476. Dealing With A Traitor

"A person who was employed by me starts the same line of business as mine, becomes my competitor and lures my customers! How treacherous! When I think of Sankaran's betrayal..." lamented Paramasivam. 

"You treated him as a son and entrusted him with the responsibility of managing the business. Armed with the authority given by you and emboldened by your support to his actions, he treated all of us with disrespect and indignity. Now, he has betrayed you and become your competitor" said Manickam, a senior employee of Paramasivam's firm.

Paramasivam sensed the grievance behind Manickam's words over Paramasivam's giving importance to a young newcomer and undermining the position of senior employees like him in the firm.

"Placing excessive trust on him was my mistake, no doubt. But he has underestimated my power and influence. I will drive him out of business within three months" said Paramasivam.

Paramasivam couldn't drive Sankaran out of business in three months, but he did it in six months.

Using business strategies, his wide circle of contacts and his money power, Paramasivam created problems for Sankaran making him face setbacks in his business and suffer losses. Eventually, Sankaran was forced to wind up his business.

Paramasivam was able to overcome the initial setbacks and financial losses caused by Sankaran's sabotage, in about a year. He brought his business to a stronger position than it was earlier.

After a few months, Manickam told Paramasivam, "Sir! Sankaran has started a new line of business."

"Yes, I heard" said Paramasivam.

"You know about this already!" said Manickam, surprised. "Even after you have clipped his wings, he is rising again. We should ensure that he winds up this business also" he added.

"Manickam! Sankaran struck against me. I retaliated and taught him a lesson. If he does some other business, why should I be concerned about it?" said Paramasivam.

"Sir! He betrayed you and tried to sabotage your business. Can he be allowed to get away with it?"

"Manickam! When someone attacks us, we should repulse the attack, using our entire strength and mobilizing all our resources. But if we keep chasing that person, even after repulsing his attack, we will end up causing harm to ourselves. History is rife with stories of kings, who, intending to demonstrate their power and strength, went to war with other kings for no justifiable reason and ended up destroying themselves. I will never venture into such self-destructive activities" said Paramasivam, firmly.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 48
Knowing One's Strength

Verse 476 (in Tamil):

nunik kombar ERinAr ahdhu iRandhu Ukkin
uyirkku iRudhi Agi vidum.

Meaning:

If a person climbing up to the top branch of a tree attempts to climb further up, it will lead to his destruction.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'engitta mOdhAdhE' the same author.)

Verse 477 (Soon)
Verse 475