183. Who Was the Backbiter?

It was a small factory. Only twenty workers were employed there. 

Of them, five were employed on a temporary basis. For the past several months, the management had been dragging its feet on regularizing their service.

That day, during the lunch break, four workers were sitting under a tree, outside the factory and having their lunch. Among them was Mani, a temporary worker.

"The Manager had said that all the temporary workers would be made permanent by the end of this month" remarked Selvam.

"I don't believe that it will happen. The Manager is a scheming person. Even if the Proprietor agrees to regularize the services of the temporary workers, the manager will dissuade him from doing so" said Mani. 

"What can we do? This is a small factory. We don't even have a trade union. With no one to fight for us, what the management says will be the law" said Murugan.

"I consider Manager Saravanan to be the villain. He could as well have been named 'Ravanan*' rather than 'Saravanan.' If I am not made permanent by the end of this month, I will go to the Labour department and report about all the violations of laws taking place in our factory" said Mani.

After that, they were taking turns, talking about the unjust acts and 'atrocities' committed by Saravanan. 

It was only when they were leaving that place to return to the factory at the end of the lunch break, did they notice that two of the supervisors Shankar and Murthy walking away in quick paces from the other side of the tree, under which the workers were sitting and talking.

"These two had been standing right behind us at the other side of the tree, smoking cigarettes! They would have heard our conversation. Will they carry what we talked to the Manager?" asked Mani, with apprehension.

"We can't say. What can we do about it? Let us wait and see what happens" said Murugan, hiding his own fear. 

At the end of the month, four of the five temporary workers were made permanent. Mani was the one who was left out. 

"They have regularized the services of the other four, but left me in the lurch" bemoaned Mani.

"One of the two supervisors, who had listened to our conversation from the other side of the tree, should have carried to the Manager, our comments about him. Since we three are permanent workers, the Manager couldn't do anything to hurt us. But, he has taken revenge on you" said Murugan.

"Which of the two do you think would have done the backbiting? Would both of them have done it?"

"Shankar has been friendly with us. He is a jovial person. He would not have done it. My bet is on Murthy. Murthy is rude. He doesn't respect us. He will talk to us, only when he has to reprimand us for our mistakes. He should have been the one to carry our comments to the Manager" said Murugan. 

"I am not going to spare him!" swore Mani, in anger.

"Don't do anything in haste. If something happens to Murthy, the suspicion will fall on you first. I will engage an outsider to give Murthy a thrashing" said Murugan.

"Don't do any such thing. Let us leave the matter as it is" said Mani. 

"You are scared. Take leave for two days and go to your native place. I will give the 'treatment' to Murthy, during your absence. No one will suspect you" said Murugan. 

When Murthy was returning home on his scooter, after completing his shift at 10 pm, he was intercepted by two people, who beat him up with sticks and ran away.

Murthy sustained injuries and was admitted to an hospital, for treatment. It took him two months to get cured completely and return to work. The police couldn't find out who the people that beat him up were. 

The police suspected the involvement of the workers, but Murthy, soon after reaining consciousness, told the police categorically that the workers would not have been involved in the attack.

With the police not being able to identify any person with a motive to attack Murthy, no headway could be made in the investigation.

After a couple of months, Murugan told Mani, "I think we made a mistake."

"What do you mean?" asked Mani. 

"We assumed that it was Murthy, who had carried our talk to the Manager. But, the management has recently promoted Shankar as the Assistant Manager. Murthy being the senior, should have been promoted first. It appears that Manager Saravanan had recommended Shankar for promotion, to reward him for backbiting us."

"What can we do now?"

"Let us ask Murthy directly" said Murugan. 

When Murthy was alone in the factory during the night shift, Murugan and Mani approached him.

"Sir! We want to ask you something" said Murugan. 

"Go ahead" said Murthy. 

"A few months back, some of us were sitting under the tree outside our factory and talking about the issue of the management delaying the process of making the temporary workers permanent. We made some critical remarks about Manager Saravanan. Only later, we knew that you and Shankar had been standing at the other side of the tree. Both of you should have listened to our comments."

"What if we had?" 

"Did you tell the Manager about the conversation."

"I would never do such a thing. I follow the practice of minding my own business. In the factory, I have not spoken to you on any matter other than the work you are engaged in. Mani would have said something out of his anger and frustration about not being made permanent. Carrying his comments to the Manager would be an act of cruelty. Did you imagine that I would do such a thing?" said Murthy, upset by the question posed to him.

Mani felt like crying.

Murugan was silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.

He then asked Murthy, "If you had not told the Manager about our conversation, then Shankar should have! Did he?"

"I don't know about it" said Murthy. 

"You don't know, or you won't say!" asked Murugan.

Murthy didn't answer the question.

"Please tell us, sir. The backbiting has caused harm to me. The management made three of the four temporary workers permanent, but left me out. Mr. Shankar got the promotion, by scuttling my chances" said Mani, with anger and grief. 

"Look, Mani! If I knew the fact about Shankar or someone else telling the Manager about your conversation, I won't tell you that, the same way I didn't tell the Manager about your conversation. However, I expect that you will be made permanent next month. So, be cheerful" said Murthy, patting Mani on his back.

Regretting that he got a good person beaten up, by hiring a couple of hooligans to do the job, Murugan asked Murthy, "How are you feeling now, sir?"

"The wounds have healed, but I still feel the pain at some parts of my body, now and then. I still have no idea about who beat me up and why" said Murthy, grimacing in pain, as he bent his body.

*Ravanan is the name of a demon, the villain in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Saravanan is another name of the Hindu God Murugan, also known as Skanda or Subramanya.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 19
Refraining From Backbiting

Verse 183 (In Tamil)

puRam kURip poyththu uyir vAzhdhalin sAdhal
aRam kURRum Akkath tharum.

Meaning:

Dying rather than living by backbiting will yield the benefits spoken of by moral scriptures.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'chandiran seydha thavaRu' by the same author)

Verse 184 (Soon)
Verse 182