525. Wealthy Relatives!

When the car stopped in front of the marriage hall, several people came out from the hall to receive Murthy and his wife Meenakshi, who got down from the car. They received the couple with respect, led them to the marriage hall and got them seated.

No sooner than Murthy and Meenakshi took their seats, one person came near them and told them politely, "Please have your breakfast first" and took them to the dining hall. 

He made them sit in a row of tables, not occupied by anyone, called the servers and told them, "Serve them!"

Sensing that the two people seated in a separate row were important people, the servers hurried up to the table, carrying the vessels filled with the breakfast dishes.

The person, who had led the couple to the dining hall, was standing nearby and ensuring that the duo were being served properly.

Murthy told him, "Please carry on with your activities. We will have the breakfast and come back to the hall."

But, the person continued to stand there.

Even as Murthy and Meenakshi were having their breakfast, a few people - their relatives - came to them and greeted them. 

Velu, the bride's father also came there.

"Welcome, Murthy and Meenakshi! I am happy that you are attending the function" said Velu.

"Velu! You are the bride's father. You will have many chores to attend to. Why do you have to leave your tasks and come here?" asked Murthy. However, his face showed his pride at the importance being given to him, by every one.

"Oh, it's fine. Greeting guests like you is also one of my duties" said Velu.

"Has Sivaraman come?" asked Murthy.

"Yes, he has. He just had his breakfast. He is sitting in the hall."

"Ok. You may be wanted at the stage. Go ahead and attend to your tasks" said Murthy.

Velu took leave of him, saying, "I will meet you, after the ceremony is over."

After Velu had left, Meenakshi asked Murthy, in a whispering voice, "Why did you particularly ask about Sivaraman?"

"As you know, among Velu's relatives, only Sivaraman and I are well-to-do people. Others are of modest economic status. Both Sivaraman and I make it a habit to attend all the functions in the families of our relatives and show our bonding with them. I knew that Sivaraman would attend this function. I just wanted to check whether he had come already" said Murthy.

After coming home from the wedding, Meenakshi told Murthy, "I observed one thing. Your relatives showed you a lot of respect, alright. But, they appeared to have more intimacy with Sivaraman. Have you ever observed this?"

"Yes, I have noticed it. Though my relatives are poor, I attend all the functions in their families. I give them gift cheques for a considerable sum rather than give expensive gifts, so that the money could be useful to them. I invite every one to the functions in our family and extend my hospitality to them. I also oblige them, if they seek financial help, from me. I think Sivaraman also treats them in the same way. But, people seem to be more intimate with Sivaraman, than they are with me. If Sivaraman and I were to contest an election, most of my relatives would vote for Sivaraman! But I don't understand the reason for this. Perhaps, Sivaraman has a kind of charisma, which I don't have" said Murthy, smiling.

'Sivaraman has the habit of using pleasant words, while speaking to people. You don't use sweet words, even when you speak to me or our children. How will you speak pleasantly with your relatives? You don't understand what you are lacking!' thought Meenakshi. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 53
Cherishing One's Kith and Kin

Verse 525 (in Tamil):

koduththalum insolum ARRin adukkiya
suRRaththAl suRRappadum.

Meaning:

One who practices generosity and uses kind words will be encircled by an extended family.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'paNakkAra uRavinargaL' by the same author.)

Verse 526
Verse 524

524. Visiting A Relative

"How much time is there for the flight?" asked Arulmozhi.

"We will have to leave for the airport in about one hour from now" said his Personal Secretary Muthiah.

"In that case, we should leave immediately. I need to go to my relative's house too!"

"Sir! That house is located in the opposite direction. If we go there and then leave for the airport from there, we will be delayed."

"We have one hour time. It will take only 20 minutes for us to go there and another 20 minutes to come back. I am going to be there only for 10 minutes. That still leaves us a cushion of 10 minutes."

Arulmozhi and Muthiah got down from the car and walked to the house that was situated in a narrow street.

When Arulmozhi rang the doorbell, the elderly man who opened the door, expressed surprise at seeing Arulmozhi on his doorstep and said, "Hey, Arul! When did you come to Coimbatore? Come in."

He also greeted Muthiah asking him, "Come in Mr. Muthiah! How are you?"

Even as Muthiah replied, "I am fine, Sir," his eyes reflexively looked at his wrist watch.

"When did I come to Coimbatore? I am departing from Coimbatore! I have got just five minutes for you. Please don't offer me coffee or tea. I have to catch my flight. I have squeezed in a few minutes just to see all of you" said Arulmozhi, as he stepped into the house. He turned to Muthiah and said, "Only five minutes, precisely." 

Muthiah nodded his head and went out.

Arulmozhi spent exactly five minutes talking to his relatives and came out of the house. He joined Muthiah, who was anxiously waiting for him outside the house. Both walked fast to the car.

After getting into the car, Arulmozhi looked at his watch and asked Muthiah, "Hope we can make it to the airport in time."

Muthiah nodded his head, more in hope than in certainty and said reluctantly, "Sir, I am aware of your habit of visiting your relatives living in the places we travel to, on business. But today, the time was quite tight. That was why I expressed my reservation when you started for this place." 

"Most of my relatives are poor. I am the only person who became a businessman and attained a higher economic status. But I want to be intimate with all of my relatives. They are understandably reluctant to move with me, daunted by my higher economic status. It only for the purpose of removing their reluctance and making them feel comfortable to move with me as a relative that I have been visiting my relatives as often as I can and keeping my relationship with them strong" said Arulmozhi.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 53
Cherishing One's Kith and Kin

Verse 524 (in Tamil):

suRRaththAl suRRappada ozhugal selvandhAn
peRRaththAl peRRa payan.

Meaning:

To live surrounded by the kin is the benefit gained by acquiring wealth.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'nEram illai Ayinum' by the same author.)

Verse 525
Verse 523

523. Fighting Loneliness With Coffee!

"Want some coffee?" asked Mala.

"You know I had coffee only a few minutes back!" said Nathan, somewhat surprised. "There was a time when you would be annoyed, if I asked for coffee, and complain 'how many times in a day should I make coffee for you?' But now, you are asking me whether I want to have coffee!" he added.

"Those days, we had children growing up, whose needs I had to take care of. The household chores would be unending. I would have felt fatigued and shown my annoyance some times."

Nathan was quiet for a while. He then asked Mala, "Shall we go for a movie?"

"Only last week, we had been to a movie. Nowadays, we have a lot of movies on the TV. Movie on demand! I don't have the desire to go to a theatre to watch a movie. But, if you want to see a movie, then we can go" said Mala.

"No. I don't have any such desire. I asked you only for your sake."

After a few minutes, Mala came to the living room with a cup of coffee in her hand and handed it to Nathan.

"I told you I don't need coffee" said Nathan, even as he received the cup from Mala's hands. "Perhaps, you wanted to drink coffee!"

"No. But, I felt bored by sitting idle. So, I prepared fresh decoction and made some coffee."

"Usually, doing routine chores will be boring. But you say, you did some work to overcome boredom!" said Nathan, smiling, enjoying his own 'humour.'

"Yes. Sometimes, getting fatigued by doing some work is better than sitting idle, pined by thoughts that cause both mental and physical fatigue."

The smile on Nathan's face vanished immediately.

"What can we do? Our daughter has settled down in the U.S and our son in Australia. They call us whenever they have time. We can be happy for a few minutes talking to them. After the call, we could extend the happiness for some more time, by talking about what we talked to them! At other times, we just have to sit idle, gazing at the ceiling or the wall or at the idiot box. We soon get mentally fatigued" said Nathan.

"But, we don't have to be like this. I don't have any relatives from my side, but you have many relatives. But, you didn't allow any of them to get close to you. Eventually, we have lost touch with almost all of them. If we had been close with our relatives, they would be visiting us now and then and we would be visiting them too. We would also have been talking to them over phone occasionally" said Mala, in an accusing tone.

"My relatives were not well-to-do people. They were much below me in economic status. I thought that if I allowed them to get close to me, they would ask me for financial help or other favours or otherwise take advantage of my position and power to get things done for them. That was why I kept away from all of them. Only now, when we feel empty, do I realize that I should have maintained good relationship with them. If I try to reach out to my relatives now, they don't show any interest" said Nathan, feeling remorseful.

"We have received the invitation for the marriage of your father's brother's daughter' son, being held next week. Though the wedding is held at a far off place, we will attend that wedding. We will get a chance to meet some of our relatives, interact with them and get close to them."

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 53

Cherishing One's Kith and Kin

Verse 523 (in Tamil):

aLavu aLAvu illAdhAn vAzhkkai kuLavu aLAk
kOdu inRi nIr niRaindhaRRu.

Meaning:

The life of a person who doesn't have intimate relationship with his kin will be like a tank full of water, but with no bund.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kAppi kudikkalAmA' by the same author.)

Verse 524
Verse 522

522. An Ode to the Kin

The Silver Jubilee function of Raju Enterprises was being conducted.

Raju, the founder of the firm, honoured the senior employees, the long-standing customers and suppliers and several others, who had contributed to the growth of the firm, by giving away prizes and mementos.

The dignitaries invited for the function narrated how, starting small, Raju built up the firm through his hard work, dedication and innovation.

At the end, Raju spoke, acknowledging the felicitations and thanking every one.

"I am very happy to have got an opportunity to honour various kinds of people, who had contributed to the growth of this firm. But, I have not been able to honour some others, who had also played great roles in building up this firm. They belong to two categories. One category includes banks, various government agencies, industry associations etc. The second category comprises my relatives!"

People listening to Raju were somewhat surprised by his mention of his relatives. Though it was customary for people to acknowledge the support given by their family members, Raju's mention of his relatives was intriguing. The audience was curious to know whom Raju specifically referred to by the term 'relatives.'

"When I said relatives, I meant not only my family members, but also my relatives, both from myside and my wife's side.

"At the time I set out to start my own business, I was holding a good position in a large company. Generally, if someone got a job in a company like that, people would say that that person's life was settled. This was because that kind of a job was expected to ensure lifelong job security, growth and comfortable living. 

"I was married and I had a five year old son. I didn't have my own house or any other property. I quit the good job I was holding and started this firm, using my savings as the capital. Both my wife and my mother were opposed to my decision. Their apprehension that I was putting the future of my family at risk was reasonable and understandable.

"Many of my relatives who learnt about my decision also thought that I was being reckless. Some of them, who had never visited my house earlier, came to my house and advised me to give up my decision. They narrated the experiences of people known to them, who had taken a similar step, but were ruined within a few years, by the setbacks they faced in their business. I was angry with my relatives who tried to dissuade me. I thought 'who are these people to advise me on my professional matters?'

Within a few years of my starting the business, I encountered several problems. At one stage, I even considered winding up my business and taking up a job. But my wife and mother, who had earlier opposed my decision to start my own business, encouraged me. 'You started the business with confidence. Continue to run it. You will be able to come out of the problems soon!' said my wife.

"There was nothing surprising about my wife and my mother standing by me and motivating me. What was surprising to me was that even those relatives of mine, who had earlier advised me against starting my own business, provided moral support and encouragement to me at that time. 

On learning about my facing obstacles in my business, my relatives, rather than proudly gloat that they were proved right, encouraged me, saying, 'Don't worry. This is a passing phase. Things will become alright soon.' Some of them tried to boost my morale, by philosophizing about ups and downs being normal in a business. People who had earlier narrated the stories of those who were ruined by their dream of having their own business, now shared the stories of people who came out successfully, after facing what appeared to be insurmountable problems!

"While earlier I was angry with my relatives, for advising me on my decision to start a business, I was overwhelmed by the support and encouragement they gave me, when I was facing problems. I realized that on both the occasions, my relatives only acted out of their concern for me. I take this opportunity to convey my gratefulness to my relatives, who had kindness, concern and affection for me." 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 53
Cherishing One's Kith and Kin

Verse 522 (in Tamil):

viruppaRAch chuRRam iyaiyin aruppaRA
Akkam palavum tharum.

Meaning:

If one gets kin who never lose their love for him, he will get more and more good things in life.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'uRavugaL vAzhga' by the same author.)

Verse 523
Verse 521

521. House To Let

"How many more days do we have?" asked Sukanya.

"We just have one more week to vacate our house. We need to rent a house to move in before the deadline" said Alagesan.

"How are we going to manage? We have two school-going children too!" said Sukanya. She felt like crying.

Till a few months back, Alagesan's family was living a comfortable life. At least, that was how Sukanya had been thinking.

Alagesan didn't tell Sukanya about his business traversing a downward path since the past few years. Alagesan was in the grip of the blind faith held by people facing difficulties that somehow everything would be resolved soon enough.

However, the inevitable had happened. At one point of time, Alagesan realized that he won't be able to continue running his business, with the losses mounting day by day. 

It was only after he had decided to wind up his business, did Alagesan realize how disastrous his financial status had become. He had lost every thing, including the house he owned. He had to vacate his house and hand it over to the bank which had enforced the mortgage against his dues to the bank.  

He sold all his movable assets including his wife's jewels. There was hardly anything for him to take along, while moving out of the house. 

"What are we going to do?" asked Sukanya, feeling desperately concerned.

Alagesan felt overwhelmed by the concern and sense of shared responsibility that reflected in his wife's asking 'what ae WE going to do?' rather than 'what are YOU going to do?' in an accusing way.

'"Don't worry! I will go for a job and take care of the family" said Alageasan.

"I have no doubt that you will. I am asking about finding a place for us to move in after vacating this house. We don't even have the money to pay the rental deposit for the house we rent."

"That is the problem troubling me too. But one good thing is that we don't have household articles to be packed and carried in a transport vehicle. We can pack our clothes in a suitcase and walk out" said Alagesan, with a wry laughter.

The realization that Alagesan, despite being in a heart-broken state, was trying to be humorous only to mitigate her own grief made her agony even more accentuated. 

"He requested you to reduce the rent by one thousand rupees. You could have agreed to his request. He would have been a good tenant. Why didn't you consider his request?" asked Sumathy.

"Why should I reduce the rent? The rent we are asking for is lower than the rent prevailing in our area for a house like ours. Don't worry. We will get some other good tenant" said her husband.

"If you had agreed to reduce the rent even by five hundred rupees, he would have accepted."

"Why should I do so?"

"How are you, Anbu?" asked Alagesan.

"I am fine. You are my cousin. But it has been several months since we met. We have been seeing each other only in the family functions of our relatives. I don't even have your phone number. I got it from Murugan" said Anbu, speaking from the other end. 

"Yes, Anbu. I didn't have your number either."

"Let me come to the point. I heard that you have sold your house, due to some problem in your business and that you have been looking for a house to rent."

"Yes..."

"If you won't mistake me, I will make a suggestion. I have a house that has been vacant for some time. I didn't intend to give it for rent. You can stay in that house for some time."

"Thanks, Anbu. But..."

"I understand your situation, Alagesan. For the time being, you need not pay me any rent. We can talk about the rent, once your financial position improves, or, you can rent another house and move out."

"Anbu! I am overwhelmed by your kindness. This is a great help from you. I don't know how to express my feelings of gratitude for your gesture. I will be taking up some job soon. After that, I will pay you the accumulated rent in installments" said Alagesan, his voice choking with emotions.

"There is no need to talk about it now. After all, I am only letting you occupy a house that has been lying vacant. You may come to my house any time and collect the key from me" said Anbu.

"Well, when a prospective tenant asked you to reduce he rent by one thousand rupees, you were adamant about not reducing the rent even a bit. Now, you are giving our house free of rent to your cousin. You even told him that you didn't intend to let out the house!" said Sumathy. 

"As you have mentioned, I am only helping my cousin. When a relative faces a problem, should we not go to his rescue? Alagesan wouldn't have accepted my help, if he had known that I was losing the rent by asking him to occupy my house. That's why I told him that I didn't intend to let out the house" said Anbu.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 53

Cherishing One's Kith and Kin

Verse 521 (in Tamil):

paRRaRRa kaNNum pazhaimai pArAttudhal
suRRaththAr kaNNE uLa.

Meaning:

Even when all wealth is lost, it is the kin who will maintain their ties.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'chengalvarAyanin  chellap piLLai' by the same author.)

Verse 522
Verse 520

520. The Protege!

"The Chief Minister has been summoning the ministers one by one and reviewing their performance. Has he reviewed your performance?" asked Anandan, the General Secretary of the party. 

"Reviewing my performance! I am a senior leader in the party. I rank next to the Chief Minister in the cabinet. As every one is aware, I was the one who brought Ilankumaran, the present Chief Minister, to the higher levels in the party hierarchy. From suggesting that he change his name from 'Balakumar' to the politically appropriate 'Iankumaran,' through introducing him to our late leader and getting him a seat to contest the assembly elections to getting him a place in the late leader's cabinet, I have played a key role in shaping his political career. He is referred to as Chengalvarayan's protege! Will he review my performance?" said Chengalvarayan, with a giggle that was indicative of laughing at the very mention of the Chief Minister reviewing his performance.

"But, the fact remains that Ilankumaran is the Chief Minister now and you are a minister in his cabinet! I asked you this because I heard that the Chief Minister was very harsh with several senior ministers, while reviewing their performance. He has warned several ministers that even if there is a small lapse or irregularity in their performance, he will drop them from the cabinet. 

Chengalvarayan laughed out loud. "Not bad, not bad at all! Senior leaders like me made Ilankumaran the Chief Minister, intending that a young person adorning the Chief Minister's chair would boost the image of our party among the people. He, on his part, has quickly built up a good reputation for himself, through his effective functioning. Perhaps, he now wants to exercise the authority of his position. But, his strict dealings would be confined to others. He won't try to show his power to me."

Chengalvarayan's mobile phone rang.

Anandan noticed that while speaking on the phone, Chengalvarayan's face expression began to change.

After completing the telephone conversation, Chengalvarayan wiped his face with his handkerchief and told Anandan, "It was my secretary. The Chief Minister has fixed up a meeting tomorrow for reviewing the performance of my ministry." 

As soon as Chengalvarayan entered the Chief Minister's cabin, Chief Minister Ilankumaran got up from his seat and received him with folded hands, by way of showing his respect to his mentor.

Chengalvarayan took his seat and asked the Chief Minister, "What is this, Ilankumaran? You want to review my performance! Don't you know that everything is going well in my ministry?" in a tone of mild reprimand.

"As you know, sir, the purpose of this review is only to ensure that everything goes well in all the ministries" said Ilankumaran, politely. "You are a senior minister in the cabinet and a senior leader in the party. So, I don't have to explain the importance of good governance to you. Only if the ministers function properly, they will be able to guide the officials in the right path and ensure that there is no corruption or irregularity at any level and that the benefits of our good deeds reach the people. You being a senior minister and my mentor, I am doing the review of your department, without the presence of the Chief Secretary and the Secretary of your department."

Ilankumaran then handed over a file to Chengalvarayan and told him, "Sir! This is a report given by the Intelligence department about the irregularities prevalent in your department. I don't know whether these irregularities have come to your notice. Please enquire into these and get them rectified. Please ensure that such irregularities won't arise in future. I am now leaving for a function. I will see you later."

Even as Chengalvarayan was thinking how to respond to the Chief Minister's remarks, Ilankumaran got up from his seat and began to leave his cabin. As he neared the door, Ilankumaran turned back and told Chengalvarayan, "Please get every thing rectified within a week, because I am going to reshuffle the cabinet by the end of this month." 

Chengalvarayan observed that Ilankumaran was smiling as he said this, but Chengalvarayan was not sure that it was a friendly smile.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 52
Assessing Before Acting

Verse 520 (in Tamil):

nAL thORum nAduga mannan vinai seyvAn
kOdAmai kOdAdhu ulagu.

Meaning:

The ruler should review the progress of a job regularly. As long as the people performing the task don’t falter, no harm will come to his kingdom.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'chengalvarAyanin  chellap piLLai' by the same author.)

Verse 521
Verse 519

519. Kannan, the Acolyte

"I have come here two years back. Do you remember?" asked the Factory Inspector.

"Sorry. I don't remember" said Paramasivam, the Managing Director of the firm.

"You wouldn't have noticed me at that time. There was a Factory Manager. He was the one who had furnished me the records and helped me inspect the factory. Everything was perfect at that time" said the Inspector. 

"It couldn't have been otherwise!"

The Inspector looked at Pramasivam's face, unable to comprehend what he was saying.

"You will expect that every thing should be perfect, won't you?" said Paramasivam. 

"Oh, you mean that. Let alone being perfect, in many factories, even basic regulations are not being followed properly. Only in a few places, rules and regulations are being followed to a reasonable extent. Even in those places, record keeping won't be satisfactory. I have seen perfection only in very few factories. Yours was one among them" said the Inspector.

"Thank you."

"Didn't you notice that I used the past tense? What I said was about how things had been, when I came here last time. After me, a couple of inspectors have visited your factory. They have also pointed out several lapses in the observance of government regulations in your factory. Now, the lapses are much more. Record keeping is particularly poor."

Paramasivam remained silent.

"During my last visit, the Factory Manager had ensured that all regulations were meticulously complied with. He had also maintained the records well, I don' remember his name, though" continued the Inspector.

"Kannan."

"Yes. Kannan. Now I remember. He was a nice gentleman. Is he not working here now?"

"No. He has left" said Paramasivam. 'After he had left, every thing left me' he told himself.

Kannan, who had an education only up to the high school level, joined Paramasivam's firm as an Office Assistant. By his sheer dedication, hard work, sincerity and proactive functioning, Kannan had earned Paramasivam's trust within a couple of months. 

After a few years, Paramasivam made Kannan the Factory Manager, entrusted the responsibility of running the factory entirely to him and focused his attention on expanding his factory. 

After deciding on the expansion plan, Paramasivam recruited Velayutham, an Engineering graduate and entrusted with him the responsibility of executing the expansion project. He also designated him the General Manager of his firm.  

Though Velayutham was specifically appointed for implementing the expansion project, he tried to dominate Kannan, making use of his position as the General Manager of the firm. 

However, Kannan didn't make any attempt to take up this issue with Paramasivam.

Once, Velayutham complained to Paramasivam about Kannan, alleging that Kannan was getting kickbacks on the purchase of raw materials for the factory and that he was swindling a considerable sum of money every month, by overstating the expenses.

Paramasivam didn't ask Kannan about these allegations. However, he made discrete enquiries with some of the raw material suppliers and satisfied himself that the allegations were not true. 

One of the suppliers told Kannan about Paramasivam's enquiries and remarked, "You are a man of integrity and you have been serving your firm with sincerity and dedication. But your proprietor suspects your integrity!"

After a few months, Kannan tendered his resignation from the firm. Paramasivam tried to pacify him and dissuade him. But since Kannan was firm in his decision to quit, after his integrity has been doubted, Paramasivam accepted his resignation and relieved him.

'Velayutham and Kannan have not been getting on well with each other. The expansion project is important for the firm's future. Therefore, Velayutham need to continue. In a way, Kannan's quitting the firm is a blessing in disguise, since the constant friction between Velayutham and Kannan will be a hindrance to the implementation of the expansion project" thought Paramasivam, though he felt sorry about losing Kannan.

Unexpectedly, the expansion project had to be abandoned in the middle, due to changes in the market conditions. The entire expenditure incurred on the expansion project had to be written off as a loss incurred by the firm. This created a severe strain on the firm's finances and shattered the morale of Paramasivam.

After the expansion project had been abandoned, Velayudham quit his job and joined another firm.

The huge loss suffered by Paramasivam's firm on the expansion project had a toll on the firm's existing business too. 

Paramasivam realized how his losing an able administrator and a good person like Kannan had such a devastating effect on his business. 

Paramasivam's attempts to bring Kannan back didn't fructify.

"Since things were perfect in your firm during my previous visit, I don't want to take any severe action on the lapses I find now. You will receive a notice from my office listing out the lapses. Please get them rectified. I or someone else from my office will come for inspection again after two months. If the lapses still persisted at that time, there would be no alternative to taking legal action against you" said the Inspector.

'Well. When you come here the next time, this factory may not even be in existence!' thought Paramasivam.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 52
Assessing Before Acting

Verse 519 (in Tamil):

vinaikkaN vinaiyudaiyAn kENmai vERAga
ninappAnai nINgum thiru.

Meaning:

Prosperity will desert the person who suspects the motives of

the expert performing an action, in the process of executing the task assigned to him.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kaNNan en sEvagan' by the same author.)

Verse 520
Verse 518