609. The Boy's Question

"Dad! The dads of my classmates have been going for jobs. Why is it that you are not going for any job?"

Thangappan was not surprised, but irritated, by the question posed by his son, studying in the fifth grade.

"My mom had asked me this question. After that, your mom asked me the same question. Now, it seems to be your turn!" replied Thangappan, showing his annoyance at being asked the question.

"Why are you directing your anger at our son? It is not just our son; everyone known to us has been commenting about your not going for a job!" said his wife Sumangali.

"I have ancestral properties and I am getting income from them. Why should I go for a job?"

"Your father had ancestral properties too. But, he was not sitting at home. He went to the fields and managed the agricultural operations in lands owned by him. Even during the time he was at home, he was engaged in gardening at home. He worked hard, earned well, multiplied his properties and left them to you."

"He enjoyed working. I don't. I like sitting at home and enjoying life!" said Thangappan.

"I also come from a wealthy family. If I choose not to do cooking or other household chores and sit idle like you, how will you like it?" asked Sumangali, angrily.

"I will have no problem with your not doing household chores. We can afford to have a cook and a maid" said Thangappan, laughing.

"In the school, my teachers and classmates ask me 'what is your father?' What answer should I give them?" asked the boy, sticking to his point.

"You can tell them that your dad provides jobs for other people!" said Thangappan. 

"You think this is a joke. But when I hear people comparing you with your father and commenting that while your father was a hardworking person, despite being wealthy, you are the opposite of him, I feel ashamed" said Sumangali, frustrated by the realization that her husband won't change his ways.

"For the past few days, you have been going out and returning home quite late. What is the matter?" asked Sumangali.

"I am going to start a business!" said Thangappan, beaming.

"Business! What business?" asked Sumangali, with astonishment.

"I am going to be a paddy merchant. I will procure paddy from the farmers of our village and of other nearby villages and sell it to the big merchants in the nearby towns. For doing this business, I have been looking out for labourers to work and arranging for bullock carts to transport the paddy. This was what I had been doing, during the last few days. I am going to start the business this Friday, after performing a puja*" said Thangappan, with excitement.

"Reallly? How did you make the decision to start a business, all of a sudden?" asked Sumangali, elated by her husband's plan. 

"All these years, my mother and you have been pleading with me to take up a job or some activity. Somehow, I didn't feel motivated to act on your suggestions. But I was pricked by our son's question why I didn't go for a job, while the dads of his classmates did. The embarrassment felt by him to answer the question from his friends about what I was doing also made me feel bad about myself. I suggested to him that he could tell his friends that his father was providing jobs to others. It was a response that occurred to me at the spur of the moment. But, when I kept thinking of my answer, a thought occurred to me 'what if I could really do it?' After reflecting on this thought for sometime, I conceived the idea of taking up the paddy business, a business which I could do, using the knowledge and resources I have. Then I began to take steps to implement my idea. I thought I would tell you about my plan, after making all the arrangements to launch the business."

"I feel proud of you!" said Sumangali.

"But, there is one problem" said Thangappan.

"What is it?"

"Paddy procurement being a seasonal business, I will be working only for four or five months in a year. I don't know how to keep myself busy, during the remaining months."

"Oh! This may not be a problem at all. Once you have decided to be active and launched the business, you won't be able to remain idle even for a short period. You will find a way to engage yourself in some activity. Hereafter, no one will be able to say that in spite of being born in a good family, you remain idle. That will be enough for me" said Sumangali, with a sense of satisfaction.

*puja - a prayer ritual

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 61

Not Being Sluggish

Verse 609 (in Tamil):
kudiyANmaiyuL vandha kuRRam oruvan
madiyANmai mARRak kedum.

Meaning:

When a man puts away idleness, the reproach which has come upon himself and his family will disappear.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'magan kEtta kELvi' by the same author.) 

Verse 610
Verse 608