"I have got the job as a consultant in a firm. You will be astonished to know what my salary is. It is twice the sum I was getting in my last job. I don't have to commute to the office. I can work from home using a laptop. The firm is also providing me spacious accommodation and a chauffeur driven car."
"It is really astonishing. You are getting such a good salary and perks like house and car in a post-retirement job! However, we don't need the house. We are residing in our own house, after all."
"We will let out this house and go to the house provided by the company. It is not only more spacious. It is also located in a prestigious locality."
When Sivakumar revealed the location of their new house, Vasanthi found the news incredible.
"I have heard that only the top among the elite of the city, like company chairmen, senior government officials and wealthy individuals, can afford to reside there" said Vasanthi, in an excited tone.
"Yes. Most of the people who reside there stay in houses taken on lease by their companies. Even people with high salaries can't afford to pay the high rents prevailing in that locality."
"When did you apply for this job? You didn't go for any interview!"
"I didn't apply for this job. The CEO of this company came to know of me through my former employer and offered me the job on his own. He didn't call me for an interview. He offered the job to me over phone and asked me whether I would accept the offer."
"What did you say?"
"I said that I could consider it but that the salary offered was quite low!" said Sivakumar and laughed, enjoying his own joke.
Vasanthi felt elated that such an opportunity had come, at a time her husband was in low spirits after retiring from his job.
After moving to their new house, Sivakumar kept one room as his office. He was working from that room, on his computer.
Vasanthi observed that Sivakumar was spending only a short time in his office room and most of the time, he was sitting in the living room reading something, watching the television or chatting with her, She concluded that his workload in his new job was very light.
Even without her asking Sivakumar about this, he told her, "I have been hired as a consultant. A consultant will have work only on certain occasions, when his services are needed for specific issues. The number of hours I work doesn't count. It is the value of my services that counts."
Vasanthi enjoyed the facility of going out in the chaffeur-driven car, provided to Sivakumar for his personal use.
"How are you, Mr. Sivakumar?" asked the person who spoke to him over the phone."
"I am fine, sir. I am thankful to you for everything" said Sivakumar.
"You might have seen the Tamil film Kalyana Parisu, released sometime in the late fifties, or early sixties. In that film, the comedian Thangavelu played the role of a bluffmaster. He would call himself the Manager of a non-existent firm called Mannar & Co. He would pretend to go to office every day, but would spend his time sitting in a park and playing cards solo! Like him, you had pretended to be working as the Purchase Manager of a non-existent company, but secretly worked for the intelligence department of the government. You undertook a lot of covert operations. Your contribution to the the cause of safeguarding our country's security is remarkable. You deserve to be compensated appropriately for your services. As you know, we have to be very discrete, to ensure that no one knows about the role you have played. That is why we took some time to arrange for a retirement package you really deserve, in an inconspicuous way. You might have been disappointed that you were retired from your 'job,' with a nominal retirement package befitting the position you had ostensibly holding!"
"No, sir! I never felt that way" said Sivakumar, though, inwardly, he knew that what his superior officer had stated was true.
"Even now, I am prepared to do the kind of jobs I had been doing during my service," he added.
"No, Mr. Sivakumar. We have given you this 'job' involving no work, as a reward for your highly valuable contributions during your service. Enjoy your retirement!" said the person at the other end of the phone and ended the conversation.
Sivakumar set out to resume watching the film he was watching on an OTT platform on his computer. But noticing that his wife was entering his room, he switched over to another tab on his computer screen.
Section 2
puRappaduththAn Agum maRai.
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