"What is the topic?" asked his father Gunaseelan.
Though Gunaseelan was not much educated, he had a sharp intellect and practical wisdom. Therefore, Manohar would often discuss certain aspects relating to his education with him.
"I want to analyze the factors that contributed to the success of four eminent persons in different fields and write a thesis based on my analysis."
"It appears to be a good idea. Have you got the approval of your guide for this topic?"
"Yes, I have. He also feels that this is a good idea. I have chosen the four people, whose success path I am going to study, and got the guide's approval for my selection. He spoke to those four people and got their consent. They have agreed to give me time to interview them and to furnish me the information I will need for my project" said Manohar, with enthusiasm.
"Good. Do it well" said Gunaseelan.
After three months, Manohar told his father, "Dad, I have completed my project. The guide has approved my project report."
"Very good. Can you tell me who the four eminent persons are?"
"Of course, I will. I thought that even when I told you about my idea, you would ask for the names!"
"I deliberately didn't ask you for the names at that time, lest I should express my views about them casually and it should affect your approach. But, you can tell me the names now."
"Damodaran, the well-known scientist, Muthu, the prominent industrialist, Manivannan, who became the CEO of a big organizations by virtue of his education and intelligence and Murugaiyan, who despite lacking a good education, joined the company as a labourer and rose to a top position in the company are the four people chosen by me.
"A good mix of people who came from diverse backgrounds and reached a top position in their fields!"
"I spent a lot of time interacting with them and learnt about their beginnings, their struggles and how they overcame them, the paths they traversed, the obstacles they faced, their values and beliefs, the important decisions taken by them about their life and profession, their attitudes, their line of thinking, the mistakes they made, their achievements and failures, the challenges faced by them, the risks taken by them, their role models, their approaches and experiences while working with others etc. The host of important and valuable learnings I have acquired, by studying these people and analyzing their paths, has given me a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. I am sure that these learnings will be very valuable to me in my own life" said Manohar, feeling proud.
"It is good that you have made your academic project useful to you in your life. Since you said that you could make use of what you had learnt from these four people in your life, I am asking you this question. If you were to take one of these four people as your role model, whom will you choose?"
"I have thought about this, dad. At different times, I have thought of following each of these four people. Since I had observed them from close quarters, studied the path traversed by them, and interacted with them and with people close to them, I also came to know of certain negative things about them. Of course, these won't find a place in my report. But I was feeling somewhat disturbed about the negative aspects that came to my attention. Since you asked me about choosing one of them as a role model, I am sharing the negative aspects about these people with you. There is a general perception that Damodaran has a weakness for women. There have been complaints of his sexual misconduct with some women. I think there is some truth in this. Manivannan is notorious for his short temper. People working under him always speak to him with fear. During the times I interviewed him, he showed his anger to me at times. I couldn't feel comfortable while interviewing him because of the fear that he could explode any time. Since Murugaiyan came up from the bottom, he has an exaggerated sense of pride about his ability and talents. Muthu is the only person who doesn't have any of these faults. Therefore, if I were to choose a role model, I will choose Muthu. Though I may not become an industrialist like him, I think, having him as my role model, will help me excel in any field I choose to work in" said Manohar.
"There is a saying that we should learn by observing four others. Of course, the number four is used here to denote 'a few.' Finding out the best among the four and learning from that person will be the most appropriate thing to do" said Gunaseelan, endorsing his son's opinion.
Condemnation of Faults
perukkam perumidha nIrththu.