54. Madhavi's Manouvre

Lakshmi, who was getting relieved from her position as the personal secretary of the Branch Manager of the company after she resigned her job, appraised Madhavi, who was to replace her, of the tasks related to the position.  

The day Lakshmi was to be relieved, she reluctantly told Madhavi, "Madhavi! Initially, I didn't want to talk to you about this. But during the few days I have interacted with you, you have made me feel so close to you that I feel I should share this with you."

"Tell me, Lakshmi!" said Madhavi.

"Our Branch Manager Murthy has a habit of behaving inappropriately with the women employees. We can survive here only if we learn to put up with his behaviour."

"What do you mean by 'putting up with his behaviour?' What kind of behaviour are you referring to?" asked Madhavi, in a perplexed tone.

"Well...He will comment about our appearance, our attire etc. He will say 'you look stunning in this dress,' 'this colour suits your complexion' etc. He will tell us some dirty jokes. Sometimes, he will touch us while talking to us..."

"He will touch us!" exclaimed Madhavi, feeling shocked.

"He will do it in a way to make it seem accidental, unintentional or inconspicuous. But when he does it repeatedly, we can understand his intentions!"

"You have been putting up with this kind of behaviour?" asked Madhavi, in disbelief.

"What could I do? He is a senior executive. He has the power to fire me. I am unmarried. I am used to men making passes at me. I used to console myself thinking that it was like someone intentionally rubbing against my body in a crowded bus. But the lady who worked in this position before me was a married woman. She also put up with this. She cried when she shared her ordeal with me at the time of her leaving the job. You are also married. So, I wanted to caution you!" said Lakshmi.

Madhavi was both amused and angry that Lakshmi thought that it would be easier for an unmarried woman to put up with such behaviour.

"Thank you Lakshmi, for appraising me" said Madhavi.

At home, Madhavi discussed this issue with her husband. She thought that he might ask her to quit the job. But he was unperturbed. "You can handle this," he said. Madhavi wondered how.

Murthy began to exhibit the kind of behaviour Lakshmi had talked about.

"Your name sounds sexy...well, I mean attractive!" he told Madhavi.

Madhavi didn't respond to this.

Emboldened by her silence, Murthy went on. "I have noticed that not all costumes suit everyone. But you look attractive in all costumes."

"Just a minute, sir. I need to take this call" said Madhavi and went out of his cabin, without waiting for his nod. She returned after a couple of minutes.

"Who was the caller?" asked Murthy.

Ignoring his impertinence, Madhavi told him, "Sir, you said you wanted me to attend to some letters."

"Yes. This is a test for your ability to draft replies to letters. Take these letters, type out suitable replies and bring them to me" said Murthy, taking out a couple of letters from his desk.

Thinking 'this is a test for you too!' Madhavi positioned her mobile which she, when she had gone out of his cabin, set for shooting a video, in a particular angle.

'I hope that in this angle, the scene will be captured clearly!'

Her right hand holding the mobile phone, she stretched her left hand to receive the letters from him.

"Why do you stretch out your left hand? Are you left-handed?" asked Murthy.

In the guise of handing over the letters to her, he gripped her wrist. Madhavi pressed the video button.

Seeing that Madhavi had not protested, he moved his palm over her forearm.

"Take away your hand, sir. The video has been taken!" said Madhavi.

Murthy pulled away his hand in a jerk, as if hit by an electric shock and asked her, "What is this?" in a tone that displayed more panic than authority.

Madhavi showed him the video captured in her mobile and said, "I have shot what you did! Your wife should feel happy if she watches this. My face has not been captured here. So, I can post this in Facebook as well! I was a little concerned whether I would get a good view, since I was shooting at an angle from below. But the video has come out nicely. Hats off to modern technology!"

"What do you want?" asked Murthy, in a tone mixed with desperation and apprehension.

"First, you should treat me with the dignity due to me as a person, even though I am your subordinate. Secondly, you should stop behaving inappropriately with the women working here."

Murthy stood nonplussed, unable to decide how to respond to this.

"Don't worry. I won't use this video to blackmail you. I will give you the respect due to you as my superior. I will stick to the discipline required of my position and carry out my responsibilities sincerely."

Without waiting for Murthy's reply, Madhavi took hold of the letters held by Murthy and left his cabin.

Thirukkural
Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 6
The Worth of A Wife

Verse 54 (In Tamil)

peNNin perundhakka yAvuLa kaRpennum
thiNmai uNdAgap peRin.

Meaning:

If a woman has the valuable quality of chastity, what can be more glorious than her?

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'mAdhaviyum kaNNagidhAn' by the same author)

Verse 55

Verse 53