68. The Son's Ideas

"During my school days, I was the class topper. But our son is not good at studies" lamented Sankaran.

"He is scoring more than sixty percent in all his subjects. Why are you complaining?" said his wife Shanta.

"These days, only a score above ninety is considered good. A score of sixty doesn't have much value."

"Shall we arrange tuition for him?"

Sankaran engaged a tutor for tutoring his son Madhavan at home. But there was not much improvement in Madhavan's scores. When Sankaran complained to the tutor about the lack of improvement in Madhavan's scores, the tutor said, "Sorry, sir. Your son is above average but not very bright. He is doing his best but he can't go beyond this level."

Madhavan's teachers in the school also had the same assessment about Madhavan.

Sankaran reconciled himself to the fact that his son was only 'mediocre' in his studies.

Sankaran had studied Engineering. He was running a small factory. It was his desire that Madhavan should take over the business from him.

After Madhavan had completed his schooling, Sankaran got him admitted in an Engineering college. Given his scores, Madhavan could get a seat only in a college that was at the second level in reputation. Sankaran had to pay a substantial sum as donation to secure a seat for his son.

Sankaran hoped that after completing his Engineering degree, Madhavan could work in a large industry for a few years, gain experience and then take up managing his factory, when the knowledge he gained from his studies and experience would help him to manage his factory efficiently.

During the first two years of his study in the Engineering college, Madhavan was getting only average scores in most of the subjects.  However, from the third year, when Engineering subjects were introduced, Madhavan seemed to have developed a keen interest in learning. 

His interest and involvement were particularly high in areas like project works, seminar presentations etc. He also began to show interest in learning about the functioning of his father's factory. He visited the factory several times and tried to learn about various processes and systems.

During the final year of his study, Madhavan wanted to take up making improvements in his father's factory as the topic of his project work. When he expressed his desire to Sankaran, Sankaran asked him, "What kind of improvements can you make in my factory?'

"Improvements can be made in the technical aspects of the processes and in the systems.They can be simplified and streamlined in a better way" said Madhavan. 

"I set up my factory with the technical knowhow of a company abroad. My agreement with them has now expired. But, I am allowed to continue to use the technology. There is not much scope for improvements."

"Dad! You have been using a technology that might have become outdated by now. That is why the foreign company had allowed you to continue to use that technology. That company would have moved to a new technology by now."

"Even if that were the case, how does it matter? This technology has been serving me well. I am able to compete with other companies in this field and sustain my business. What more is required?"

"We can do better, dad. I have some ideas. It may be possible to modernize our factory without spending a lot of money. Doing so will bring down our cost of production and thereby improve our profitability" said Madhavan. 

"Well, you can make suggestions for the sake of doing your project. But I may not be able to implemeent them" said Sankaran.

Madhavan visited the factory several times along with a classmate of him who was his project partner, studied the processes and systems of the factory and gathered more details about the working of the factory by talking to the Engineers and other executives working in the factory. But Sankaran did not get himself involved in Madhavan's project.

Sankaran did not even go through Madhavan's project report after it was finalized and submitted to the university.

After a few weeks, Madhavan told his father that his project was chosen as the best project of the year by the university.

Sankaran was pleasantly surprised. He got a copy of the project report and went thorough it. He was surprised at the suggestions given in the report. They appeared to be practical and implementable. He gave the report to a consultancy firm and asked the firm to study the report and give its views on the feasibility of the suggestions made. The firm said that it would take a couple of months for it to study and give its views.

In the meanwhile, Madhavan was recruited by a reputed company during the campus interview. Madhavan joined that company on completion of his studies.

The consultancy firm engaged by Sankaran took six months to give its report. The report said that the ideas given in Madhavan's project report were implementable. It also gave some suggestions on how to implement those ideas. Though engaging the consultancy firm cost Sankaran a considerable amount of time and money, the report facilitated implementation of Madhavan's suggestions with confidence.

Sankaran arrived at a decision. He called up Madhavan over phone and told him, "Hey Madhavan! The consultants have rated your project report very high. I have decided to implement your ideas."

"Glad to hear that, daddy! I had confidence in my ideas from the beginning" said Madhavan, feeling happy.

"True. But I wanted to be sure before implementing major changes in the factory. That's why I sought an opinion from the experts. I think that you should be the one who implements your ideas. Quit your job, come here and take over our factory."

"No, dad. I need to learn a lot more. As you had suggested earlier, I should gain experience by working in a big factory a few years and then join our factory. That way my experience will be useful in running our factory. Whenever I come home on leave, I will visit the factory and have a look at how things are progressing. When I feel I have gained enough experience, I will quit my job and join our factory" said Madhavan.

After he call ended, Sankaran was absorbed in thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" asked his wife.

"I considered myself wise and knowledgeable because I had started my own business after my studies and have been running it successfully. But our son has proved that he is smarter than me!" said Sankaran.

"You used to lament that Madhavan was not as bright s you!"

"I was wrong. Madhavan is much more brighter than me!"

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 7
The Boon of Having Children

Verse 68 (In Tamil)

thammin tham makkaL aRivudaimai mAnilaththu
mannuyirkku ellAm inidhu,

Meaning:

All living creatures on this earth feel prouder

when their children are smarter than themselves.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'mAdhavanin edhirkAlam' by the same author)

Verse 69 (Soon)
Verse 67