460. The Ward Boy

"How are you, Mr. Kumaran?" asked the doctor.

"Feeling better, doctor. The pain has subsided now" said Kumaran.

"If you start drinking again, it will be very difficult to cure you. Your liver became affected. Since, the problem was at an early stage, we were able to cure you. But you have to be careful, hereafter."

The doctor then turned to Kumaran's wife Leela and told her, "Please take care of your husband" and left the room.

"All these years, he didn't listen to my words. His drinking habit led to his liver getting affected. You have cured him and cautioned him against resuming the habit. Let me see whether he is going to listen to you!' thought Lila, feeling let down and helpless.

After some time, Leela left for home, after taking leave of Kumaran.

A few minutes later, a ward boy came into the room and asked Kumaran, "Sir, do you need anything?"

Kumaran shook his head sideways, signaling that he didn't need anything.

The ward boy, who was about to leave the room, turned back, came near Kumaran and asked him, "Sir, do you recognize me?"

"Your face looks familiar. But I am unable to place you" said Kumaran.

"My name is Thangaraj. I was your classmate in the school."

"Oh, Thangaraj! I am sorry I couldn't recognize you immediately. Are you working here? I have been here for the past one week, but I have not seen you all these days" said Kumaran, his voice showing enthusiasm.

"Yes, sir. I have been on leave for the past one week. I joined duty after leave, only today. I am pleasantly surprised to see you, after many years" said Thangaraj.

"Drop the 'sir!' Talk to me the way you did in the school. We have not been in touch after completing our school education. How are you?"

"I am ok. You know about me. When we were studying in the school, there was a group of people that included you, Subramani, Kathiresan etc, which was focused on studies. There was another group comprising me, Narayanan and a few others, which had no interest in studies. People in my group would make fun of people in your group, calling you donkeys that devour books. We would deride the teachers. After school hours, we would roam in the streets. We developed the habit of smoking even at that age. We ruined our lives, without realizing what we were doing. No one in our group was able to come up in life. In spite of having the financial means to pursue higher education, I could not join the college, because I didn't get through my school final examination. After struggling for a long time, I got the job as a ward boy in this hospital. I am somehow managing to survive. I am sure every one in your group would have come up in life. You and I are good examples to illustrate that being in the company of good people will make good things happen to us and being in the company of wicked people will ruin our lives" said Thangaraj, in a tone that reflected regret and remorse.

'You are right. I am a good example to your theory in another way also, in that, while being in good company during my student days helped me come up in life, cultivating the friendship of unwholesome people in a later period, led me to get into the drinking habit, resulting in my lever getting affected and my getting admitted to the hospital for treatment!' thought Kumaran.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 46
Shunning the Company of Mean People

Verse 460 (in Tamil):

nallinaththin Ungum thuNai illai thI inaththin
allal paduppathUm il.

Meaning:

There is no greater support than the company of good people. There is nothing that will cause more grief than the company of wicked people.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'paLLi naNban' the same author.)

Verse 461
Verse 459