608. Born Noble

"Velmurugan! I asked you to go to Selvam Enterprises and collect the amount due from them. Have you collected the money?" Gopalaswamy, the Proprietor of the firm, asked Velmurugan, in a tone of rebuke.

"Not yet, sir. I have been going to their office everyday. Every time, they ask me to come on a particular day and when I go there on that day, they ask me to come some other day" replied Velmurugan, in a feeble tone.

"You are a lazy pig, after all! You would not have gone there on the day specified by them. The pay day is just four days away. If you don't collect the dues from them before the pay day, you won't get your salary" warned Gopalaswamy. 

As Velmurugan came out of the Proprietor's cabin, wiping the sweat on his face with his kerchief, Gunaseelan, the Accountant looked at him with sympathy.

After a few minutes, Velmurugan left the office, to collect the dues from the customers.

After he had left, Gunaseelan told his colleague, Sabhapathy, who was sitting next to him, "It is pathetic that this man, born in respectable family, has to eke out his living by putting up with such insults!"

"Does he hail from a noble family?" asked Sabhapathy, surprised by the information. 

"Yes. Velmurugan's father was a rich and respectable man in his village. Velmurugan is his only son. After his father's demise, Velmurugan was sitting at home, without going for a job. Subsequently, his mother also passed away and there was no one to advise him. He was living on the assets left by his parents, not feeling the need to take up a job and earn an income. It was only after getting married and begetting children that Velmurugan realized that he was left with very little money and that he could not run his family unless he took up a job."

"You said he had assets left by his parents!" asked Sabhapathy.

"Only a person, who earns no income, but feeds on his assets will know how fast the assets get depleted. Don't ask me whether I have experienced it! I have seen a lot of people undergo this experience" said Gunaseelan.

"So, what happened eventually" asked Sabhapathy, like a person listening to a story becoming curious about how the story develops and ends.

"Realizing his situation, Velmurugan began to search for a job. He couldn't get a good job. Somehow, he landed at our firm. The unfortunate fact is that our Proprietor's father had lived in the same village as Velmurugan and had some enmity with Velmurugan's father. Our Proprietor gave a job to Velmurugan, acting magnanimous, by helping a person whose father was an enemy of his father. But he has been treating Velmurugan like a slave. I feel pained to see our Proprietor treating Velmurugan with disrespect, without considering the fact that  Velmurugan is elder to our Proprietor in age and and constantly insulting and belittling Velmurugan in various ways" said Gunaseelan, gravely. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 61

Not Being Sluggish

Verse 608 (in Tamil):
madimai kudimaikkaN thangin than onnArkku
adimai puguththi vidum.

Meaning:

If idleness takes up its abode in a man of high birth, it will make him a slave of his enemies.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'En indha nilai' by the same author.) 

Verse 609 (Soon)
Verse 607