STRAIGHT TALKS

Fifty years of Dravidian governance in power. Time for eulogy on her leaders or for audit whether they matched words with actions? Eulogy is something some adore and audit sends shivers in the spine. Why? The Dravidian movement of Tamilnadu had wide parameters like the French Revolution. While French Revolution was inspired by credos of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, the Dravidian Movement had similar and far more wider parameters. While the French were reacting to the insensitivity of its monarchs of the time, Tamils reacted to the supremacy of Brahmins in hindu caste hierarchy and aspired for a classless, casteless society. So they said.  Any movement that is inspired  by credos and slogans, must first define them as conceptual ideas. So the definition guides the process of the movement and ensures it’s acceptance and deliverance and even its review. Otherwise they become substanceless empty platitudes and create confusions and backfire. Standardisation is absol...

The oft repeated word in Indian Politics and elsewhere is Self Respect.  There was a movement in South India which christened itself as Self Respect Movement. The thing about the movement was that it demanded people rebel against status quo instead of questioning it. Questioning would have been an intellectual or a mind job. Rebellion often an emotional mindless act. But sadly despite many self proclaimed scholars and intellectuals of the movement, none demanded fundamental definitions for coinages that mesmerized millions. What is self respect? We have the dictionary definition here. In general usage, the  term is vaguely defined as respect for self. Let’s avoid the spiritual and metaphysical connotations for self. We will relate self to a person here. But let’s ask questions. How does one get to respect oneself? Is it the same as self esteem and self acceptance? We will try to study and if possible, distinguish. Self esteem superficially is how we see ourse...

Let’s make a point clear. All media is business. A media business may have been initially launched with an utopian inspiration. To survive they need to have a business model & forget the inspiration. The longevity of a media business proves they are indeed clever. Claims of ideals are hogwash. How does media work, exist? Print media earns through selling copies and advertisements. Many times more through advertisements. Editorial policy compulsively matches with this requirement. Fill up pages with advts.  Then remaining pages with news, opinions. News and opinions will necessarily need to match with motives of advertisers. Or will lose out future advts. And precious money. We have adverts now. But fact remains that a copy totally was and is an advert. Have you ever heard of a media rejecting Govt ads?  In fact, they beg for Govt ads. This is titled as Independent journalism. Visual TV media acts similarly. But TrP is fundamental...

While at school I had heard of Nehru rolling a clutch of rupees and lighting them as a cigar to prove to British that he was as rich as they are. That his clothes were sent from Eton to India for washing and pressing. My mother said that I was lucky to receive a garland Nehru threw when she carried me as an infant to look at his motorcade in Madurai. I was impressed. He was the best bet to impress the world in British style, I had imagined. Nehru’s oft quoted tryst with destiny is often lauded without understanding the substance behind it. Rhetory excites. For a person educated in the west, supposedly groomed by Mahatma and taking over the reigns of an independent India, tryst with destiny sounds ideal but fatalistic.  On independence, Indians were euphoric. But that was all. There was no striving to build a strong India. Happy and content.  PM Nehru despite his education in capitalistic Britain was impressed by the Soviet model of economy. Mahalanobis became his gui...

We fight for water but will never save it. We  bargain with roadside vegetables seller ,flowers vender & shocked when prices of grains rise, but shed loud tears for farmers' miseries. We will NOT follow traffic rules but blame government for road accidents. We are hardly pious but practice  a fire brand religion. We are against dowry but prefer a filthy rich groom. We support eco protection but can't live without air-con, cars, gadgets. We condemn politicians as corrupt but we will reelect them when they  grease us. Governments are bad but we prefer government jobs. We demand more  facilities from Govt but would prefer a tax free Govt  We hurt others but totally unaware of it we blame others for hurting us. Porns, getting drunk, revealing clothes, late night outs are our birthright. But we demand respect and safety  in company of perverts. We fight against corporates but high paying jobs secured by some beco...

The mark of intelligence lies in asking fundamental relevant questions.  Years of Mughal rule & British colonisation killed the spark of questioning in Indians. It was a perfect condition for the Nehrus to pull wool over the eye of Indians who had come to relate white skin as the eligibility to rule India. We are told that Nehrus belong to Kashmiri Kaul Brahmins. That Motilal Nehru was one of the richest men of his times when being rich then was impossible without British support even as a chieftain of any area. If he amasses wealth, how did he? How did Brits permit? Had the Nehrus been Kashmiris, some roots ought to be available in Kashmir. Except for the fact that the Nehrus were close friends to Kauls, Fotedars, Dhars and Hakshars, no proof was made  in defence of this claim. Fact that the Nehru clan did not move their little finger to help the Kashmiri Pandits when they were displaced gives strong thoughts that their claim to the community could be a preten...

Our family had just moved in from an almost poorish one bed house near the dry river Vaigai in Madurai to an independent house in the now posh K K Nagar in Madurai. Ours was the first building to come up in the area in mid seventies. My brother and I shared a cup board each in the supposed office room in the new house. We even had keys to them and protected it passionately. Those days Tamil weekly magazines released fat special publications to mark Deewali every year. They carried mostly  spiritual posts along with pictures of Hindu Gods and Saints.  Am not sure whether I found a copy of Amudhasurabhi or Kalki special deewali edition. As I loved the deewali jokes I began reading it. And this picture of an elderly man in saffron clothing blessing in almost a salutish manner attracted  me. So I kept the magazine in my cupboard and locked it hoping to reread it later. And forgot about it.  Couple of months later in the neighbourhood called Anna Nagar,...