584. After the Arrest

"I have been frantically trying to reach you. You didn't pick up the phone. And, you are returning home so late!" grumbled Sumathy, even as Sundararaman was stepping into his house

"What can I do, Sumathy? I am a Sales Executive. If my phone rings when I am talking to a prospect, he will say, 'Your phone is ringing. attend to it' and slip away, using the opportunity as an excuse. That is why I keep my phone in silent mode most of the time. I looked at the phone only when I was about to leave from the office and saw the missed calls from you. You had called me our or five times. What is the matter?" replied Sundararaman, loosening his tie.

"The police have arrested Rani's husband. She cried to me over the phone, saying, 'I don't have anyone else. Ask your husband to do something.' That is why I called you. But you didn't pick up the phone. And you are coming home at 9 p.m!" said Sumathy, half in grief and half in anger.

"What! They arrested your sister's husband! He is such a nice man. What wrong did he commit?"

"What wrong could he have committed? As you said, he is a gem of a person. They said that he was arrested for having links with some insurgents. He has been a quiet person, sitting at home and reading the newspaper. What connection could he have had with insurgents?"

"Sometimes, the police arrest the wrong person, due to some misunderstanding. I will go to the police station tomorrow morning with a lawyer and try to get him released on bail" said Sundararaman.

The next day, Sundararaman called up Sumathy and told her, "They have arrested your sister's husband under non-bailable sections. They say that he was in contact with some insurgents. They have remanded him for fifteen days. After that, they will produce him in the court, for extending his custody. The lawyer says we can apply for bail at that time. We can't do anything now."

"Congratulations, Sundararaman! Because of the intelligence gathered by you about Govindarajan, after you had suspected him of helping some insurgents and put him under surveillance, we were able to arrest him. You have done a commendable job by being dutiful, without giving any consideration to Govindarajan being closely related to you" said Kumaraswamy, Sundararaman's superior officer.

"It was tough, sir. I can't reveal to anyone that I am working in the Intelligence department and I have been lying to everyone including my wife that I am working as a sales executive in a non-existent company. I spied on my brother-in-law and after finding out that he had links with insurgents, got him arrested. And I deceived my wife by pretending to have made efforts to get him released on bail. Two years back, I gathered intelligence about a friend of mine who was engaged in drugs trade and got him arrested. Sometimes, I feel bad about exposing people close to me and lying to my family members about my job and activities!" said Sundararaman.

"This is our job, Sundararaman. We can't help it. Did I not expose my colleague Ramani who was helping drug smugglers, get him arrested and convicted? In the Gita, Krishna says, 'In the battle field, we shouldn't give room for thoughts about someone being our relative or friend. This advice will be appropriate to our profession of surveillance and intelligence gathering as well" said Kumaraswamy. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 584 (in Tamil):

vinai seyvAr tham suRRam vENdAdhAr enRu Angu
anaivaraiyum ArAyvadhu oRRu.

Meaning:

Having everyone – officials, kin and foes,

under surveillance is the job of a spy.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kaidhukkuk kAraNam' by the same author.) 

Verse 585 (Soon)
Verse 583