“Arjunan?
I asked again to confirm his identity.
“Right,”
he replied briefly as he got into the vehicle.
There
was silence in the initial minutes as our journey began. The young man who sat
on the passenger seat on my left was not keen to strike up a conversation. I
was forced to control my urge to talk about Arjuna and Krishna from the Hindu epic,
Mahabharata.
“How
much further?” Arjunan asked.
“About
thirty kilometres,” I replied as I glanced at the Waze app on my handphone. “We will arrive in thirty minutes.”
The
youth in his mid-20s nodded silently. He glanced at his watch on his right hand
occasionally. He who wore a white T-shirt and jeans appeared anxious.
“Do
you have an important meeting?” I attempted to converse with hopes to reduce
his anxiety.
“Yes,”
Arjunan said briefly. “It is regarding family property.”
“Oh,”
I responded as I was not sure whether Arjunan was prepared to continue this
conversation.
“I
am at a dead end. It is a dispute since the time of dad. Don’t know when it
would be resolved.”
According
to Arjunan, the family business began in Taiping, Perak during the time of his
grandfather. The man was born in Jaffna
in 1930 and migrated at the age of 17 to the Malayan Union several months
before Ceylon gained independence from the British colonial masters.
He
became a successful entrepreneur as a result of his sheer hard work and assets
that he brought over from his motherland. After a long period of bachelorhood,
he married two women, a common practice even in the 1960s.
The
first wife’s eldest child was named Sritarashtran whereas the second wife’s child
was named Paandiyan. Another son, Kreetharan was obtained as a result of an
illicit affair with Sritharashtran and Paandiyan’s nanny.
“When
grandfather died suddenly in 1984, relatives were forced to decide who was
qualified to continue the well-established business in Taiping,” Arjunan said
and his anxiety seemed to have reduced.
“By
right, Sritarashtran is the most eligible to take over his father’s position as
the latter was against splitting the business,” said a relative from Jaffna who
attended the funeral rituals.
A
polemic was raised among the extended family members as Sritarashtran was born
blind. If the business was handed over
to him, it was possible that he would fail to discharge his duties.
“Sritarashtran
would definitely be conned by the workers and those dealing with him. A solid
business may come down crashing as a result of manipulation and opportunistic
ways because he is blind.”
Want
to read the full story? Details below.
The
original full-length “Perang dalam Minda” by Uthaya Sankar SB was published in Dewan Masyarakat (January 2019). This
abridged version was translated by Pragalath Kumar from Busana Bahasa (2019) and published in the Men Matters Online Journal (June 2021).