383. A Day with A Political Leader

Arumugam's secretary introduced me to Arumugam saying, "He is a journalist from the magazine 'We.'"

"Welcome" said Arumugam. "You have come so early, at 6 in the morning!"

 "This time was suggested by you!" I said.

"You wanted to be with me and observe my activities for one full day. I said that my day would start at 6 am. But, being a journalist, your working day will start at 9 am, won't it?"

"No, sir. Nowadays, the working hours have become 24 x 7 in our profession."

"Fine. The title 'Arumugam - six to six' may be appropriate for your article about me!"

"Sir, If you don't mind, I would like to be with you till you go to bed."

"You are welcome. You can be with me in my dream too. Then, you will be able to witness that even in my dream, I think of people's welfare!" said Arumugam, with a smile.

Arumugam was a former Chief Minister. It was nine years since he had lost power. But there would hardly have been a day during these nine years that the newspapers didn't carry any news about him. He was so active even as the leader of a party in the opposition.

Since it was widely expected that he would come to power again with his party winning the elections to be held the next year, the media were giving him even more coverage than usual.

My editor decided to feature an article on the topic 'A day with the former Chief Minister' and assigned the task to me.

Arumugam updated himself of his engagements for the day by going through the program sheet his secretary had prepared the previous day. He then briskly started his activities for the day. He kept himself busy for the whole day, except for resting for one hour in the afternoon. 

As indicated by him to me, it was eleven in the night by the time his activities for the day came to an end.

When I took leave of him, he told me, "I don't know what you are going to write. But please tell me briefly what is the impression gained by you based on your observing me for the whole day. My going to bed will be postponed by ten minutes, but it is fine."

I told him, "Sir! I didn't have the opportunity of knowing about your functioning when you were the Chief Minister. I was a boy at that time. From what I observed today, I can say that you possess an important trait required of a leader of a country."

"What is that?"

"Doing promptly what you need do. You deviated a couple of times from your planned activities to attend to something that needed to be done immediately. For example, when you came to know that the leader of 'Tamil Arasu Party,' in an interview to a TV channel, had expressed his intention to have an electoral alliance with your party, you quickly arranged for a meeting with him at your office and got a commitment from him on aligning with your party in the coming election. With the ruling party making hectic efforts to woo him, your preempting the ruling party by drawing him to your side has strengthened your position. There were a few other such incidents too when I witnessed your acting with alacrity. Your choosing to delay your going to bed by ten minutes for getting to know my impression, rather than waiting till my article is published, is also a reflection of your inclination to act with promptness, though this exercise may not be useful to you!"

"Don't say it won't be useful. Other people's perceptions about me will have more weight in deciding my success than my own actions. I have always been interested in learning about the perspective of intelligent and well-informed young people like you!" said Arumugam.

"Hearing you say this prompts me to mention another trait of yours - a healthy curiosity and a willingness to learn new tings. I have observed that you often make profound observations about matters relating to the Economy, Foreign Affairs etc, though your education had stopped at the school level. Today I saw an expert briefing you on developments in areas like the Economy, Emerging Technologies, International Politics etc. You listened to him keenly and asked him pointed questions so as to gain a good understanding of the topics he briefed you on!"

"Yes. I have been taking this tuition from him since long. He is an erudite person who keeps his knowledge updated. He briefs me once a week!" said Arumugam, smiling.

"Another thing I should mention is your courage. I am aware of your reputation as a person of courage. Today I had a chance to witness it. Your party had announced a black flag demonstration against the Prime Minister, during his scheduled visit to our city next week. Today, the Chief Minister issued a warning that people showing black flags to the Prime Minister would be arrested under the National Security Act. Immediately after he made this announcement, you issued a statement that you would be leading the black flag demonstration. Your bold statement will greatly inspire your party cadre."

"Thank you, friend. I am sure that you will also be including some negative things about me in your article! I will read them when the article is published. You mentioned about doing things promptly. I don't want to delay my going to bed any further. We will meet again. My best wishes."

Arumugam shook my hands and bade goodbye to me.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 39
The Might of a Ruler

Verse 383 (in Tamil):
thUngAmai kalvi thuNivudaimai immUnRum
nIngA nilan ALbavarkku.

Meaning:
Alertness, Learning and Courage:

these should remain the constant companions of a ruler.

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

Verse 384
Verse 382