"There are two groups in our company. To which group do you belong?" asked Gurumurthi. Although both of us have been working for the same company, this was the first time I was interacting with him.
"I am not with any group, but what about you?" I replied.
"I am with the Devaraj group. Devaraj commands more influence with the top management of our company. Venkatakrishnan's group is not so strong. I suggest that you also join the Devaraj group. It will be to your advantage" advised Gurumurthi.
"Is there any application form?" I asked, somewhat naively.
He threw me a contemptuous look and left.
Though I am not with either group, I am, in fact, with a third group - the Paranthaman group!
Well, there is nothing called the Paranthaman group, in reality!
There has always been an intense rivalry between the two senior executives of our company, Devaraj and Venkatakrishnan. Both would often be involved in some game of one-upmanship to demonstrate one's superiority over the other.
During certain times, the Devaraj group would appear to be up in the ladder of power and influence but during other times, the position would be reversed with the Venkatakrishnan group gaining the upper hand.
With almost the entire organization split between the two groups, a handful of people like me chose not to identify ourselves with either group.
During the times Devaraj was having an upper hand, he would harass people belonging to Venkatakshanan's group. The harassment may take various forms from minor irritants like discrimination in the allocation of work to severe injustices like scuttling a promotion opportunity.
At one point, it appeared that Devaraj had become well entrenched, with his influence having increased considerably. This resulted in some people moving from the Venkatakrishnan group to the Devaraj group.
But, after some time, the situation changed unexpectedly. With Devaraj falling from grace due to an act of indiscretion on his part, Venkatakrishnan moved up, as if to fill the void. Now, it was Venkatakrishnan's turn to take revenge on Devaraj by harassing his followers in the organization.
Gurumurthi was one of the victims of this revenge. His expected promotion didn't materialize. On the other hand, he was issued memos asking him to respond to some complaints against him!
One day, Gurumurthi ran into me. Talking about his plight, he lamented, "My calculations seem to have gone wrong. I am paying a heavy price for my allegiance to Devaraj. Perhaps, I should cross over to Venkatakrishnan's side!"
"But, what if Devaraj becomes powerful again?" I asked.
He had no answer to this question. He asked me,"You are not with either group. Has this not affected you in any way?"
"Not at all. In fact, I have authentic information that my name is in the promotion list that is expected to be released shortly."
"How could you manage this, with no support from either of these power centres?" asked Gurmurthi, in a tone of surprise.
"I am with the Paranthaman group!" I said.
"But Paranthaman is the Managing Director!" he exclaimed. "He has no group and he is far away, sitting in the head office."
"But he knows what's going on here, and he has been watching the tussle between these two groups. If any harm is caused to a person like me who is loyal to him, he won't be watching it idly. Maybe that's why Venkatakrishnan did not try to scuttle my promotion."
"I have made a serious mistake. If I had been loyal to the organization rather than to one of these power centres, I would have got the support of the dispassionate Managing Director" said Gurumurthi, in a tone of regret.
"Nothing is lost, yet," he added, "I am going to keep myself away from these two groups and join the Paranthaman group. Is there any application form?"
ThirukkuRaL
Section I - The Path of Virtue
Section I - The Path of Virtue
Chapter 1
In Praise of God
Verse 4 (in Tamil)
vENduthal vENdAmai ilAnadi sErnthArkku
yAndum idumbai ila.
Meaning:
A person seeking refuge at the feet of the Lord who has no likes and dislikes will never be afflicted by sufferings.
(This is the English version of the story 'neengal enrthakkatchi?" written by the same author)
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