638. The Minister's Adamancy

Finance Secretary Suresh entered the cabin of Finance Minister Sharma and told him, "Sir! We have the meeting of the Advisory Committee."

"Oh!" said Sharma, showing his positive disinterest. 

"What kind of a system is this? They make me the Finance Minister and also create an Advisory Committee. This ministry can as well be run by the Advisory Committee! Why do they need you as the Finance Secretary and me as the Finance Minister."

"Sir! As you know well, this system was created several years back by one of your predecessors. And it has been followed since then" said Suresh. 

After a pause, Suresh added, "Is it not advantageous to have the benefit of the ideas and views of a few people with divergent thinking?"

"What new ideas that we don't know are the committee members going to come up with?" asked the Minister. 

A few days after the meeting of the Advisory Committee was held, Suresh met Vir Singh, a member of the Advisory Committee, in a function. Suresh had a good rapport with Vir Singh, though the two had been meeting only occasionally.

"What has the Minister decided?" Vir Singh asked Suresh.

"I think he would decide to do things as per his idea" said Suresh. 

"To do that, he should have ideas. And to generate ideas, he has to think. I think he is not capable of doing it" said Vir Singh, laughing.

Suresh kept quiet. He knew that what Vir Singh said was true. But being a Secretary working under the Minister, what could he say about the Minister?

"So, what is the Minister's idea?" asked Vir Singh.

Suresh outlined the Minister's idea.

"This is madness. If we do this, the economy will collapse!"

"The Minister has not yet finalized his plan. Because you asked me, I indicated to you what his line of thinking was. Please keep this confidential. I am still trying to reason with him not to proceed with this plan."

"What is the point in your trying to reason with a person who has neither the intelligence nor the inclination to listen to experts like you? You will only be wasting your time and energy. Let him implement his plan. He will understand the stupidity of his plan, after suffering the consequences. But, by that time, he would have been sacked for the damage he had created!" said Vir Singh, in an angry tone.

"No, sir. It is my duty to explain to him the flaw in his thinking and make him understand the repercussions of his plan. I am following an approach of initially going with his plan and gradually moving him away from his idea, by pointing out the practical difficulties in implementing it and ultimately making him accept an alternative plan. I have the confidence that by patiently working with him, I will be able to make him see reason. After all, during my tenure, I have done this quite few times, with different ministers!" said Suresh, with a smile. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 64
Being A Minister

Verse 638 (in Tamil):
aRikonRu aRiyAn eninum uRudhi
uzhai irundhAn kURal kadan.

Meaning:

Even when the king stubs out the wise counsel,

and knows not by himself, it is the duty of the minister to advise the king firmly.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'amaichcharin pidivAdham' by the same author.) 

Verse 639 (Soon)
Verse 637