THE RIGHT AND WRONG
A good employee was fired by the management for asking inconvenient questions and thus making the rivals get insider information. To the employee, he was pointing out the mistakes for the company to take the correct path. The management felt that he was inconveniencing them and publishing business secrets.
Business Organizations are just that. Outfits to make money. There they may shield truths for the benefit of the organisation. I remember a contract for two jobs. One was to remove a small hill and make the place flat for some construction. The other was to fill up a gorge and make it flat for a play ground. Now the hill was near the pit to be filled. But the road connecting the pit to the gorge was circuitous taking a few kilometres around the hill. And the locations were in two Panchayats (local administrations).
The Panchayats colluded and separate quotations were invited for the two jobs. First for filling the pit with earth. Those who did not know that the hill nearby was about to be removed, had to factor in earth transportation from the next village. The second contract was for removing the hill. In that order, in a space difference of a few days. Those who did not know where to dump the soil from the demolished hill, had to factor in transportation charges to the next village.
While other contractors had to quote exorbitant amounts for the separate jobs, factoring in the transportation involved, the local contractor who knew the locations and jobs quoted slightly less than the rest and got the job. He simply used bulldozers to cut up the hill and push the soil to the nearby gorge by making a road with the bulldozer with the earth removed from the hill. That needed only a fraction of the amount he had quoted.
Now if the contractor had stood for the 'truth' and disclosed the facts to the others, they would have quoted the appropriate lower amounts and he might not have got the job at all. With the fortune profit he made, he became a well known contractor afterwards.
Another instance is from Andamans. There are several Islands in Andamans, many of which are small, isolated and uninhabited. But giant trees were there in those Islands. A Mafia organised a Pontoon and mounted a saw mill on it. At night, the pontoon will be towed to the remote islands, cut down the trees and sawed to pieces.
The trees started disappearing. The local Police officer was young and brave. He went to the islands in a country boat to investigate. Caught the tree thieves red handed. The Mafia don offered him a good sum to keep quiet. But the officer did not budge.
What did they do ? They shot him and threw the body to the sea.
Now the questions. Was the contractor right ? Was the Police Officer right ? One ignored the truth and got a better life. One defended the truth and was killed. Does that mean we have to be practical ? The politicians and priests would say yes. A true Guru may say otherwise. It is up to the individual to take a decision and stand by it.
Imagine ! When Guru refused to marry a willing woman when he was young, he might have been looked at as a stupid by those who were living as family men. But Guru stood by his decision and faced the world. For a higher purpose. This is the individual's own decision.
If others are dependent on the individual, it may be better to take decisions that suit them too. There playing a hero may not be a responsible one.
A good employee was fired by the management for asking inconvenient questions and thus making the rivals get insider information. To the employee, he was pointing out the mistakes for the company to take the correct path. The management felt that he was inconveniencing them and publishing business secrets.
Business Organizations are just that. Outfits to make money. There they may shield truths for the benefit of the organisation. I remember a contract for two jobs. One was to remove a small hill and make the place flat for some construction. The other was to fill up a gorge and make it flat for a play ground. Now the hill was near the pit to be filled. But the road connecting the pit to the gorge was circuitous taking a few kilometres around the hill. And the locations were in two Panchayats (local administrations).
The Panchayats colluded and separate quotations were invited for the two jobs. First for filling the pit with earth. Those who did not know that the hill nearby was about to be removed, had to factor in earth transportation from the next village. The second contract was for removing the hill. In that order, in a space difference of a few days. Those who did not know where to dump the soil from the demolished hill, had to factor in transportation charges to the next village.
While other contractors had to quote exorbitant amounts for the separate jobs, factoring in the transportation involved, the local contractor who knew the locations and jobs quoted slightly less than the rest and got the job. He simply used bulldozers to cut up the hill and push the soil to the nearby gorge by making a road with the bulldozer with the earth removed from the hill. That needed only a fraction of the amount he had quoted.
Now if the contractor had stood for the 'truth' and disclosed the facts to the others, they would have quoted the appropriate lower amounts and he might not have got the job at all. With the fortune profit he made, he became a well known contractor afterwards.
Another instance is from Andamans. There are several Islands in Andamans, many of which are small, isolated and uninhabited. But giant trees were there in those Islands. A Mafia organised a Pontoon and mounted a saw mill on it. At night, the pontoon will be towed to the remote islands, cut down the trees and sawed to pieces.
The trees started disappearing. The local Police officer was young and brave. He went to the islands in a country boat to investigate. Caught the tree thieves red handed. The Mafia don offered him a good sum to keep quiet. But the officer did not budge.
What did they do ? They shot him and threw the body to the sea.
Now the questions. Was the contractor right ? Was the Police Officer right ? One ignored the truth and got a better life. One defended the truth and was killed. Does that mean we have to be practical ? The politicians and priests would say yes. A true Guru may say otherwise. It is up to the individual to take a decision and stand by it.
Imagine ! When Guru refused to marry a willing woman when he was young, he might have been looked at as a stupid by those who were living as family men. But Guru stood by his decision and faced the world. For a higher purpose. This is the individual's own decision.
If others are dependent on the individual, it may be better to take decisions that suit them too. There playing a hero may not be a responsible one.
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