520. The Protege!

"The Chief Minister has been summoning the ministers one by one and reviewing their performance. Has he reviewed your performance?" asked Anandan, the General Secretary of the party. 

"Reviewing my performance! I am a senior leader in the party. I rank next to the Chief Minister in the cabinet. As every one is aware, I was the one who brought Ilankumaran, the present Chief Minister, to the higher levels in the party hierarchy. From suggesting that he change his name from 'Balakumar' to the politically appropriate 'Iankumaran,' through introducing him to our late leader and getting him a seat to contest the assembly elections to getting him a place in the late leader's cabinet, I have played a key role in shaping his political career. He is referred to as Chengalvarayan's protege! Will he review my performance?" said Chengalvarayan, with a giggle that was indicative of laughing at the very mention of the Chief Minister reviewing his performance.

"But, the fact remains that Ilankumaran is the Chief Minister now and you are a minister in his cabinet! I asked you this because I heard that the Chief Minister was very harsh with several senior ministers, while reviewing their performance. He has warned several ministers that even if there is a small lapse or irregularity in their performance, he will drop them from the cabinet. 

Chengalvarayan laughed out loud. "Not bad, not bad at all! Senior leaders like me made Ilankumaran the Chief Minister, intending that a young person adorning the Chief Minister's chair would boost the image of our party among the people. He, on his part, has quickly built up a good reputation for himself, through his effective functioning. Perhaps, he now wants to exercise the authority of his position. But, his strict dealings would be confined to others. He won't try to show his power to me."

Chengalvarayan's mobile phone rang.

Anandan noticed that while speaking on the phone, Chengalvarayan's face expression began to change.

After completing the telephone conversation, Chengalvarayan wiped his face with his handkerchief and told Anandan, "It was my secretary. The Chief Minister has fixed up a meeting tomorrow for reviewing the performance of my ministry." 

As soon as Chengalvarayan entered the Chief Minister's cabin, Chief Minister Ilankumaran got up from his seat and received him with folded hands, by way of showing his respect to his mentor.

Chengalvarayan took his seat and asked the Chief Minister, "What is this, Ilankumaran? You want to review my performance! Don't you know that everything is going well in my ministry?" in a tone of mild reprimand.

"As you know, sir, the purpose of this review is only to ensure that everything goes well in all the ministries" said Ilankumaran, politely. "You are a senior minister in the cabinet and a senior leader in the party. So, I don't have to explain the importance of good governance to you. Only if the ministers function properly, they will be able to guide the officials in the right path and ensure that there is no corruption or irregularity at any level and that the benefits of our good deeds reach the people. You being a senior minister and my mentor, I am doing the review of your department, without the presence of the Chief Secretary and the Secretary of your department."

Ilankumaran then handed over a file to Chengalvarayan and told him, "Sir! This is a report given by the Intelligence department about the irregularities prevalent in your department. I don't know whether these irregularities have come to your notice. Please enquire into these and get them rectified. Please ensure that such irregularities won't arise in future. I am now leaving for a function. I will see you later."

Even as Chengalvarayan was thinking how to respond to the Chief Minister's remarks, Ilankumaran got up from his seat and began to leave his cabin. As he neared the door, Ilankumaran turned back and told Chengalvarayan, "Please get every thing rectified within a week, because I am going to reshuffle the cabinet by the end of this month." 

Chengalvarayan observed that Ilankumaran was smiling as he said this, but Chengalvarayan was not sure that it was a friendly smile.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 52
Assessing Before Acting

Verse 520 (in Tamil):

nAL thORum nAduga mannan vinai seyvAn
kOdAmai kOdAdhu ulagu.

Meaning:

The ruler should review the progress of a job regularly. As long as the people performing the task don’t falter, no harm will come to his kingdom.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'chengalvarAyanin  chellap piLLai' by the same author.)

Verse 521 (Soon)
Verse 519