668. The Winner

"I think our leader has taken the decision in haste."

"He took over as the president of our party only recently. Perhaps, he wants to show that he can succeed by adopting a different approach. But he has acted without understanding the reality at the ground level."

"Yes. That only the ruling party will win a by-election has been proved repeatedly. Moreover, our party has suffered a major defeat only recently. So, the wise thing would have been to have avoided contesting this by-election."

"Perhaps he wants to make a show of plunging into the election and withdraw from the contest, after campaigning for a few days, alleging that the ruling party is using money power to win the election and that the election commission is turning a blind eye to the violations committed by the ruling party."

Conversations like these that took place at the lower levels of the party reached the ears of Dorairajan, the party president. 

"Sir! It appears that your decision to contest the by-election is hasty. Not only that we have no chance of winning the election, but, our party candidate may also forfeit his deposit, by failing to win the minimum number of votes required to retain the deposit" Damodaran, a senior leader of the party told Dorairajan. 

"I didn't take the decision in haste. I consulted all of you before taking the decision" said Dorarirajan.

"When you suggested that we contest the election, we agreed, thinking that we could use the opportunity to showcase our strength. But, we never thought that our position would be so bad."

"Why do you conclude that our position would be bad, even at this stage? We have not even started our campaign. Whether we win or lose, we should work hard and give a tough competition to the ruling party" said Dorairajan.

Damodaran nodded his head, without feeling convinced.

During the next few days, Dorairajan extensively toured the constituency and canvassed votes for his party's candidate. He met the party workers at different places, talked to them, got their feedback, encouraged them to work hard and gave them suggestions for launching a powerful campaign. 

The ruling party, which went into the election campaign with a high level of confidence, became concerned, after witnessing Dorairajan's enthusiastic and energetic campaigning. 

The president of the ruling party told the party leaders and workers, "Looking at the vigour with which Dorairajan is campaigning, winning this election is not going to be an easy task for us. We need to work hard. Be vigilant and active."

The media, which initially predicted that the election would be a cake-walk for the ruling party, after noticing the intensity of Dorairajan's campaign, began to sing a different tune, by hinting that Dorairajan could spring a surprise.

The election was held, the votes were counted and the result was announced. The ruling party won the election with a thin margin. But, the perception prevailed in the media and among the people at large was that Dorairajan had achieved something significant.

"Our party has lost the election. Why are you garlanding me?" asked Dorairajan. 

"Sir! Though our party has lost the election, every one looks at you as a winner. You moved our party from the precarious position of even forfeiting the deposit to a close runner up. Your clear thinking, determination and firm actions are the factors that achieved this feat" said Damodaran.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 67
Efficiency in Action

Verse 668 (in Tamil):
kalangAdhu kaNda vinaikkaN thuLangAdhu
thUkkam kadindhu seyal.

Meaning:

Conceive a task through clear thinking and perform the task 

unwaveringly and without procrastination.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'thOlviyil oru veRRi' by the same author.) 

Verse 669 (Soon)
Verse 667