568. Dhayalan's Anger

Managing Director Dhayalan summoned the senior executives of his company to his cabin.

"For the last two years, our profit has been coming down. Mr. Shanmugasundaram told me about this only yesterday. I don't know what he was doing for the past two years..." said Dayalan.

Shanmugasundaram, the Accounts Manager began to defend himself by saying, "Sir! I have already..."

Dhayalan stopped him saying, "Don't interrupt me. You can't escape from your responsibility, by telling me that you have already brought this to my notice. Mr. Selvam! As the Sales Manager, what are you going to say?"

"Sir! I have been pleading with you not to accept the orders that are not profitable to us. But, you asked us to supply our goods to your friend's firm at a concessional price. We have not even received the payments from them in full, for the goods supplied by us" said Selvam, somewhat reluctantly.

"Mr. Selvam! This is my company. I will supply my product to anyone and at any price. You can't question such decisions" said Dhayalan, angrily.

"No, sir. I mentioned this, because you asked for reasons for the fall in our company's profitability" said Selvam, in an apologetic tone.

"This is my message to all of you. This is my company. I will do things as per my wish. There is no need for me to consult any of you. But, I will definitely question you. You can't evade your responsibilities. Now, you may leave!" said Dhayalan, ending the discussion.

After coming out of Dhayalan's cabin, Shanmugasundaram took the other two executives aside and told them in a whispering tone, "As the Accounts Manager, I want to share share one thing with you. For the last two years, the profit of the company was coming down. This year, there will be a loss. This is my assessment, based on the revenue and expenses. Our MD will not consult us on any decision. If we suggest something, he will shout at us, but won't consider our suggestions. But he will throw the responsibility for failures on us. If things go on like this, our company cannot survive for long. I doubt whether tis company will be in operation even next year. So, it is better that we look for some other jobs and leave this company as early as possible."

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 57

Refraining From Doing Terrifying Things

Verse 568 (in Tamil):

inaththARRi eNNAdha vEndhan sinaththARRich
chIRin siRugum thiru.

Meaning:

If a ruler does not function by taking the counsel of his ministers and other officials and considering their suggestions and tends to explode with rage, his wealth will diminish.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'dhaNdanai pOdhAdhu' by the same author.)

Verse 569 (Soon)
Verse 567