188. The New Neighbour

Kannan had the chance to meet his new neighbour Viswanathan, who had rented the apartment adjacent to his, a week after the latter had moved in. 

Kannan learnt that Viswanathan had worked in a company in Kolkatta and that after his retirement, he moved to Chennai.

During the subsequent interactions, each of them exchanged more information about their backgrounds. 

Kannan remembered that his friend's relative was a high level executive in the company, where Viswanathan had worked. 

"Do you know Mr. Balakrishnan?" Kannan asked Viswanathan. 

"How could I not know him? I had worked with him for the past several years" said Viswanathan. He then asked somewhat cautiously, "Is he related to you?"

"No. He is a distant relative of one of my friends. I happened to meet him in a function in my friend's family. At that time, my friend introduced me to him. When you mentioned the name of your company, I remembered him and asked you whether you knew him" replied Kannan.

"I just wanted to know whether he was close to you" said Viswanathan. After a pause, he added, "He is younger to me in age and junior to me in service. Since I joined this company after having worked in another company for a few years, Balakrishnan had become senior to me in our company. His knowledge about work in the company was poor. He would often seek my advice and guidance for doing his work! But he was sycophantic to his superiors. He had a nickname 'chamcha,' which in Hindi means 'a sycophant.' By virtue of his sycophancy, he was able to get quick promotions and go up in the ladder of hierarchy in the company. He is a General Manager now, there are quite a few General Managers in our company, though! But, I was unable to rise above the position of an Office Manager. Do education, experience, job knowledge, dedication, sincerity and performance have any value in today's world?" said Viswanathan, bitterly.

After a few weeks, Balakrishnan, who had come to Chennai on some work, came to Viswanathan's house, by way of paying a courtesy call.

When Balakrishnan took leave of Viswanathan, Viswanathan told him about his neighbour Kannan and took him to Kannan's house.

Viswanathan told Kannan, "Mr. Kannan! Since you told me that you had met Mr. Balakrishnan, I brought him to your house." 

He then left to his house, allowing the two to converse.

"We met in a function several years back. But, you still remember me. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Viswanathan tell me that you asked him about me. I couldn't place you immediately. Then I remembered that you are a friend of my relative Ravichandran" said Balakrishnan.

"Ravichandran would often talk to me about you and your fast rise in the hierarchy of your company" said Kannan.

After a few minutes, the conversation turned to the subject of Viswanathan.

"Have you been acquainted with Mr. Viswanathan, since long?" asked Kannan.

"I have known Viswanathan from the time he joined my company. When he came to Kolkatta from Chennai to join our company, he suffered for a few months, since he couldn't get a suitable house for rent. He had also vacated his house in Chennai. I had an extra bedroom in my house. I asked him to stay in my house with his family, till the time he was able to rent a house. His family stayed in my house for two months. So, our families have been close since that time. When he joined our company, both of us were at the same level. I was fortunate to get a few quick promotions and move up. But, Viswanathan was not able to get promotions quickly. He has been feeling bad about it" said Balakrishnan, smiling.

After Balakrishnan had taken leave, Kannan's wife Pushpa told him, "This person was so kindhearted to ask a newly acquainted person Viswanatan to stay in his house with his family till he got a house for rent. Both of them have worked together in the same company for several years. They seem to have been close. But, Viswanathan spoke ill of Balakrishnan to you, a person who just got acquainted with him! I wonder what he would say about you to some other people. I suggest that you keep a distance from him."

    

Thirukkural
Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 19
Refraining From Backbiting

Verse 188 (In Tamil)

thunniyAr kuRRamum thURRum marabinAr
enai kol EdhilAr mAttu.

Meaning:

If one is known to habitually sully his friends for their faults,

what damage would he do unto others?

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'Uru vittu Uru vandhu' by the same author)

Verse 189 (Soon)
Verse 187