"I was fine, till a moment ago!" quipped King Makutapathi.
"Sorry. I seem to have come at a wrong time" said Narkeeran, somewhat taken aback.
"Stupid fool! Shall I not feel hurt, if a dear friend addresses me 'Your Majesty'?" said Makutapathy, laughing and putting his hand on Narkeeran's shoulder, by way of showing his affection for his friend.
"Thank God! For a moment, I was upset thinking that I came to meet you at a wrong time. Though we are childhood friends, the fact remains that you are the king and I am an ordinary citizen."
"Friendship comes first. Wealth, position, power and social status can only rank below friendship. This is what our teacher taught us in Gurukulam*. Have you forgotten it?"
"Well, when I was in Gurukulam, I never focused on learning. Having got as my classmate the crown prince of my country, I didn't consider education important to me. Now, let me come to the purpose of my visit. Though I am your friend, I shouldn't be wasting the precious time of the king. My daughter's marriage has been fixed. I came here to hand you the invitation for the wedding. My wife and I extend our warm invitation to the king and the queen."
Narkeeran looked at his wife, who was standing a few feet behind him. Taking his cue, she advanced a few steps and stood next to her husband, holding a tray on which were some flowers, marriage invitation, and tiny cups filled with sandalwood paste and saffron powder. Narkeeran and his wife held the tray together and presented it to the king and the queen standing near him.
The king picked up the invitation and both the king and the queen, following tradition, applied a peck of sandal paste and saffron powder on their foreheads
"I am very happy, Narkeeran. I am sure that you would have chosen a worthy gentleman as your daughter's bridegroom" said Mukutapathy.
"The practice of parents choosing the match for their siblings seems to have ended with our generation. The young lads and lasses of today prefer to choose their life-partners, by themselves" said Narkeeran, with a sigh.
"I am sure that your daughter has selected a good person, suitable to her. Otherwise, you wouldn't have given your consent for the marriage!" said Makutapathy, looking at Narkeeran's wife with a smile.
After Narkeeran and his wife took leave of the king and queen. Queen Thilakavathy asked her husband, "You told me a few days back that Narkeeran's daughter was in love with a merchant. But you talked to your friend, as if you were not aware of it!"
"I got that information through our intelligence service. How can I tell my friend that I spied on his daughter?" asked Makutapathy, laughing.
"You spied on the family members of your friend! This is atrocious" said Thilakavathy, shocked by the king's reply.
"Thilakavathy! Our enemies can infiltrate among people close to us also. After infiltrating, they will use the contacts in various ways. They may try to get confidential information about me and my regime, or cause harm to our country by manipulating their contacts to perform seemingly innocuous tasks, designed to cause some kind of harm to our country, or by using their friendship in some other undesirable ways. What if the merchant who loved Narkeeran's daughter had a motive of learning some secrets about me or my regime, by getting close to Narkeeran? I was able to confirm that he was a good person, with no ulterior motives, only by having our intelligence service spy on Narkeeran's daughter and ascertain facts about her lover. Only through surveillance, a king will be able to identify who is good, who is wicked, whether there is any infiltration etc. It is the job of the spy to look at everyone with suspicion, till the time that person is cleared of all suspicions" explained the king.
"I don't know whether it is a coincidence, but when you have been talking to me about your intelligence set up, the Intelligence Chief has arrived at your doorstep to meet you. I will retire to the queen's quarters. Hopefully, you won't ask him to spy on me!" said Thilakavathy, mockingly.
She smiled at her husband and withdrew from the room.
"Come in Intelligence Chief" Makutapathy welcomed the Intelligence Chief, who was standing at the doorsteps of the King's room. "Give me the updates" he said, after the Intelligence Chief entered the room.
"As per your instruction, we put the Queen's brother under surveillance. I have confirmed that the foreigners he met are traders, not spies" said the Intelligence Chief.
"What a relief! You have taken a heavy load off my chest, by dispelling my concerns!" said Makutapathy,
*Gurukulam is a system of education followed in ancient India, in which the students stayed at the teacher's home and learnt, while also doing service to the teacher in various ways.
Thirukkural
Section 2
Materialism
Chapter 59
Managing Intelligence Operations
Verse 582 (in Tamil):
ellArkkum ellAm nigazhbavai ejnAnRun
vallaRidhal vEndhan thozhil.
Meaning:
It is the duty of a king to learn (through spies) what all happens, amongst all men, quickly, on a continuous basis.
(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'naNbarE AnAlum' by the same author.)
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