589. Three Days' Time

"Why did you want to see me urgently?" asked the Minister.

"I have received an important intelligence report" said Nirmal, the Intelligence Chief.

"Tell me."

After hearing the report given by Nirmal, the Minister was upset.

"This is a serious matter. I have to bring this to the notice of the Prime Minister immediately and decide on the appropriatecourse of action" said the Minister,

"Not yet, sir. Please wait for a while" said Nirmal.

"What for? Don't you realize how critical this information is?"

"Of course, I do. That's why I sought an urgent meeting with you. But, the intelligence I received from another source of mine is at variance with this."

"Why this confusion? Why did you involve two sources to gather intelligence on the same matter? Apart from wasting manpower, this has also resulted in confusion" said the Minister, with annoyance.

"Sir! There are certain established practices in intelligence gathering. I have learnt many finer points about gathering and analyzing intelligence from my seniors and mentors. One unwritten rule is that any kind of critical information has to be confirmed through two different sources." 

"Spare me the rationale behind your approach, Mr. Nirmal. Please tell me which of the two reports you are going to accept?"

"Please give me three days' time."

"If we delay, will it not aggravate the situation?"

"I think delaying our decision by three days won't have any adverse effect on the situation. If there is any important development, requiring urgent intervention on our part, I will contact you.

Without waiting for the Minister's reply, Nirmal stood up from his seat, took leave of the Minister and left.

"What is this, Mr. Nirmal? I have been trying to contact you for the last two days. You had switched off your phone. People in your office said they didn't know about your whereabouts. From the time I heard the disturbing information from you, I have been feeling tense" said the Minister, as soon as Nirmal entered the Minister's cabin, even before he could take his seat.

"Pardon me, sir, but I have come to you with news that could only increase your tension. The intelligence I had shared with you three days back has been confirmed to be correct. We need to act immediately" said Nirmal, as he was taking his seat.

"My goodness! We have wasted three days. If you had confirmed this that day itself, we could have taken action by this time" said the Minister, accusingly.

"How can I help it, sir? Getting confirmation for this kind of information is not easy. The reason we use two sources is only to ensure that the information we gather is accurate. But, when the contents of the intelligence gathered from the two sources are at variance, we need to use a third source that we can rely upon."

"Like using a third umpire in cricket matches, perhaps" said the Minister, with a smile. His tension seemed to have eased a little. "But, instead of using the two sources, you could have used the third source, even at the beginning" he added.

"They don't conduct the cricket matches, using only the third umpire!" said Nirmal, smiling.

"But, how did you get a third source immediately? And how can you be sure that the third source is dependable?"

"The third source has been there always. But we should use it only occasionally, the way they use the third umpire in cricket matches. As per his dependability, I can say that he has considerable experience."

"So, you have trust in him?" 

"How can I not trust myself?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Nirmal?"

"I flew to that country and made the assessment myself, based on the information I had received from the two sources. No one in my office knew about my trip. That was why my office was unable to give you information about my whereabouts" said Nirmal.

The Minister looked at Nirmal with admiration and enhanced respect.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 589 (in Tamil):

oRRu eRRu uNarAmai ALga udan mUvar oRumukki
soRRokka thERappadum.

Meaning:

Lead the sleuths such that they don’t know each other;

when three of them concur on an input, you know it is reliable.

Note: While this kural says that three of the spies should give a concurrent input, this story slightly deviates from this concept by suggesting that if there are discrepancies between the intelligence gathered by two spies, the intelligence has to be obtained from a third spy.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'mUnRu nAtkaL avakAsam' by the same author.) 

Verse 590 (Soon)
Verse 588