Thirukkural with the Times explores real-world lessons from the classic Tamil text ‘Thirukkural’. Written by Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar, the Kural consists of 1,330 short couplets of seven words each. This text is divided into three books with teachings on virtue, wealth, and love and is considered one of the great works ever on ethics and morality. The Kural has influenced scholars and leaders across social, political, and philosophical spheres.Motivational speaker, author and diversity champion Bharathi Bhaskar explores the masterpiece.Controls often begin as firm, well-meaning, and reassuring instructions. “A child should use screens only under adult supervision.” But a rule is not a result. It is merely an intention waiting to be tested by human behaviour. The distance between the two is where most failures quietly take place.Organisations, govts, even families, mistake the creation of controls for the assurance of compliance. They draft policies, circulate guidelines, conduct trainings—and believe the job is done. But history has often failed, not because controls were absent, but because controls were unquestioned, untested, or quietly bypassed.Consider the Wells Fargo fake accounts
scandal
, the collapse of Enron, or the accounting fraud at Satyam Computer Services. These remind us how complex systems can be misused despite layers of processes and checks.The latest addition to this list is the scandal at the Nashika
office
of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which lies in the realm of allegations now – sexual harassment, manipulation, attempts at religious conversion, blackmail, and the forcing of practices that erode dignity. Investigations will, in time, bring out the full picture.It takes an uncommon courage to name one’s own vulnerability, to stand up against structures that seem immovable. They mustered that courage. They followed protocol and complained within the organizational hierarchy and to the POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) committee.Not one email or two, but 78.78 moments of choosing courage over silence.Yet, what is most unsettling is this: these voices instead of reaching the right ears, seemed to circle back — into the very hands of the predators they were trying to escape from. When a cry for help returns to the source of harm, the
system
does not merely fail — it betrays.In governance, the most dangerous gap is not misconduct — it is unawareness. When leadership does not know, and when employees cannot reach them, the organisation begins to operate in shadows of its own making. Compliance becomes ritual; boxes ticked, assurances repeated.Perhaps that explains another disturbing detail. It is reported that law enforcement, instead of beginning with formal inquiries, conducted undercover operations — entering the premises as employees and even as support staff. Such an approach suggests a lack of trust in visible systems, a belief that truth may not surface through declared channels.At its core, this is a failure of ‘controls over controls’. Policies are implemented through processes. Processes are validated through controls. But who examines those controls? Who ensures that the guardians are not asleep—or worse, compromised? Who polices the police? Who audits the auditor?Centuries ago, Thiruvalluvar offered a line that feels strikingly relevant, even though it appears in a chapter on espionage:“Otrottri Thandha Porulaiyum MatrumorOttrinaal Ottrik Kolal”“Setting a spy on a spy, a ruler shouldCross-check the inputs”Its wisdom extends far beyond espionage. It speaks to everything that reaches the attention of senior leadership. Leaders often like to hear what is convenient, filtered through layers that prefer comfort over candour.The lesson, then, is simple but exacting. Trust is essential, but it is not sufficient. Every process must be trusted—and independently checked.Because somewhere, in some corner of a system, there may still be a voice writing its 78th email — hoping that this time, someone will listen.
