667. The Passenger

Dinakar extended his seat on the luxury bus, by pulling up the part of the seat that was folded down, stretched his legs, pushed back his seat and reclined comfortably, getting ready to go to sleep.

"Oh! my back is aching. It seems that traveling in a sitting position will be more comfortable" he lamented.

"That is the reason I am sitting erect, without pulling up the folded portion of the seat. This is the problem with semi-sleeper buses. If we want to travel comfortably, we should travel by a sleeper bus. Otherwise, traveling in a sitting position will be better" said his friend Arun.

"Only you and I have this problem. Look at our 'friend' there. How comfortably is he reclining on his seat!" Dinakar whispered in the ears of Arun and pointed to a person sitting on a row opposite to the one the two were sitting. 

While one passenger sitting in one of the two seats in that row was struggling, unable to decide whether to stretch his legs or fold them, the person described as 'friend' by Dinakar was relining comfortably on the seat adjacent to the window. 

Since he had a diminutive figure, his short legs fitted within the short length of the extended portion of the sheet.

"There appears to be space for another person to sit in the space left, after the little man has stretched his legs!" quipped Arun, controlling his laughter.

"He looks like a doll wearing pants and a shirt. People like him will have to lead a pathetic life. No one will offer them a job. They will have to depend on someone else, throughout their life" said Dinakar.

"You are worried about his life. But, he doesn't seem to have a care in the world and has gone into sleep immediately after stretching his legs!"

"Let him have the pleasure of good sleep, at least!"

Dinakaran was awakened from his sleep by the sound of voices. He noticed that the bus had halted and that the passengers were getting down.

He gently shook Arun and told him, "Get up, Arun. We need to get down."

The two friends took their baggages and set out to get down from the bus. 

They noticed that the passenger in the opposite row was still sleeping and that two men were standing near him and politely calling him, "Sir" repeatedly, trying to wake him up. 

"He seems to be in deep sleep. He may not hear your calls. Pat him on his back or shake him gently and wake him up" suggested Dinakar.

"We can't do so, sir. He is our Managing Diector" said one of the two. 

"Managing Director?" asked Dinakar, surprised.

"Yes, sir. He is the owner of Ramya Textiles, the biggest textile show room in this town."

At that time, the Managing Director woke up from sleep, exclaimed, "Oh! The bus has reached the destination!" He then turned to the two who had come to receive him and said in a commanding tone, "My briefcase is in the luggage compartment above. Pick it up" in a commanding tone and alighted from the bus.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 67
Efficiency in Action

Verse 667 (in Tamil):
uruvu kaNdu eLLAmai vENdum uruL perum thErkku
achchAni annAr udaiththu.

Meaning:  

Don't scorn a person for his diminutive figure. There are people in the world who are like the linchpin of the big rolling car.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'payaNiyin mIdhu paridhApam' by the same author.) 

Verse 668 (Soon)
Verse 666