502. Project Manager

"I have been running this industrial unit for the past many years. But what I am now taking up is my dream project. This project was conceived by me a few years back. But the time for implementing the project has come only now. And I have got a good engineer like you to bring my idea into fruition" said Paranthaman, the Managing Director of the firm.

"Yes, sir. We will plan well and execute the project in a good way" said Giri, who had just taken charge as the Project Engineer.

Paranthaman turned to the young man standing politely near him and told him, "Shankar! Bring the project file and give it to Mr. Giri."

Shankar went out of the room and returned after a couple of minutes with a thick file. He handed over the file to Giri.

Giri quickly browsed through the file and said, "Ok, sir. I will read the file thoroughly and then discuss the modalities of implementation with you." After a minute's hesitation, he added, "There are a lot of technical details in the file. It will take me a few days to read through the file completely."

"Take your time" said Paranthaman.

After a week, Giri came to meet Paranthaman, carrying the project file and a notebook in which he had apparently noted the points to be discussed.

"Have you gone through the file thoroughly?" asked Paranthaman..

"Yes, sir. You have already collected all the details and even prepared a brief project report. I need to discuss a few points with you" said Giri.

"Definitely. That is why I have asked Shankar to join us" said Paranthaman. 

Just at that time, Shankar entered the cabin, as if acting on a cue

Even as Giri was wondering 'Why do we need this person in this discussion?' Paranthaman asked Shankar to take his seat. Shankar sat next to Giri.

As if answering the question that arose in Giri's mind, Paranthaman said, "Mr. Giri! You are the technical head of this project. But Shankar will be the person in charge of the project. I have not given him any designation. If you want, you can call him the Project Manager. He will represent me. I have given him the authority to take all decisions regarding the project. He may consult me, if he feels the need. That is his discretion. You have to get all your decisions cleared by him. Is it clear?"

Not knowing what to say, Giri nodded his head in agreement.

"You should know about Shankar. His father worked for me. He was honest and trustworthy. After his demise, I asked Shankar to join my firm. He accepted my offer and joined my firm. He may look like an ordinary person. He is not highly educated. But having closely observed him for the past five years, I know about his dedication and integrity, his meticulous care and attention to see that no wrongdoing occurs even due to inadvertence and the sense of fear he has for even the slightest damage to his good name that may be caused by any mistake. So, I have decided that he will be the right person to play the lead role in the implementation of this project and given him the responsibility. I am sure that you will find working with Shankar a pleasant experience. Now, tell me the points you want to discuss" said Paranthaman.

Giri smiled at Shankar and began to discuss the points he had noted in his notebook.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 51
Assess Before Accepting

Verse 502 (in Tamil):

kudip piRandhu kuRRaththin nIngi vaduppaRiyum
nANudaiyAn suttE theLivu

Meaning:
Place your trust only in a person of good lineage, who is free from vices and has a fear of shame and infamy.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'project manager' by the same author.)

Verse 503
Verse 501

501. Entrapped Rats!

Sir! There is only one more month before I retire. But, you have not yet indicated the date to interview the candidates for selecting the new CEO" said Varadarajan.

"Fix the interviews on 16th" said Govind, the Chairman of the company.

"Shall I ask all the six shortlisted candidates to attend the interview on 16th?"

"I have eliminated four of the six candidates shortlisted by us earlier. Ask only Sundar and Kanakasabhai to come for the interview."

Varadarajan looked at Govind, perplexed.

"I am sorry, Varadarajan. Since you were retiring, I thought I need not involve you in the elimination process" said Govind, apologetically.

"Sir! You are the one to take a decision. But, after shortlisting the six candidates, we have gathered all the background information about them! So, may I know why you eliminated four of them?" asked Varadarajan, politely.

"We have collected the information about them, alright. But I wanted to verify a few things. So, I conducted some tests for all the six candidates, through a friend of mine. I can even say that I set traps for them! Four of the candidates got entrapped. So, I eliminated them. I thought of sharing the details with you later."

Govind then elaborated what he did.

"As you know, given the reputation of our company, many people were interested in becoming the CEO of our company. Though we have many competent executives in our company, we decided to recruit someone from outside, since we wanted to recruit a person with some specialized skills required for this position. You have been a very valuable asset to our company. I won't be able to find another person like you. Since you were keen on not continuing in this position after you had reached the age of seventy, we had to scout for a person to substitute you."

Govind paused.

Varadarajan knew that Govind's praise for him was sincere. However, he thought that the Chairman praising him at that time was for assuaging his feelings, since the Chairman had taken steps to test the shortlisted candidates, without taking Varadarajan into confidence.

"No one can know better than you what kind of pressures the CEO will receive from our suppliers, competitors, service providers, government officials etc. To withstand all these pressures, the CEO should have certain basic attributes. The service records of the candidates won't show whether they have such attributes. That is why I thought of testing the candidates in three areas."

"What are those three areas?"

"Following a righteous path, resisting the lure of money and not falling prey to honeytraps. I know that you would have encountered challenges in these areas many times during your tenure. But, for you, a person who has adopted ethics and morality as a way of life, those challenges would have been no challenges at all. You would have overcome such challenges very easily."

Knowing that what Govind said was true, Varadarajan nodded his head silently. 

Govind continued.

"First, I had messages delivered to the candidates in a subtle way that they could get the job by influencing me through some intermediaries. Secondly, I had a huge sum of money offered to them to do something in violation of the rules and norms of the companies where they are now working. Thirdly, I had honey traps set for them to lure them and get some sensitive information about their companies. Two people were caught in one trap. One person was entrapped in two traps and another in all the three traps. Only two people didn't get caught in any of the three traps" said Govind.

Varadarajan remained silent.

"I know that you won't accept the methods I have adopted. That was another reason why I didn't involve you in this process" said Govind.

"How are you going to select one person out of the two candidates left?" asked Varadarajan.

"We are going to make the selection. We both will interview the candidates. The next CEO will be a person chosen by you" said Govind.

After interviewing the two candidates, Govind and Varadarajan unanimously selected Kanakasabhai as the next CEO.

"Sir! I want to ask you one thing. You asked both the candidates, 'You may receive threats to your life, while doing this job. Are you prepared to face such threats?' Sundar became visibly scared by your question. But, Kanakasabhai said, 'While doing a job, one should be prepared for all eventualities.' So, Kanakasbhai became the obvious choice for the position. But, I have not encountered any threat to my life during my tenure. May I know why you asked this question?" asked Varadarajan.        

"A person holding a high position needs to be courageous. Not being afraid of threats to one's life is the height of courage. That is why I asked this question" said Govind. "You are person with a high level of courage. You may not be aware of it, but I have noticed your showing the necessary courage on several occasions" he added.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 51
Assess Before Accepting

Verse 501 (in Tamil):

aRam poruL inbam uyir achcham nAngin
thiRan therindhu thERappdum

Meaning:

Assess the attitude of a person on these four aspects before choosing him: righteousness, greed (for money), lust and fear for life.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'poRiyil sikkiya eligaL' by the same author.)

Verse 502
Verse 500

500. The Prince's Valour

Prince Parantaka was hailed by the whole country for leading the country to victory in the war against the neighbouring country.

"With our king being indisposed, our prince took up the reigns and led the troops in the war. The soldiers keep talking about the heroic acts of the prince in the warfront, even several days after the war was over."

"When the horse, our prince was riding in the war front, was hit by the enemy's arrow and fell down, the prince, didn't wait for another horse, but fought the enemy king who was on horseback, standing on the ground and killed him with his sword. The lieutenants have been saying that our price has outdone our king, a veteran of many battles."

"Won't the king be offended by these kinds of comments?"

"Hasn't the poet Thiruvalluvar said 'A father will be proud to hear that his son his bettered him'?'"

"it is true. We can also feel proud that at a time when our king is bed-ridden, we have a prince having the valour and strength to take over the responsibility of governing our country!" 

This was the kind of conversation that was taking place among the people of the country.

"The atrocities of the insurrectionists in the border areas have been worsening. Though they don't have the support of the people, they have taken control of a small region through violent means and been running a parallel government there, by terrorizing the people living there. If we send our troops there, the rebels can be eliminated in no time. But our king is very particular that common people should not become casualities during the operation" said the minister.

"How are you tolerating this situation? If we don't contain the rebellion quickly, the rebels will become emboldened and commit more atrocities. People living there will lose faith in us" said Parantaka.

"You are right, prince. We have already finalized a strategy. We have created a secret army of fifty men. We are giving training to them now. They will infiltrate the region as ordinary people, get access to the leaders of the rebellion through clever means and kill them at an opportune moment. Once the leaders are eliminated, the other rebels will panic and give up their activities" said the minister.

"It is a good idea. I will lead the secret army, myself" said Parantaka.

"No, prince. This is a dangerous mission. The fifty people selected for this mission are going to carry out the task, by risking their lives. We cannot have you taking this risk. You are the prince and you are going to succeed your father as the king. Your fame resulting from your acts of heroism in the war has reached even neighbouring countries. But, this is not a regular battle. You should not participate in this risky venture. The king won't consent to this, either. I will also appeal to you not to have any role in this mission" pleaded the minister.

But, Parantaka didn't listen to the minister's advice. Though his father inititially opposed the idea of the prince participating in this mission, Parantaka persuaded him and made him give his consent eventually.

Parantaka left for the border region along with fifty men to carry out the mission of eliminating the insurrectionists.

It was ten days since the secret army led by Parantaka infiltrated the region under the control of the rebels. During this period, they had killed two top leaders of the insurrection.

Though the insurrectionists were rattled by the killing of two of their top leaders, Dhandapani, one of the surviving leaders, managed to keep the second level leaders in good spirit.

"This is definitely a conspiracy by our king. He has sent some people here to kill us. We should be cautious. Check every one who has come to our place recently. If you have any suspicion on anyone, let me know. We will question them in an 'appropriate' way and extract the information from them" Dhandapani told the second line leaders, secretly.

It was dark. Parantaka was walking along the street studded with dense trees on both sides of the street. Two of his men guarding him were walking a few yards behind him.

When Parantaka was walking under a tree, a boy sitting on the tree jumped on Parantaka's shoulders. Due to the impact of the jump, both of them fell down. Before Parantaka could realize what had happened, the boy struck the knife he was holding in his hand deep into Parantaka's neck, saying, "You are the one who killed my father."

By the time, the two guards rushed to the spot, Parantaka had become lifeless. The boy who had stabbed him had also run away. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 50
Knowing the Right Place

Verse 500 (in Tamil):

kAlAzh kaLaril nari adum kaN anjA
vElAL mugaththa kaLiRu.

Meaning:

An uncontrollable elephant that has gored many a spearman,

when stuck in a deep quagmire, is an easy prey for a fox.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'parAnthakanin mudivu' by the same author.)

Verse 501 (Soon)
Verse 499

499. 'A Routine Job'

"You were summoned by our leader.. What was the matter?" asked Peter.

"It is about another routine job. Some guy has been creating a problem for our leader. We need to finish him off. That’s all!" said Masilamani.

"Who is the guy?"

After Masilamani gave him the particulars of the 'troublemaker,' Peter said, "He seems to be a nobody, who is not well known even in his village. Does it need people like us to handle him?"

"Whoever he is, we are just going to do our job!"

"Alright, tell me - what exactly needs to be done, and how?"

Masilamani explained the plan to Peter.

"We have taken down men much bigger than this guy! But, you are telling me that we can’t deal with this ordinary fellow!" said Masilamani, in a tone of reprimand.

"I thought the same way, at first. I even wondered why you had asked me to take so many men with me for this job. But what can I do? We couldn’t even get close to him!"

"What do you mean? We are supposed to go in, attack him and finish him off, and come back. Is he living in a fortress? Or does he have bodyguards to protect him?" asked Masilamani.

"If that were the case, we would have fought his men and then went after him! Remember Balraj? He had his own private security force. Didn’t we drive them away and take him down? This guy is not like that. He lives in a small house. But the moment we entered that street, a lot of villagers gathered in front of his house, as if they had sniffed us. They didn’t have any weapons, and they were not fighters. A single slap could have knocked them over. But the look of determination on their faces sent us a message that each one of them was throwing us a challenge: ‘You can only enter this house after stepping over my dead body.’ Realizing that we could enter the house only if we killed all of them, we said ‘We came to see someone about a land purchase, but it looks like we’ve come to the wrong address,’ and quietly left the place" said Peter.

"I am ashamed of you, Peter. Forget about this job. I will go and finish the job myself," said Masilamani, still seething.

He couldn't have heard Peter muttering ‘Even if you go, the same thing will happen! Go on then. Only then you will understand my dilemma.'

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 50
Knowing the Right Place

Verse 499 (in Tamil):

siRai nalanum sIrum ilar eninum mAndhar
uRai nilaththOdu ottal aridhu.

Meaning:

Even if the enemy is devoid of fortresses and exceptional valour,

it is tough to beat him on his turf.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pIttarin thOlvi' by the same author.)

Verse 500
Verse 498

119. Religious Discourse

No agreement on wage revision was reached in the talks held between the management and the employees' union of the firm. Both the parties decided to settle the issue through an arbitrator.

Both the sides requested the Labour Commissioner to appoint an Arbitrator. The Labour Commissioner suggested Umapathy, a retired government official, as the Arbitrator. 

As per the rules of Arbitration, the Arbitrator proposed by the Labour Commissioner should be acceptable to both the parties. If not, the Labour Commissioner would suggest another name.

The management of the firm immediately gave their consent to have Umapathy as the Arbitrator.

The leaders of the Labour Union met to discuss the proposal of the Labour Commissioner.

"They say Umapathy was known for his integrity, when he was in service. Integrity is a virtue, no doubt. But the question is whether he will have the objectivity to understand the issues under dispute and give a fair solution. In general, white collar employees have no empathy towards the blue collar workers. They seldom understand our problems!" said Jagadeesan, the Secretary of the Union.

"We can't generalize about people. Labourers are a class of their own, with unique problems. Only one labourer can understand the situation of another. But we need to accept an arbitrator, who is not a labourer. What we have to see is whether the person chosen as the Arbitrator will be fair. Let us try to find out what kind of a person Umapathy is" said Selvaraj, the President of the Union.

"What is there to find out? He is a traditionalist. Traditionalists will always tend to be on the side of the business owners" said Mukundan, the Vice President, with disgust.

"How did you conclude that Umapathy is a traditionalist?" asked Selvaraj.

"After his retirement from government service, he has been giving religious discourses!"

"Oh! Let us find out whether he is scheduled to give any discourse in the next few days."

Mukundan opened the day's newspaper and browsed through 'Today's Programmes.' He said, "Yes. He has ben giving a series of discourses on the Ramayana*. He has a discourse today at Nanganallur."

"Let the three of us attend the discourse and listen to what he says" said Selvaraj, laughing.

The trio assembled at Selvaraj's house after attending the discourse of Umapathy.

Kalpagam, Selvaraj's wife, who served coffee to the three of them, asked in a lighter vein, "How did you atheists enjoy the religious discourse?"

"Generally, religious speakers will justify the events described in mythological stories, even if they are against the accepted code of morality. But, Umapathy said that he found some of the actions of Rama, the protagonist of Ramayana unacceptable" said Selvaraj

"What are those actions?" asked Kalpagam, with interest.

"Sit down and listen to us. After all, you have an abiding interest in mythology" said Selvaraj.

"Tell me, what wrongs did he say that Rama had committed" asked Kalpagam, after sitting down.

"Umapathy has been telling the story of Ramayana in series since the past few days. It seems that yesterday he had covered the incident of Rama killing the monkey king Vali from a hideout and called Rama's action indefensible. Today, a person from the audience angrily reacted to Umapathy's describing Rama's action as indefensible, saying that Umapathy's statement amounted to a contempt of mythology and an insult to the sentiments of the believers. Umapathy shocked him by saying that Rama had committed other wrongs too."

"Religious scholars won't accept Rama's killing Vali from a hide-out as wrong. It was strange for this speaker to have called it wrong. To add insult to injury, he has said that Rama had committed other wrongs too. What are they?" asked Kalpagam.

"You say religious scholars won't accept that Rama's killing Vali from a hideout was wrong. But, Umapathy said that Rajaji, the scholar who wrote Ramayana in a simple languge in Tamil, had said that Rama's killing Vali from a hideout could not be justified!"

"Is it so? I had not known this" said Kalpagam.

"Umapathy said that, in his view, Rama had committed two more wrongs. One was asking Sita to prove her chastity by jumping into the fire."

"What was wrong with that? It was only to show to the world that Sita was chaste, despite having been held in captivity by Ravana for about ten months that Rama asked her to undergo the fire test" said Kalpagam.

"In that case, should Rama also have not undergone the fire test to prove that he was pure? How can there be one rule for a man and one for the woman, Umapathy asked" said Selvaraj.

"I don't know. Posing such questions about mythological characters, considered to be divine, does not seem appropriate to me. What, according to the speaker, was the other wrong committed by Rama?"

"Banishing Sita to the forest, when she was pregnant."

"My God! Rama did his duty as a monarch. When a citizen raised the question about Rama having as his queen a woman who was in the captivity of another king for nearly a year, Rama as a king wanted to be freed of this stigma. So, he banished Sita" said Kalpagam, defending Rama.

"If someone spoke ill of a King's wife, should the King punish his wife? This is not my question. This was the question asked by Umapathy. After all, Sita had already been subjected to the fire test. Was it not cruel to punish her again, provoked by someone's scandalous remarks, he asked."

"But a king cannot ignore the opinions of his citizens!"

"The answer Umapathy gave to this question takes the cake. What should Rama have done? Rama should have said, 'My wife is blemishless. But after your raising a doubt about her chastity, I can't continue to have her as my queen. But I can't abandon her, either. You will raise this question, only if I remain the monarch. I am not going to be the monarch any more. I will leave this country with my wife and take my residence somewhere. You can choose another person to be your monarch' and left the country, along with Sita. This was Umapathy's opinion."

"Wow! What an exemplary a moral stand!" exclaimed Kalpagam.

"The person who asked the question was taken aback by these unexpected answers. 'A person who talks so blasphemously should not be giving religious discourses' he yelled, in desperation. Even to this retort, Umapathy responded calmly, 'I am a believer. I worship Rama as God. I only mentioned the wrongs committed by the character Rama in the epic Ramayana. If something strikes me as wrong, I should say it is wrong. That is what ethics and morality require. We cannot justify a wrong, just because it was committed by a person whom we like, love, admire, respect or worship.' I was impressed by his explanation" said Selvaraj.

"So, what are we going to decide?" asked Jagadeesan.

"I believe that the words coming from a person's mouth reflect his thinking. I get the impression that Umapathy is a person who looks at things objectively, without being influenced by any bias. That is why, even in a religious discourse, he expressed opinions, which he knew would be unpalatable to his audience. I think a person with such an outlook will be able to understand and appreciate the fairness of our demands. But, you also listened to his discourse. What do you think?"

"Your judement will always be correct" said Mukundan. Jagadeesan nodded his head in agreement.

*Ramayana - a Hindu epic.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 12
Neutrality

Verse 119 (In Tamil)

soRkOttam illadhu seppam oru thalaiyA
utkOttam inmai peRin.

Meaning:

It is righteous to speak words that are not deviant; such words

are a result of unbiased thoughts that are not deviant.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'AnMigach choRpozhivu' by the same author)

Verse 120
Verse 118

498. Hunting a Snake

"If we are beating a snake, we should beat it to death. If we leave it alive, it will always be a danger to us" said King Vikramasingha.

"I understand that Your Majesty is referring to Veera Varma, the King of Pingala, running away from the battlefield, taking with him whatever was left of his small army, after our troops inflicted a crushing defeat on his army. But we didn't expect that he would decide that saving his army was more important and choose to run away rather than fight us back, as a true warrior would!" said the Minister.

"Yes. That is what I meant by allowing a beaten up snake to run away. Do we have any information about his whereabouts?"

"I just got an update from the Chief of our Spy unit. I came to meet you only to apprise you of the information."

"Tell me" said the king, with curiosity.

"Veera Varma, with his troops, has taken refuge in Panimalar island, belonging to Parakala kingdom."

"Oh!" said Vikramasinga. "Are the troops of Parakala kingdom stationed in Panimalar island?"

"No. Your Majesty. Panimalar island is inhabited only by a small number of people. It is a peaceful island. There only a handful of troops of Parakala kingdom in Panimalar island. I think the King of Parakala might have allowed Veera Varma and his troops to stay there, since it is an inconspicuous place" said the Minister.

"In that case, we can launch an attack on Panimalar island, capture Veera Varma and his men and bring them to our country."

"Pardon me, Your Majesty. It may not be an advisable course of action. Since Panimalar island belongs to the Parakala kingdom, our attacking that island would amount to waging a war against Parakala kingdom" said the minister.

"We are not going to occupy Panimalar island. We are only going to capture Veera Varma and his troops and bring them to our country. This is not an invasion."

"But our troops entering a territory belonging to another country..."

"Listen to me! Panimalar island is only a few miles away from our East coast. Since Panimalar island is in the midst of several small islands with mountains and forests, we can send our troops in boats, ensuring that the movement of our troops is inconspicuous. We can complete the mission within a few hours and return to our country, with Veera Varma and his men as prisoners. If necessary, later on, we can send an emissary to Paralkala kingdom and explain our action to the King of Parakala. What do you say?"

The Minister nodded his head half-heartedly.

"Your Majesty! We are in deep trouble" said the Minister, feeling tense.

"What happened? We received the message that our troops have captured Veera Varma and are on their way back to our country!"

"As per the plan, our troops went to Panimalar island and captured Veera Varma and his troops, without much difficulty. But, when our troops were returning on boats to our country with Veera Varma and his men, unexpectedly, the troops of Parakala kingdom attacked us. They got Veera Varma and his men released and took them back with them. Now, the army of Parakala has begun to attack our troops on the border, by way of waging a war with us." said the Minister, with concern.

Vikramasingha regretted his hasty decision and action, ignoring the advice of his Minister.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 50
Knowing the Right Place

Verse 498 (in Tamil):

siRu padaiyAn sellidam sErin uRu padaiyAn
Ukkam azhindhu vidum.

Meaning:

If a king with a small army battles from a strategic location,

the power of the mighty foe will get shattered

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pAmbu vEttai' by the same author.)

Verse 499
Verse 497

497. Public Interest Litigation

"Till now, you have filed so many public interest litigation cases and brought several scams to light. But what you are now embarking on is dangerous" said Sagayam.

"In what way?" asked Ramaswamy.

"You are asking me as if you don't know the implications of your action! Don't you know how powerful the business tycoon Velusamy is? He has political connections. That is why even honest officials shy away from taking action against him. Don't you know that Velusamy won't hesitate even to murder anyone crossing his path? You are going to file a PIL pleading that the government should not give permission for the factory proposed to be set up by him. Do you think he will keep quiet?"

"In the past, several leaders of political parties had made allegations against Velusamy. He didn't act against them!"

"Political leaders make vague allegation without specifically mentioning anyone by name. They don't make specific allegations after gathering evidence, the way you do. Most of the people won't take those allegations seriously. Even if there were to be an implied reference to Velusamy, Velusamy would dismiss those allegations as baseless allegations made with the sole intention of besmirching his reputation. The political leaders who make such allegations won't take the allegations forward, either. They are satisfied with creating a sensation for the time being. But your case is different. If you file a public interest litigation, people concerned will become concerned! Therefore, when it comes to allegations made by you, Velusamy won't keep quiet. You should also keep another thing in mind."

"What is that?" 

After hearing Sakayam's reply, Ramaswamy reflected for a while and then said, "I will think about what you have said. I will defer filing the petition for some time."

Feeling happy that Ramaswamy accepted his suggestions, Sagayam thought, "After all, every one is scared about certain things."

When Sagayam called up Ramaswamy after a few months, he asked him in surprise, "Why did you do this?" 

"I thought that it would be wrong on my part to not file a case, when I have such strong evidence. That's why I have filed the case. I have no doubt that in this case, the verdict will go against Veuswamy" said Ramaswamy.

"I am not asking about your filing the case. I am asking about your joining the opposition political party TNK!"

"The other day, you told me that people in politics enjoy a measure of protection and that even people like Velusamy would be reluctant to attack them. That is why I joined the TNK, before filing a petition against Velusamy. I am making use of the protection I get from being a member of a political party to further my objective!"

"But, you have often told me that you consider all political parties bad!"

"It is true. But the party that is now in power is extremely bad. TNK had not been so bad, when it was in power. If TNK indulges in misdeeds after coming to power, at that time, I will quit that party" said Ramaswamy.

Sagayam couldn't decide whether the compromise made by Ramaswamy for his protection while working towards a noble objective was justified.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 50
Knowing the Right Place

Verse 497 (in Tamil):

anjAmai allAl thuNai vENdA enjAmai
eNNi idaththAl seyin.

Meaning:

If one chooses to do a task after considering all angles, 

and choosing an apt place, he needs no aid other than fearlessness.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'podhu nala vazhakku' by the same author.)

Verse 498
Verse 496