entertain them and relieve them of their stress at least for a while. But you spoke about the struggles, agitations and revolutions taking place in various parts of the world. You also tried to drive home the message that if the wealthy people continued their elitist lifestyles, without bothering about the sufferings of millions of people, the anger of the poor would reach a flash point and explode into a revolution, leading to a large scale destruction of properties and bloodshed. You concluded with the warning that a revolution like that would end up in the wealthy people being thrown into the streets and their families becoming vulnerable to attacks by the deprived sections of the society. Our members were understandably dismayed by your speech." 

"Shouldn't a person, who is known for his humorous speeches, ever speak on a serious topic?"

"You can. But, you should have considered the forum in which you were speaking. You are entitled to your views about the social and political scenario in the world and its possible consequences. If you had delivered this speech in a political gathering or in a trade union meeting, the audience might have applauded your speech. But, the theme, content and the tone of your speech in a gathering of industrialists, businessmen and corporate executives sounded as if you were accusing the audience and making them feel guilty about their lifestyles. As soon as you started talking on this topic, I gave you a slip of paper, asking you to speak on some other topic. But, you ignored my request and went on with your tirade!"

"I believed that after hearing my speech, at least a few people will think of the plight of the starving millions and try to do their mite to mitigate the problem. That will be good for the society. That was why I persisted with my topic" said Ganesan.

'If you believed so, there wouldn't be a greater fool in this world' thought Nityaseelan. 

However, not willing to argue further with the intransigent bard, Nityaseelan ended the telephone conversation, saying, "Inviting you to speak in our club was my folly." 

Even an eloquent speaker should be considered a person with no oratory skills, if he doesn't know what to speak before a particular audience' thought Nityaseelan.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Knowing Your Audience

Verse 713 (in Tamil):
avai aRiyAr sollal mERkoLbavar sollin
vagai aRiyAr vallaDhUm il.

Meaning:

Those who endeavor to speak, without knowing their audience don't know the styles of speech and are not competent, either.

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

Verse 714 (Soon)
Verse 712

712. When the Expert Failed to Impress

Dr. Venkatachalam, a renowned psychiatrist, was invited to deliver a speech at the monthly meeting of the recreation club.

Buoyed by the expectation that the expert would present several interesting and useful pieces of information in his talk, a large number of members were present for the lecture.

The enthusiasm of the audience began to wane within a few minutes after Venkatacham had begun his talk, since Venkatachalam's speech was structured like a classroom lecture for college students. 

After Venkatachalam had concluded his lecture, the audience clapped mechanically, without any excitement or enthusiasm.

Kripakaran, the Secretary of the club, got up, to present the vote of thanks.

"As per the agenda, I should present a vote of thanks. But, I find that there is still half an hour left, as per the schedule. We have, in our midst, a scholar with profound knowledge and rich experience. I feel that we could get some more pieces of interesting and useful information from him, by asking him questions on specific issues. I will begin by outlining the mental health problem of a person known to me and seeking Dr. Venkatachalam's opinion on it" said Kripakaran. 

He then briefly narrated the mental health issue of a person known to him.

"I would request Mr. Venkatachalam to briefly give his views on the condition of this person." 

Venkatachalam began to give his opinion on the problem mentioned by Kripakaran.

The audience that had been sitting with a bored feeling till then, began to feel excited and listened to Venkatachlam's comments, with rapt attention.

After Venkatachalam had given his reply, Kripakaran announced in the mike, "If some of you have questions about mental health conditions of persons known to you, you can ask Dr. Venkatachalam about them. I think that within the remaining time, he will be able to answer four or five questions. I have taken the liberty of suggesting this, without seeking the concurrence of Dr. Venkatachalam. I hope he won't mind" and looked at Venkatachalam, with a polite expression.

Venkatachalam smiled at Kripakaran and nodded his head, in agreement. The audience could sense an enhanced sense of enthusiasm in his demeanor.

One by one, people from the audience began to ask questions about the conditions of people known to them. Venkatachalam was answering the questions, enthusiastically.

Both Venkatachalam and the audience enjoyed the question-answer session, since the answers provided by Venkatachalam were both interesting and useful.

Even after one hour, both the audience and Venkatachalam were interested in continuing the session. Kripakaran had to intervene and bring the session to an end, pointing out that the program had continued for about an hour beyond the scheduled time.

At the time of taking leave of Kripakaran, after the event was concluded, Venkatachalam held Kripakaran's hands in his and said, "A few minutes into my speech, I sensed that the audience did not enjoy my talk. I also realized my mistake in structuring my talk like a classroom lecture. Since I could not change my speech at that stage, I cut short my speech, by half an hour. But, the opportunity provided by you to answer specific questions from the audience helped me satisfy the audience. You even showed the way to the audience what kind of questions to ask, by your asking a question at first. I have had no experience in public speaking. From today's experience, I have learnt that I should ascertain what kind of speech would be appropriate to an audience and tailor my speech accordingly. I am thankful to you for making me understand this."

"I didn't do anything, sir. I just wanted to make the best use of the specialized knowledge and experience of an expert like you" said Kripakaran.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Divining the Mind

Verse 712 (in Tamil):
idai therindhu nangu uNarndhu solluga sollin
nadai therindha nanmaiyavar.

Meaning:

Those who are well-versed in the use of words, will, after anticipating the response of the audience, convey the message clearly.

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

Verse 713 (Soon)
Verse 711

711. How Was the Speech?

"I invited Mr. Muthazhagan to speak at our forum, considering that he is a great Tamil scholar. But, he ended up, giving a mediocre talk" lamented Kannan, Secretary of the literary association. 

"But, I think he spoke well. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed his speech" said Mani, a member of the association.

"Did he speak well? You know what a great the reputation he has. He has mastered all the literary works in Tamil. He could have delivered an interesting and insightful lecture about a literary work like Kambaramayanam, Silappadhikaram, Thirukkural, Agananuru, Purananuru etc. But he chose a bland topic, 'Life in the Stone Age and in the Cellphone Age' and gave a talk that was neither interesting, nor insightful. I am not happy about his speech."

"You didn't suggest the topic to him!"

"No, I didn't. I asked him to choose the topic, hoping that he would choose an appropriate topic and deliver an interesting talk on that topic. Had I known that he would choose a dull topic like this, I would have suggested an appropriate topic, myself" said Kannan, with disgust.

His telephone rang.

"It should be one of our members. He is going to complain that the speech was pathetic!" said Kannan and picked up the receiver.

"I will meet you again tomorrow" said Mani took leave of Kannan.

When Mani came to meet Kannan the next day, Muthazhagan was sitting in Kannan's room.

"I am grateful to you for giving me this opportunity. I have delivered many speeches about Tamil literary works. But, when I considered your audience, I thought, 'these people live a busy life. They may be grappling with problems and stressful situations. If I speak to them about life in general, they will be able to relate themselves to my speech.' Thinking on these lines, I chose the topic 'Life in the Stone Age and in the Cellphone Age' and spoke about certain general aspects of life, based on what I have experienced and what I have learnt from books and scholars. My aim was to drive home the point that despite all the great transformations in our lives that have taken place during the time between the stone age and the present age, certain basic aspects about life have remained the same. I think that the audience liked my approach. I felt satisfied about my speech" said Muthazhagan.

"Yes, sir. Our members enjoyed your speech a lot. Many of them have suggested to me that after sometime, you should be called to speak at our forum again" said Kannan.

After Muthazhagan had left, Mani asked Kannan, "What has happened, Mr. Kannan? Yesterday you said that Muthazhagan's speech was not impressive and that you expected to receive flak from the members, for arranging his lecture!" 

"Yes, Mr. Mani. That was my impression earlier. It appears that I didn't listen to Mr. Muthazhagan's speech carefully. I now realize that since I didn't like the topic he had chosen, I developed a preconceived notion that his speech won't be interesting. During his lecture, I had some distractions relating to my work and even had to leave the hall a couple of times to attend to exigencies. Therefore, I should have missed some important parts of his lecture. I also failed to gauge the reaction of the audience. Yesterday, after you had left, I received calls from several members, appreciating Mr. Muthazhagan's speech. Only after hearing our members' appreciative comments, did I realize that my judgement about the speech, made in haste, was wrong" said Kannan, his tone conveying his embarrassment..

"I thought that Mr. Muthazhagan chose an appropriate topic after studying our audience, spoke well on that topic and impressed the audience. But, when you said that his speech was not good, I didn't want to enter into an argument with you" said Mani, with a smile.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Knowing Your Audience

Verse 711 (in Tamil):
avai aRindhu ArAyndhu solluga sollin
thogai aRindha thUymaiyavar.

Meaning:

A scholar well-versed in the use of words should speak after deliberation and after ascertaining the nature of the audience

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

Verse 712
Verse 710

710. What Selvamani 'Saw'

A team consisting of four senior executives of Kaurna Enterprises, led by Manager Velu, came to the office of Sakthi Enterprises, to discuss a business proposal to be presented by the latter. 

Nirmal Kumar, the Senior Partner and three senior executives were present from the side of Sakthi Enterprises.

When the meeting was about to be called to an end, Nirmalkumar told Velu in a lighter vein, "Four of you have come for the meeting. But one person never opened his mouth!" 

"By nature, he is reserved" said Velu.

'Why did you bring him to the meeting, then?' Nirmalkumar wanted to ask but didn't.

"We will convey the details of your proposal to our Proprietor. He will then contact you and convey our response to you" said Velu and took leave of Nirmalkumar.

After the team from Karuna Enterprises had left, Nirmalkumar asked the executives who were present during the meeting, "What is your impression? Will they accept our proposal?"

"Definitely, sir. I noticed that they were highly impressed by your presentation" said one of the executives.

"How were the discussions? How do you find Nirmalkumar's offer?" asked Karunanadam, the Proprietor of Karuna Enterprises

"We three feel that his proposal is attractive. But, Mr. Selvamani seems to have a different perspective" said Velu.

Karunanandam looked a Selvamani.

"Nirmalkumar is not being honest. He intends to take us for a ride" said Selvamani. 

"What is the basis for your assessment?" asked Karunandam.

"I suppose Mr. Selvamani read Nirmalkumar's mind, just by looking at his eyes" quipped Gunasekar, one of the executives who participated in the discussion.

"Gunasekar! Don't try to mock at Mr. Selvamani. You have joined this firm only recently. Mr. Selvamani has been with this firm, from the time my father had started this firm. While handing over the reins of this firm to me, my father told me, 'Make whatever change you want, but keep Selvamani with you always.' You can hear from senior people like Mr. Velu, stories about how Mr. Selvamani's judgement about people has helped us and how his assessment of people has saved us from taking wrong decisions, on several occasions in the past" Karunandam told Gunasekar, in a tone of reprimand.

"I am sorry, sir!" said Gunasekaran, feeling embarrassed.

"Gunasekaran is right. I learnt what was in Nirmalkumar's mind, only by looking at his eyes. Whenever Nirmalkumar gave false or misleading information during his presentation, I was able to sense the guile in his eyes. When I looked at the eyes of his executives during those times, I could sense them feeling 'how our boss is lying!' in their eyes" said Selvamani, removing his spectacles and wiping them with a soft cloth. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 71
Divining the Mind

Verse 710 (in Tamil):
nuNNiyam enbAr aLakkum kOl kANungAl
kaN alladhu illai piRa.

Meaning:

The scale used by the astute to gauge the emotions is nothing but their eyes.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'appA kAlaththil irndhE iruppavar' by the same author.) 

Verse 711
Verse 709

709. Restoring A Relationship

Guhan and his younger brother Aravindan, who had been living as a single family, partitioned the properties and began to live as separate familie, soon after Aravindan got married,.

Subsequently, the contact between them ceased to exist.

After ten years, Aravindan sent word to Guhan through Sankaran, a distant relative, that he wanted to meet Guhan. 

After a few exchanges that took place through Sankaran, it was decided that the two brothers would meet at Sankaran's house.

Guhan's wife Bhuvana was not happy about the meeting. 

"Why does your brother want to meet you ten years after he broke his relationship with you? This meeting is not going to do you any good. The relationship had been broken. Let it remain broken!" said Bhuvana.

"Why are you being so skeptical? My brother is a good person. After his marriage, instigated by his wife, he demanded partition of the properties and broke his relationship with me. Now, he seems to have realized his mistake and wants to reestablish the relationship. He has been running a business and is well off. He has bought a house and a car. He doesn't need any favour from me. When he has a change of heart and wants to restore the relationship between us, should I say no?" asked Guhan. 

"Your brother's wife is a nice woman. She was not responsible for your brother breaking away from you. Your brother has always had a resentment and spite towards you. That was the reason he was adamant about dividing your family properties, taking his share and moving away from you."

"I am happy that you are supporting your sister in law. But, you don't know about my brother. Do you know how affectionate and how respectful he was towards me, till the time he got married?"

"I am telling you what I have observed. Outwardly, your brother might have been affectionate and respectful towards you. But inwardly, he had been resenting you, seeing you as an enemy. I could see his bitterness in his eyes, when he was talking to you. I didn't share my impressions with you at that time, since I didn't want to create any rift between the two of you."

"Maintain the same attitude now. That will be good for our family" said Guhan, in an authoritative tone, by way of putting her down. 

After Guhan had returned home from the meeting he had with Aravindan at Sankaran's house, Bhuvana asked him, "How did the meeting go?"

"It went on well. My brother has not changed a bit. Though he is a wealthy businessman now, he showed me the same respect and affection he did ten years before. He has invited both of us to his house. We will go there next week. We are going to be close, as we were in the past" said Guhan, with excitement. 

After a couple of days, Sankaran came to Guhan's house.

"Guhan! After you and Aravindan met in my house and had a conversation, I felt that there was something wrong about Aravindan. I made enquieries about him. He has incurred heavy losses in his business. He is about to lose all his assets, including his house. That was why he wanted to renew his relationship with you, hoping that he could seek your help, in future" said Sankaran.

"What if this were the case? I will be only too happy to help my brother, when he is passing through a difficult time" said Guhan.

"You have such a good heart. But, your brother is still inimical towards you" said Sankaran.

"Inimical towards me! How do you say this?" asked Guhan, shocked.

He immediately recalled Bhuvana's words and was surprised that Sankaran's words echoed her assessment of Aravindan. He impulsively turned to Bhuvana. But, she was looking at Sankaran, waiting to hear what he was going to see. 

"I saw a feeling of hostility in his eyes, when he was talking to you. That was what made me make enquieries about him. I think his intentions for mending his relationship with you are not noble. Don't allow him to come too close to you. Let the broken relationship remain broken."

'Let the broken relationship remain broken!'

It was an echo of Bhuvana's words.

Aravind wondered why he could not see the sense of hostility in his brother's eyes that Bhuvana and Sankaran had been able to see.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 71
Divining the Mind

Verse 709 (in Tamil):
pagaimaiyum kENmaiyum kaN uraikkum kaNNin
vagaimai uNarvArp peRin.

Meaning:

To those who can decipher the subtleties of the eyes, the eyes will convey the animosity or affinity of a person.

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

Verse 710
Verse 708

173. A Silk Sari for the Wife

A few months after joining the audit department of the government as an Assistant, Ramesh got the chance to accompany an audit officer, on his tour, for auditing the accounts of a co-operative society.

Sitaraman, the audit officer moved with Ramesh not as a superior, but as an elder friend.

The cooperative society was running a silk sari weaving unit at Kanchipuram.

After they had landed at the office of the society and conveyed the purpose of their visit to the Managing Director of the society, the Managing Director assigned Varadarajan, a senior executive of the society, to get them the records and documents required for the audit.

Varadarajan sat with them throughout, getting them the records and documents sought by them.

In the evening, Varadarajan took the duo to some temples. 

"As you may be aware, Kanchipuram is a temple town. This town more than a hundred temples, including 108 Siva temples, 15 Vishnu temples and temples for other gods like the Sun, Yama etc. These include 15 Vishnu temples whose glory was sung by the Alwars, the Vaishnavite saints and 11 Siva temples sung by the Nayanmars, the Saivite saints. According to ancient texts, this place is one of the 7 holy places that would offer salvation to the soul. The renowned Sanskrit poet Kalidasa has described Kanchipuram as the foremost among all the towns. I will take you to as many important temples as I can, during the few days of your stay in this town" he said 

After Sitaraman and Ramesh had returned to their hotel, Ramesh asked Sitaraman, "Sir! We have come here to audit the accounts of the society. But, the society people pay for our food. Additionally, Mr. Varadarajan took us to a few temples in a car. Is it right on our part to accept this kind of hospitality from people whose accounts we are auditing?"

Sitaraman looked at Ramesh for a moment and then said, "The question you have raised is pertinent. But, this society is run well. There will be no malpractices here. If it were an organization that follows questionable practices or fudges the accounts, I won't accept its hospitality. Providing food to the visitors and taking them out for sight-seeing are considered acts of courtesy, by a person or an organization. Though we are auditors, we are also treated as visitors by this society, whose accounts we are auditing. If we decline these gestures, we may be considered discourteous. If we detect lapses or wrongdoings during the audit, we don't have to overlook them, just because we have accepted the society's hospitality. In other words, we don't have to feel indebted to someone, because he gave us a good lunch!"

The audit was completed in four days. As mentioned by Sitaraman even at the beginning of the audit, there were no irregularities in the accounts of the society. There were some minor lapses, which Sitaraman brought to the notice of the Managing Director, after completing the audit. He told the Managing Director that he would mention those lapses in his report and that if the society rectified them and confirmed to the government that the lapses had been rectified, there would be no problems. 

When they took leave of the Managing Director, he gave two packets to Sitaraman.  

Sitaraman said, "Thank you" and received the packets. 

After returning to the hotel room, Sitaraman gave one of the two packets to Ramesh. 

"What is this, sir?" asked Ramesh. 

"Gift" said Sitaraman, with a smile. 

"What is this gift? Why are they giving it to us?"

"What gift can you expect from an organization that produces silk saris? It should be a silk sari. Open the packet and see for yourself."

Sitaraman then opened the packet that had a label carrying his name. "They have labelled the packets. So, the two gifts could be different" he said. 

The packet contained a silk sari. Even from its appearance, it could be seen that it was an expensive sari. It had a price tag, showing the price of the sari as Rs.21,375."

"They have not removed the price tag, since they want us to know the value of the gift!" said Sitaraman. "Would you like to open your packet here or would you prefer to open it after reaching home?'

"I don't want to take this, sir" said Ramesh.

"Let us first open the packet and see what is inside" said Sitaraman. He then opened the packet carrying Ramesh's name on the label. It also contained an expensive silk sari. The price tag mentioned the price as Rs.10,275. 

"They have given me such an expensive gift!" exclaimed Ramesh. 

"I thought you might feel that your gift is less valuable then mine. But, you are grudging their giving you a gift!"

Ramesh recalled how his wife Gita had a fascination for saris. Whenever she went for shopping, she would explore expensive saris, by looking at them and touching them. But, she would buy only a low-priced sari.  

"Why should I spend a lot of money on saris? I can save that money and spend it on the children that will be born to us" she would tell Ramesh.

Gita had no silk saris, except for one silk sari that her parents had bought for her at the time of her marriage. She would often tell Ramesh, "Silk saris costing one lakh rupees and above are available. I don't want to buy such expensive saris. But, someday, I should buy a moderately priced silk sari."

However, considering their state of finances, Gita had been postponing fulfilling her desire. She satisfied herself by looking at and feeling expensive silk saris, during the times she visited textile shops to purchase some clothes. 

'If I give this silk sari Gita, she will feel excited. She will be doubly happy that she has been able to get a silk sari, without making her husband empty his purse, for paying its price.

'However...'

"Sir! Don't mistake me. Can I return this gift to the society?"

"Why do you want to do this? This is a small thing. We are not taking a bribe from them for covering up their lapses. We have done our job honestly. This is a gift they have given us out of their goodwill for us. Present it to your wife. She will be happy."

"Yes, sir. She will be happy. In fact, she has been craving to buy a silk sari. I can also be happy about fulfilling a small wish of her. But I don't want to lose the greatest joy, for the sake of this petty joy."

"What is the greatest joy?"

"I believe that the greatest joy in life is to live on what I earn by doing an honest job, without harbouring any desire to get anything from the other person. Don't mistake me for saying this. This is my outlook in life" said Ramesh, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"I won't mistake you. I have been considering myself a man of integrity. But your standard of morality is much higher. Keep it up. Instead of returning this sari to the society, I can take it. But, I want the Managing Director of the society to know that you didn't take the gift. I will ring up to the Managing Director and ask him to send someone here, to take the gift back" said Sitaraman.

"Thank you for understanding me, sir" said Ramesh. 

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 18
Not Coveting Others' Belongings

Verse 173 (In Tamil)

siRRinbam vehki aRan alla seyyArE
maRRinbam vENdubavar.

Meaning:

Those who desire the highest bliss will not act crave for the trifle pleasures that other people’s money can give.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kAnchip pattuduththi' by the same author)

Verse 172
Verse 170

708. A Silent Interrogation

After Saravanan was questioned by the Sub-Inspector of Police, he was taken to another room in the police station.

Saravanan was not sure whether the Sub-Inspector was convinced by his statement that he didn't commit the crime he was accused of.

Saravanan had feared that the police would beat him up and torture him in various ways. But, no such thing happened. The Sub-Inspector questioned Saravanan intensively. During the course of the interrogation, he threatened Saravanan that if he lied, the consequences would be severe. There was a lathi on the table. But, the Sub-Inspector didn't use it. 

When Saravanan was taken to another room, he observed that a person, not wearing the police uniform, was sitting there. He asked Saravanan to sit on the chair opposite to him. He gazed at Saravanan's face for a few seconds. He then took a book kept on the table and began to read it. At intervals, he would raise his gaze from the book, look at Saravanan for a few minutes and return to the reading again.

After about fifteen minutes, the policemen took Saravanan to the lock-up in the station and locked him up inside.

After sometime, the door of the lock-up was opened. The Sub-Inspector entered the lock-up. He had the lathi in his hand. Even as Saravanan looked at the Sub-Inspector with apprehension, the lathi hit his body. 

After a few minutes, Saravanan confessed to the crime. 

"Sir! Is what we have been doing right?" Constable Sekar asked the Sub-Inspector. 

"Earlier, we used to beat up every one who was suspected to be involved in a crime. But, nowadays, we don't beat up all the suspects. We question a suspect and if he doesn't accept his guilt, we send him to Mr. Sundar. Mr. Sundar looks at the suspect's face for some time and then tells us whether the suspect is guilty, whether he has been speaking the truth, what he is thinking at the moment etc. If he says the suspect is speaking the truth, we don't release the suspect immediately. We continue to hold him in custody and question him again and again. In most of the cases, the person cleared by Mr. Sundar has turned out to be innocent. On several occasions, we have caught the real culprit and released the suspect. Otherwise, we would release the suspect only after we are convinced that he is not guilty, based on repeated questioning. But, if Mr. Sundar says that a suspect is lying, we question the suspect more intensively and even beat him up, if required. In most of the cases, such suspects confess to the crime, after a while! By following this procedure, we minimize the chances of an innocent person getting beaten up, because of the suspicion we have on them" explained the Sub-Inspector.

"But, this procedure is not as per the law."

"We are not violating the law. Sundar is a retired police officer. By virtue of his long experience in the police department, he has acquired the skill of finding out whether the person is speaking the truth, just by observing his face for a while. We are making use of his skill and experience. But, we are not entirely going by Mr. Sundar;s judgement. We use his judgement as a guide, but make our own assessment" said the Sub-Inspector.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 71
Divining the Mind

Verse 708 (in Tamil):
mugam nOkki niRka amaiyum agam nOkki
uRRadhu uNarvArp peRin.

Meaning:

If a person has the power to read the mind of another, just by looking at him, it is enough that he stands looking at the other person's face.

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

Verse 709
Verse 707