Sri Lanka's civil war through a Tamil lens-The realities of an armed conflict

Sri Lanka's civil war through a Tamil lens

by Charlotte Mitchell 1 Feb 2018 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/qa-sri- lanka-civil-war-tamil-lens-180131121436527.html

Jude Ratnam was five years old when he fled the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, with his family.

In 1983, tensions between Sri Lanka's majority-Sinhalese government and minority Tamils erupted in a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009. The bloody conflict claimed about 100,000 lives, displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left indelible scars on the nation.

In 2006, Ratnam enrolled to study cinema and film making. Upon graduating, he embarked on what would be a decade-long exercise in filming and documenting his experience of a civil war that tore his country apart.

In his film Demons in Paradise, Ratnam ventured beyond the violence of the conflict, exploring questions surrounding the very idea of Tamil identity.

Al Jazeera spoke to Ratnam about the legacy of the Sri Lankan civil war and the possibility of true reconciliation. 

Al Jazeera: Why did you choose to make a film about Sri Lanka's civil war?

Jude Ratnam: I definitely didn't know how I was going to tell the story, but the impulse to make a documentary about the conflict came to me when the "activist" in me grew disillusioned.

Before I got into film making, I was an NGO worker. But at the NGO, I felt a growing sense of uneasiness - being awarded a big pay, driving a four-wheel and preaching reconciliation to people.

You look around the world today and it appears that identity politics permeates our day-to-day reality. It was in the name of identity politics that I saw all this brutality towards my own, Tamil identity. I wanted to look beyond the conflict to examine the perceived and experienced nature of our persecuted identity.

In that sense, Demons of Paradise asks questions that are rooted in existentialism. It prompts you to think about the human condition, especially when it comes to perpetrating and enduring acts of violence.

Al Jazeera: The civil war resulted in the deaths and displacement of thousands of people. Was there any reluctance in people to talk about this painful period?

Ratnam: Of course there was this fear of the government at that time we were making the film. During the Rajapaksa regime [2009-2015] a kind of national amnesia was encouraged and nobody really wanted to talk about the past. And especially for a Tamil to talk about the past was completely taboo, so there was this general sense of fear across the country.

To the authorities, we had to keep lying about the nature of the film we were making. We said we were filming a love story set around the railways. When we met the characters we told them what we were really up to and fortunately, they were courageous enough to talk about the past.

I think I was just there with the idea of the film and a rolling camera - at the right time.

Al Jazeera: Why was it important to tell this story from a Tamil perspective?

Ratnam: In a 30-year war, it's very difficult to look at just one side as being the victims and the other side as the perpetrators, because the lines are always blurred in a long-drawn-out war, or in any war, for that matter.

When those lines are blurred, you don't want to face up to the truth of what happened, and if you don't face up to the truth then you risk transmitting a distorted view of reality to the next generation. When my son was born, I felt an overwhelming need to understand, capture and address what I felt were the truths of the war.

It was important to tell the story from a Tamil perspective because the film brings into question the very idea of a Tamil identity. Fundamentally, it also brings forth the question of what it means to be human. It asks, how do we choose to deal with all the representations of identity, of nation, of community, of family?

Al Jazeera: How would you describe the political climate in Sri Lanka today? Is there still a sense of division?

Ratnam: Yes, pretty much. While there has been a change of government after the end of the civil war, the fundamentals of the ruling class' political ideology - to divide and rule - remain unchanged. There is an absence of political will to look back and at the past with a view to facilitate reconciliation between people. It's just not a priority.

The government just wants to put people on the bandwagon of progress and development, which is frankly little more than a rat race. When the past emerges, both sides - whether they be the state or the Tamil ideologues - seem more inclined to add fuel to the fire in an attempt to flare up more and more hatred towards each other. So the ruling conditions have not changed at all.

What disappoints me most is the lack of political will by the government, even though they came into power by saying they would be looking into the past. In fact, "reconciliation" was one of their key buzzwords, which they used for their election campaign - alas, it has all been forgotten.

Demons in Paradise

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/qa-sri-lanka -civil-war-tamil-lens-180131121436527.html

When you cannot call Santhosh Narayanan a musician! ~ you can call him a magician.

When you cannot call Santhosh Narayanan a musician! ~ you can call him a magician.on: June 22, 2016
http://www.ceylonews.com/2016/06/when-you-cannot-call-santhosh-narayanan-a-musician/


By Thava Sajitharan

It is difficult to find someone as comprehensively illiterate as I am when it comes to the language of music.

I am totally unschooled in the grammar of this lofty art and have no clue how music is created or how its inherent structures and symbols work. I possess neither the wisdom nor the credentials required for one to be able to speak competently about the subject.

Yet this has not stopped me from falling in love with music. (Come to think of it, falling in love with music is no different from falling in love with a woman – in both instances, metaphorically speaking, you allow yourself to be bewitched by an unfathomed, unfathomable ocean).

So I have chosen to write about something related to music this week. And I am well aware that, by doing so, I am knowingly putting myself among the proverbial fools that rush in where angels fear to tread.

The inextricable

As far as we Tamils are concerned, it is through cinema that music permeates our day to day activities. We, the laymen and women, listen to a lot of film songs every day.

Ilayaraja, AR Rahman and their likes are the psychotherapists we consult when we are in sorrow and distress. They are also the best companions whom we share the most joyful moments of our lives with (in a metaphysical sense). And I am no exception to this.

**

In December 2012, on the eve of New Year, I was asked by a Facebook friend to list my top ten favorite songs of that year.

Right now I am not able to recall the precise details of the list. But there is one particular song that has stuck in my mind. And there are two reasons why this song springs to mind promptly. One: to date that track remains in my list of favorite songs while other songs have faded away like an old memory. Two: to my surprise, some of my friends who were ardent music lovers had not heard of the track and its composer at that time.

The song, ‘Aasai oru pulveli’, composed by Santhosh Narayanan, was for the movie ‘Attakathi’, written and directed by Pa Ranjith.
https://youtu.be/YsMoZ5XO2xU
Attakathi, which proved to be a sleeper hit, was Pa Ranjith’s first film. Santhosh Narayanan was also a ‘newcomer’ to the Tamil film industry at that time.



Four years down the line, Pa Ranjith happens to be the director of India’s most-awaited movie of the year: the-soon-to-be-released ‘Kabali’ featuring superstar Rajinikanth, while the songs composed by Santhosh Narayanan for the same movie have easily trounced all other albums released this year, shattering many Youtube records in the process.

In these four years, Santhosh Narayanan has continued to produce a number of mesmerizing melodies with amazing consistency.

‘Mogathirai’ in Pizza, ‘Poo Avizhum Pozhuthil’ in Enakkul Oruvan (whose lyrics penned by Vivek Velvurumagan is one of the best I have come across) and ‘Aagayam Thee Pidicha’ in Madras are to name but a few.

‘Vaanam Paarthen’ in Kabali for me is the jewel in the crown; its soulful music so reminiscent of Maestro Ilayaraja. (An interesting fact to note about all the above-mentioned tracks is that they feature vocalist Pradeep Kumar).

The contrast

If on the one hand Santhosh Narayanan has been conjuring up such melodious marvels with seemingly effortless ease, on the other hand he has also been busy introducing hard-hitting, previously unheard sounds to the Tamil audience.

The track ‘Ding Dong’ in Jigirthanda is an apt example. Its vocals – the way it was sung, its instrumental sounds, all offer a very fresh experience to the listener. Ding Dong in many ways was the forerunner of the super hit ‘Neruppu da’ song in Kabali, which at the time of writing this column has garnered over 5.6 million views on Youtube within a span of 10 days.

Santhosh Narayanan also has this unique knack for picking peculiar voices: vocalists Gana Bala, Arunraja (who penned and sang Ding Don as well as Neruppu da) and Pradeep Kumar were all his finds.

Even before the release of the Kabali album, Santhosh Narayanan had proven himself to be one of the topmost bankable composers in the industry.

With Kabali album becoming an unparalleled chartbuster thanks to the unshakable stardom of Rajinikanth, he stands to be one of the most sought-after musicians in India.

Criticism

But with increasing fame comes exceeding scrutiny and criticism.

The other day I was watching an online video featuring interviews with the team behind the creation of Kabali album. Lyricists, singers and instrumentalists were among those interviewed.

The interviewees have shared some fascinating stories about the Kabali experience in that show. But a remark made by a viewer in the ‘comments’ section is what increased my curiosity manifold.

He or she had referred to an interview which legendary singer SP Balasubramaniam gave to popular host Bosskey. And the commenter suggested that the ace singer was questioning the credentials of Santhosh Narayanan as a musician.

Surprised, I went on to check the said interview also available on Youtube.

It is a fabulous conversation in which SPB candidly shares many of his nostalgic, fond memories involving acclaimed veterans in the Indian music industry and praises their greatness.

Asked about today’s music directors, he expresses dismay and at one point disapprovingly alludes to a “music director” who “doesn’t know anything” and “has got an arranger in Australia”. He goes on to say that the said music director “doesn’t mind spending a crore of rupees per song”.

Given that Santhosh Narayanan’s music production is partly done in Australia, the commenter I mentioned earlier suggests that SPB was talking about Santhosh Narayanan.

Only SPB will know who he had in mind when he was making that observation.

And it is no secret how Santhosh Narayanan produces his music. All those who contribute to his production get credited on youtube and elsewhere in a detailed manner.

But if SPB was indeed talking about Santhosh Narayanan, is it to be understood as a veteran’s bafflement at how new generation music production is done?

I have no clue. As I said right at the outset I am not knowledgeable enough to expound how music is made or enter into a debate on how it ought to be made. All I can talk about is how a well-made music affects me.

So if Santhosh Narayanan does not fit in with the conventional definition of being a musician, there should be another term that better describes the way in which he has amazed us. I think I have a good suggestion.

If we cannot call Santhosh Narayanan a musician, let’s call him this: a magician. For the feat he’s achieved through his journey from Attakathi to Kabali is nothing short of wizardry.

Thava Sajitharan is a lyricist, poet, broadcaster and documentary filmmaker. He is working as executive producer at IBC Tamil television in London at present. To share your feedback, please write to: sajitharan@ibctamil.com

Links for songs and interviews discussed in the column:

Aasai oru pulveli: https://youtu.be/YsMoZ5XO2xU

Mogathirai: https://youtu.be/FYPIS7WZkBo

Poo avizhum pozhuthil: https://youtu.be/O7DFE5ipiRs

Aagayam thee pidicha: https://youtu.be/9VFv0ZSFRw8

Vaanam Paarthen - https://youtu.be/QoCUEvewVYs

Neruppu da: https://youtu.be/LHaGDT6Pdbk

Ding Dong: https://youtu.be/HlDDpLg-gnY

Interviews with the team behind Kabali album - https://youtu.be/coqJbe6--Cs

Bosskey in conversation with SP Balasubramaniam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOA6z6omg74

If only Illayaraja will release his Symphonies

A Very Special Talent from Madras – Interview by Mr.Michael N Townend
December 17, 2013 by RaajaMusic
https://rajasmusic.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/a-symphony-of-success-ilaiyaraaja-interview-in-1993/


While searching for information about the symphony project of Raja sir, recorded in the year 1993, I found this somewhere in internet (Source Unknown); an interview by Michael N Townend who was an Orchestration Adviser and Music Producer for the Symphony project with the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra.

If still there is someone who thinks that Ilaiyaraaja has done something wrong with symphony (or even if he or she thinks that it wasn’t a symphony at all) as it was his first experiment, please read this interview by someone who had seen many other symphony writers in his career has told about our own Indian music director, Dr.Ilaiyaraaja.

It is worth reading the full article.
Here it goes…

MICHAEL N TOWNEND was the Orchestration Adviser and Music Producer for the Symphony project with the RPO. An eminent composer, orchestrator and arranger, he works in a wide spectrum of music from Jazz, Pop, and Classical to films and TV serials. As music co-ordinator for this project, he first visited Madras in February 1993 for initial discussions with Ilaiyaraaja. He shares his experience in this article which was published in the 1993 Autumn News Letter of the Association of Professional Composers (APC), London.

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be invited to visit Madras as the guest of an Indian composer who is known-very well known as I later discovered- simply as ILAIYARAAJA. The reason for my visit was that enquiries had been made on the Maestro’s behalf to various bodies, organisations, orchestral management and associations (including our own APC) to investigate the possibility of arranging a recording here in Britain of a new work that he was intending to write. He wished, in fact, to extend his already prodigious output in a more positively artistic and perhaps, intellectually demanding manner by composing and recording a Symphony, in the hope that in this way, his considerable musical talents would reach a wider and more international audience.

In the event, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra had been selected to record his symphony, and my involvement as that of adviser on matters such as modern conventions in orchestration and recording procedures since I had been working closely with the RPO for some time previously. The Maestro wished me to advise him on matters such as the various strengths or weaknesses of the orchestra, and how best to write for such combinations, and in what form he should write to achieve the best results. It transpired that he had an incredibly busy schedule, which was why he requested that I visit him, rather than he visit us here in the UK.

Now, before the beginning of this year I had not, I have to confess, heard of neither Maestro Ilaiyaraaja nor any of his music. So it was with considerable curiosity (and perhaps even a mild degree of skeptical disbelief) that I listened to the CD titled “How To Name It?” which was handed to me by way of preparation for my visit to Madras.

My initial impressions on hearing this album were that the composer was clearly both talented, and well versed in many different musical traditions from all ends of the musical spectrum. There were strong influences from Bach particularly, and Mozart, and other composers from both Baroque and Classical periods of Western music, but also, quite properly as one would expect, influences from his own rich musical heritage with many complex and interesting rhythmic patterns and the use of ethnic scales, modes, stylistic devices, ornamentations and inflexions. This diversity and his fluency in using and combining such influences was very obviously one of his major strengths.

Thus prepared, I went to Madras with considerable respect for this man, but still retaining a degree of skepticism for what I suspected were the more extravagant claims for the magnitude of his output. Although I was aware of the scale of the film industry in India, I was still unprepared for the scene in Madras – particularly when compared to the sad decline of our own film industry here in Britain.

Meeting the Maestro at the film studious AVM where he has worked for many years with enormous successes, I was greeted by this quiet, gentle and kind man, who, with good reason, is held in semi-reverence by those around him, yet who was prepared to take time out from his busy schedule scoring for films to meet me and consult with me about matters relating to the planning and necessary preparations for the writing and recording of his first symphony.

The first eye-opener for me was learning that this particular composer was so popular with the film-going audiences in Southern India (whose enthusiastic appetite for the cinema equals only their love of cricket) that his photograph appears on the posters, billboards and advertising for the film – as large as the photos of the actors whose popularity and status he rivals. Apparently, his name attached to a film (and his picture on the publicity) guarantees the film producer at least five additional weeks retention in the cinemas. The public adores him, and as such, producers are constantly beating a path to his door; he can and does command as high a fee as he considers a film producer’s budget can stand – and he gets it.

I tried to describe for him the difference in the situation over here or in America; how many of the general public know or even care who wrote the music for most of our films, let alone would recognize and appreciate the composer’s picture on the billboards? I would imagine quite a few people would have heard of John Williams, but would they know what he looks like?

Naturally this pre-eminence in the industry allows Ilaiyaraaja great freedom, both artistically, in terms of the style of music and the instrumentation that he may choose to employ and the artists, but also editorially. What do I mean? Well this was my next eye-opener; the producer or director doesn’t tell the Maestro which music cues he will require, nor does he decide where they will begin or end, or what mood he wishes the music to help create or reinforce – the Maestro tells him!

This revolutionary approach certainly has one very positive effect, which is easily and instantly appreciated; there is much less time wasted in the early stages of planning and pre-production, and less hassle for the composer, who is not therefore subjected to delays while re-shoots or re-cut versions are prepared, nor made to suffer the criticisms and indecision of a “committee” of opinions.

My latent skepticism on being told that Ilaiyaraaja had scored the music for 700 films in 17 years all but vanished when I arrived at the film studios to observe him working on a new film from the outset. 

My awe and admiration for him increased when I realised that without the aid of lists of music cues, a music editor or even a stopwatch, the Maestro was able to compose accurately a piece for a particular film cue which fitted exactly not only the required timing but also the mood and pace of the action on the screen, heightening the tension if it was a fight scene, or enhancing with beautiful lyrical melodies the romantic mood of a love scene, or just adding spontaneously joyous excitement rhythmically to a dance scene. 
 
Having written this piece in a form of short score – part Western notation and part Tamil – with full instructions for the orchestration, the players clustered round him proceeded to write their own parts out, and immediately sit down to record this piece. 

This practice itself accounts for the speed at which a film score can be completed (just two and a half days was his record) but this in no way diminishes the achievements of the composer, who brings such natural and intuitive talent to his work.

Although he says of himself that the music comes from God and he is merely the conduit for its transmission, it must be said that without his incredible ability to absorb influences and use them to such good effect, combined with his innate musical skills and finely-tuned ear, God might perhaps have sought a different channel of musical communication. 

As it is, all of India, not merely the South, must feel very proud of its native composer who has achieved so much for films and now in the wider sphere of recorded music.

The recordings with the RPO were extremely successful. The music contained so many beautiful melodies and exciting moments, and was found to be quite challenging by the orchestra, who were naturally unfamiliar with the Maestro’s style at first, but who soon became adept at its interpretation.

Many were expecting the music to display a more obviously “Indian” flavor, but since I was aware that Ilaiyaraaja had set himself the task of reaching the widest possible international audience and did not wish his work to be heard in the context of a “novelty item” or a fusion of East and West in ways which have already been explored, I was not surprised by the accessibility of the music to Western ears. Nevertheless, Indian influences there are in abundance in the way in which he has used rhythms, and certain stylistic and ornamentational devices, and I am glad that these are present in this, his first symphony.

It is truly a very accessible piece of music and one, which I hope, will be played and enjoyed throughout the world. I was very proud to have been involved both as an orchestration adviser, and as music producer to this project from the very beginning; from the moment that I first heard the exciting music of Maestro Ilaiyaraaja back in January 93. I hope our association will continue long into the future.
---------
Following is the article from “THE HINDU – International Edition” September 4, 1993
Q: How did you get the offer to write a symphony?
Pyramid International, a recording company based in London, asked me whether I would be interested in writing a symphony. Writing a symphony needs much concentration. I said, “If I agree to write a symphony, how do you propose to market it? The people there who listen to classical music do not know about me. How do you make it possible for them to hear my music?” They said, You leave that part to us.” Only then I agree to it. That made them get in touch with several orchestras and eventually they chose the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), considered the best in the world, which plays only great Western classical composers. The RPO people said that they did not know about me. They said that I might be a very good composer, but what about my caliber in Western classical music? So complete details about me were sent to them. My two discs, ‘Nothing but Wind’ and ‘How to name it,’ were sent. That convinced them of my capability to write a symphony.
Q: So you started writing the symphony?
No. I asked for a co-ordinator. They sent Michael Townsend. He can conduct, arrange. He is a one-man army as far as music is concerned. He came and saw me work in films. He said, ‘When you were writing the score, you did not struggle for any ideas. You did not take your pen off the script before finishing it. I have never seen such a composer before. Your dedication is remarkable.’ When he saw the re-recorded film, he was moved. He was really stunned to by the synchronisation of the music with the film. He told the RPO that this time they were going to record the work of a composer who was different.
Q: So you agreed to write the symphony for the RPO?
Yes. They laid certain conditions. The foremost was that I must send the score at least three months in advance. I accepted, but my film commitments made me give the score only a month before the recording. In fact, I gave the last piece only 12 days before the recording. But when the recording was over in London, all the musicians broke into a standing ovation. They started tapping the floor with their feet. I was thrilled and thanked the Almighty for giving me this opportunity to write a symphony and have it recorded.
Q: What exactly is a symphony?
It is a form of orchestration. We have in our system of music different elements — geetam, swarajathi, varnam, keerthanam. Film music is also a form, something like keerathanam with pallavi, anupallavi, and charanam. Symphony, which has three main elements, is a form too. What I do in films is also a kind of symphony. For a full-fledged orchestra, symphony is the mainstay.
Q: How did you feel when every member of the RPO congratulated you?
He (God) made it happen. It was unbelievable. There are thousands of people who are practising or composing music. But who got the chance? Who selected me? I did not do anything. He (God) selected me. I prayed to God in gratitude that He made me do it.
Q: What do you think of the computer music coming up in a big way in films?
Conductor John Scott also asked me about computer music. He has a computer and I too have one. Scott and I went to a bookstall and bought some books. To total the prices of the books, the store staff started searching for the calculator. But I calculated the total and told them before the calculator could do it. They asked me how I was able to do it. If you do not know arithmetical calculations, then you need a calculator. This is how I explain computer music. Anybody can buy a computer and make it play ‘C’ major. Anyone can compose music easily with a computer. But this is for the laymen. If you have the skill you do not need a computer … In computer music, after a few songs, one gets fed up because the computer can give only certain variations as programmed. You will never get anything new in moods or emotions.
Q: What are your ‘bests’ in films?
The moment I can say that this is my best song or best music in films, I will stop giving music. I still do not know what music really is and I am trying hard to comprehend it. Once I know it, I will have my fulfilment and I will stop doing what I am doing now.
Q: Six hundred and fifty films in 17 years, 3500-odd songs. If you still say you have not done anything, then …
For you, I am Ilayaraja. But for me, “Who am I?” I have not even started tuning my instrument properly. Then I must synchronise the tampura with the sruti, next practice it, and last comes the singing.
Q: How many days did you take to write the symphony?
One month. Some eminent composers have taken three to 14 years. Some others just three days.
Q: It seems that Pandit Ravishanker and L. Subramanyam have also done a symphony and that was also recorded in London.
I do not know whether they have recorded a symphony or not. But the RPO’s programme executive, Ian Maclay, wrote to me mentioning that I was the first composer from whole of Asia to write a symphony.
Q: Have you named the symphony?
No. Scott told me that he could name it ‘Fantasy.’ I said it was not fantasy. I have a couple of names in mind, but I have not decided on it.
Q: Did any of the Carnatic music exponents congratulate you on your achievement?
T. V. Gopalakrishnan, Mandolin Srinivas were there to receive me at the airport. The ‘Bhishma’ of Carnatic music, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, came to my place twice to congratulate me.
Q: What do you plan to do after this?
Nothing is in my hands. We plan so many things. But can anyone predict what will happen? So I do not plan. Whatever comes, take it in your stride. If you aim at something and do not get it, you feel dejected … He (God) is planning in His own way.
Q: Does the Carnatic base help you in your chosen field?
Carnatic music and Western classical music are two different cultures, though the sounds are the same. The difference between the two systems is: one is like living with the people and the other like living alone. Carnatic music is like living in solitude and doing meditation like our sages. Western music needs harmony, counterpoints and many accompaniments. It is like living with people.
Q: From Pannaipuram to films — do you think you have achieved what you wanted?
No. I do not think of anything as my achievement. Today’s record may be bettered tomorrow.

John Scott's Column

As time permits, John Scott will answer your questions and have the answer posted here. This question comes from Anbu Ramasamy:

Mr. Scott,

I think you are one of the best composers around & my mission now is to go out and get all your CDs. Please keep composing & keep releasing your music.

The question I have is somewhat involving you and another person. I was thrilled when I heard that you were going to conduct the symphony for Mr. Ilayaraja from India when he was commissioned to write a symphony. Mr. Ilayaraja is my favorite Indian composer & I couldn't believe my ears when I came to know another one of my favorite composers (you!) was going to conduct it. There was a huge celebration for him in India with all the top personality & you honoring Mr. Ilayaraja. This was shown in the tele & I was ecstatic to see you on stage. As you were being garlanded on stage, I also happened have your CD 'John Scott's Favorites' gracing my glass cupboard with you in front. I so excitingly pointed out to my family members 'there that's him' & they really couldn't believe as well.

But till now, this symphony has not been released & there hasn't any news about it. I hope you can enlighten about its release & the work of Mr. Ilayaraja.

Anbu(Singapore)

Dear Anbu (Singapore),

Thank you for your very kind comments. I am a very lucky person because I spend my life doing what I like, which is composing music.

It was very interesting to hear that you witnessed the Ilayaraja honoring ceremony on TV. I was flown from London to Madras specially for it. It was an incredible experience and I shall never forget it. Ilayaraja and I became very close friends and I have tried to encourage him to get his symphony released. I believe he was hurt by a critics review, and this is the reason it has not been released. I had the privilege of conducting the recording sessions with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, in London, and we all believe it deserves to be released. The trouble is that critics are capable of destroying sensitive artists and have done it throughout the history of music. The more one knows a piece of music the more one loves it, and the stupid critics are incapable of judging anything they have never heard before. They have seldom been right. There is a wonderful book by Nicolas Slonimsky entitled LEXICON OF MUSICAL INVECTIVE. It is a history of musical criticism since Beethoven's time. It shows how the critics have crucified every great composer without exception! I will contact Illayaraja and tell him about your kind remarks and that he owes it to us all to make his symphony available.

I send you my best wishes,


Last Updated: 12/12/2006 12:38:18
© Copyright 1997-2006 Randy Levy

Tamil Nadu Villagers Turn To Ancient Water Harvesting Practice To Save Themselves From Drought

Tamil Nadu Villagers Turn To Ancient Water Harvesting Practice To Save Themselves From Drought

Sharada Balasubramanian  October 15, 2016 http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/tamil-nadu-villagers-turn-to-ancient-water-harvesting-practices-to-save-themselves-from-drought-263556.html

In drought areas like Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, villagers have reclaimed old water harvesting structure called Oorani. These ponds guarantee availability of safe drinking water in an environment-friendly way at a low investment. Ooranis play a huge role in groundwater conservation and recharge, and are useful for farmers who do not have water source for irrigation or find it expensive. This technique is energy-saving too, as compared to pumping water using bore wells.

Where extensive use of borewells have led to over extraction of ground water, simple old techniques like ooranis can be revived and used by villagers to prevent water scarcity in times of poor rainfall. Villages in this district formed Tank Users Association for restoration of these ponds with the help of NGO and the state government.

One year after setting up these tanks, and the first rainfall thereafter, the tank was filled with water, relieving farmers, as they started cropping their land. Following this success, villages in the neighbouring areas also began to restore and build such ponds.

It is believed that every village in southern India once had more than three water bodies. With the onset of irrigation, ancient water storage structures, which existed since 2000 years, lay abandoned. In Tamil Nadu, districts like Ramanathapuram face severe water crisis as there is no river source for water.



Dhan Foundation, an NGO, along with the local villagers restored ooranis (dug out ponds in Tamil) for a water secure future.



Ooranis, which go back to more than 2000 years, are structures formed in rural areas where ground water is scarce or unfit for use, like the Ramanathapuram district of Tamilnadu. In Savariarsamudram village of the state, people left their footwear before stepping into the water tank as a mark of respect and culture.



In 2012, when south west monsoons failed, villagers were forced to buy water despite poor economic conditions. This village in Ramanathapuram was free from water scarcity during this time, and it stands as a testimony to how ancient water harvesting practices can succeed even today.



It’s not just the local people, but also the neighbouring villagers who came to this village to draw water, as good as the olden times when water sharing was a common practice.


These water harvesting and cleaning mechanisms have improved the lives of women and children, who spend significant time fetching water by walking for hours.






The oorani water is murky, so people buy seeds called ‘thethankottai’. The water stored in the earthen pot is scrubbed with a handful of seeds.



The pot is scrubbed with these seeds for a good 20 minutes, after which the water is clear and drinkable. The seed sedimentation process works well, and is commonly used by the locals.



Children from the local village and the neighbouring areas share playful moments as they gather to collect the oorani water

Rajendra Chola’s Portrait For Mazgon Docks: A Tribute To The Naval Might Of Cholas

Rajendra Chola’s Portrait For Mazgon Docks: A Tribute To The Naval Might Of Cholas 
Swarajya Staff - September 30, 2016, 8:30 am  http://swarajyamag.com/books/rajendra-cholas-painting-for-mazgon-docks-a-tribute-to-the-naval-might-of-cholas
 


This occasion gives Indians an opportunity to reflect on how they approach their own history.


According to this report in The Times of India, the governor and chief minister of Maharashtra will dedicate a portrait of the Chola king Rajendra Chola I to Mazgon docks. This is fitting as the Cholas had arguably the best organised navy in all of Indian history.

This occasion though, also gives Indians an opportunity to reflect on how they approach their own history. For, in India, except for a handful of icons, all other history makers are remembered regionally and not nationally. So, Krishnadeva Raya remains an icon only in south India; a leader like Lachit Borphukan of only the Assamese; Marthanda Varma, who defeated the Dutch at sea, remembered in Kerala alone, and so on.

Southern India, per se, seems to suffer disproportionately from this approach to history. While the Rajputs, the Marathas, and the rulers of the Gangetic delta still find mention in history books, leaders and change-makers, who belonged to the south don’t in the same proportion.

There are more chances of a student in south India reading about the imperial dynasties of the north than a student in north India reading about a ruler like Rajendra Chola I.

It is in this context that the Maharashtra administration’s decision to dedicate Rajendra Chola’s portrait to Mazgon docks should be welcomed. Especially because, the Cholas were a great naval power themselves.

This aspect of their reign can hardly be described better than has been done by author Sanjeev Sanyal in his new book, The Ocean of Churn.

Given below is an excerpt:

“The Cholas were one of the three clans, who dominated the southern tip of India in ancient times. During the period of Pallava rule, they had accepted the overlordship of Kanchi but still retained significant political clout. At the end of the ninth century, a Chola general called Aditya helped the Pallavas crush a revolt by the Pandyas, the other ancient Tamil clan. As a reward, he seems to have been given sizeable new territories. Aditya used the new resources to build up his military capability and in AD 873 he marched against his Pallava overlords. The Cholas defeated and killed the last Pallava king Aparajita (whose name ironically means ‘he who cannot be defeated’). Aditya took care, however, to marry a Pallava princess and thereby absorb their lineage into his own.

Over the next several decades, the Cholas steadily expanded their kingdom. They repeatedly defeated the combined armies of the Pandyas and their Sri Lankan allies. However, not all their military campaigns went well. When the Cholas attempted to expand northwards, they were beaten back by the Rashtrakutas who had replaced the Chalukyas in the Deccan plateau. In fact, the Rashtrakutas pushed back and occupied the old Pallava capital of Kanchi. It took several years for the Cholas to recover from the defeat but they seemed to have clawed back the lost territory by the time Rajaraja Chola came to the throne in AD 985.

Rajaraja is widely regarded by Tamils as their greatest king. He defeated the combined armies of the Pandyas, the Sinhalese and the ruler of Kerala. This gave him control over ports on both the eastern and western coasts. Next he decided to teach the Sri Lankans a lesson. A naval raid occupied the north of the island and sacked the Sinhalese capital of Anuradhapura. The Maldives was also added to the empire. As thanksgiving for his victories, Rajaraja then built the enormous Brihadeswara temple dedicated to Shiva. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The next Chola ruler was Rajaraja’s son Rajendra, who assumed the throne in 1014. He initially had to put down revolts by the old rival clans and consolidate his control over Sri Lanka. He then led an extraordinary military expedition that made its way north to the banks of the Ganga. Although the Cholas did not attempt to maintain control over these northern lands, Rajendra was clearly very proud of having made his way to the holy river. Water from the Ganga was carried back in golden vessels and a new capital was built—‘Gangaikonda Cholapuram’ meaning, ‘The City of the Chola who brought the Ganga’.

From the perspective of Indian Ocean history, however, the most significant event of Rajendra’s rule was a major naval raid on the Sri Vijaya kingdom of Sumatra and Malaya. In order to appreciate the historical context of this event, one needs to step back and understand the geo-political dynamics of the times. The maritime trade route between India and China had become very lucrative and there were two main routes. The first passed through the Straits of Malacca, between the Malay peninsula and Sumatra. The Sri Vijaya kingdom controlled this route. The second, more southerly route, passed through the Sunda straits between Sumatra and Java. Although it was a bit of a detour for those going to China or Champa, it had better access to the spice growing Maluku and Banda islands. This route was usually controlled by the Javans. Not surprisingly, there was constant rivalry between the Sri Vijaya and the Javanese kingdoms.

The late tenth century was a period of prosperity in the Indian Ocean rim as trade boomed between the Song empire in China, the Cholas in southern India and the Shiite Fatimid caliphate that controlled Egypt and the Red Sea. The rivalries of South East Asia were proving to be a major threat to this economic pipeline. In AD 987, a Sri Vijaya diplomatic mission made its way to China. During its stay in China, the diplomats were informed that their country was under attack from the Javan kingdom of Mataram.

They decided to head home but the war escalated and the mission found itself stranded in Champa for a year. It is likely that they received new instructions from the capital for they headed back to China and pleaded with the Song emperor to place Sri Vijaya under its protection. Thus, China came to have influence in the region.

The Sri Vijaya would have been aware that the entry of the Chinese into the Indian Ocean could elicit a response from the Cholas. Thus, they simultaneously sent missions to the Chola kings as well as made generous grants to Hindu and Buddhist temples in Chola ports. Amusingly, Chinese records show that the Sri Vijaya were playing a double game because their diplomats were deliberately misrepresenting the situation by claiming that the Cholas paid tribute to them!

The Sri Vijaya seem to have used Chinese protection to build up their own strength. Not surprisingly, this caused their neighbours to become concerned. Around 1012, Suryavarman I, the king of Angkor, chose to send an unusual gift to Rajendra Chola — his personal warchariot with which he had defeated his enemies. In the Indic cultural context, such a gift has great symbolic importance and it is likely that Angkor was trying to woo the Cholas as a way to counter-balance the Sino-Sri Vijaya alliance. It is also possible, that Angkor was trying to reopen the old trade route through the Isthamus of Kra as a way to bypass the contested straits. Amidst all this hectic diplomacy, the Cholas sent a direct diplomatic mission to China in 1015.

The ground situation, however, suddenly changed in 1016 when the Sri Vijaya and their allies defeated the Javanese and sacked the Mataram capital. This left the Sri Vijaya in control of both sea routes. We have evidence to suggest that it soon exploited this situation by exacting exorbitant tolls on merchant ships. Rajendra Chola probably sent a small naval expedition to Sumatra in 1017 as a warning but it was not taken seriously. Thus, the Chola returned in 1025 with a much larger fleet.

We do not know the exact sequence of events, but a study of the available information suggests the following: The fleet probably assembled near the main Chola port of Nagapattinam. Appropriately for a port that traded with South East Asia, the name means ‘Port of the Nagas’. There is still a major port there but the medieval port was probably several kilometres to the south. The Chola fleet would have first sailed south towards Sri Lanka before swinging east using ocean currents that would have taken them across to Sumatra. They probably then sailed down the west coast of the island towards the Strait of Sunda where they may have been resupplied by Javanese allies and picked up local guides.

The fleet now made its way north into the Straits of Malacca and systematically sacked Sri Vijaya ports along the way. Finally, we are told that the Cholas decisively defeated the main Sri Vijaya army in Kadaram (now Kedah province in Malaysia). The invading force then withdrew, stopping by at the Nicobar Islands on their way home.

The Chola raid significantly diminished Sri Vijaya power but it is remarkable that the Chinese did not do anything to support their supposed vassals. It is possible that the Chinese were just as annoyed at Sri Vijaya’s rent extraction and had entered into an understanding with the Indians. The Sumatrans too seem to have accepted their reduced status as they continued to send ambassadors to the Chola court and even participated in a joint diplomatic mission to China. When a Chola naval fleet returned to Kadaram in 1068, it was in support of a Sri Vijaya king against his local rivals. Meanwhile, with external threats diminished, Java began to rebuild itself under a Balinese price, Airlangga. The process of revival would culminate in the great Majapahit empire in the fourteenth century.”

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Maharashtra to dedicate Tamil emperor Rajendra Chola's portrait to Mazgon DocksTNN | Sep 29, 2016, 06.31 AM IST http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maharashtra-to-dedicate-Tamil-emperor-Rajendra-Cholas-portrait-to-Mazgon-Docks/articleshow/54574985.cms

 
NEW DELHI: Governor of Maharashtra Dr Vidya Sagar Rao and chief minister Devendra Phadnavis will dedicate the portrait of the great naval emperor from Tamil Nadu Rajendra Chola I to Mazgon Docks. Chairman of celebration committee Tarun Vijay and MD of the Mazgon Docks Ship Builder Rear Admiral (retd) Rahul Kumar Shrawat will receive the portrait in a solemn function on Thursday at 3.30pm. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has sent a special congratulatory message for the occasion.

Ravi Bhusari, org secretary BJP, Maharashtra, Prof Sanjay Deshmukh, VC of the Mumbai University and Capt. Selvan, BJP MLA, (the lone Tamil MLA in Maharashtra) shall also join as special guest.


"Rajendra Chola was the greatest naval emperor of the world, India produced a millennium ago (1014 CE — year of coronation) and his memory is essential not only for national unity but also to get inspiration to keep Indian Ocean as a zone of peace," Tarun Vijay said. "Exactly 35 years before UN had passed a resolution declaring Indian Ocean a peace-zone but today India needs to increase its presence and activities in the region to have that come true," he added.

In sickness and in health, a parallel in the journeys of MGR and Jayalalithaa

If credible reports during MGR's prolonged illness were scarce in 1984, information now seems to be in even shorter supply. Apollo's medical bulletins on the condition of the Tamil Nadu chief minister

A.R. Venkatachalapathy October 5, 2016 Last Updated at 10:47 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/in-sickness-and-in-health-a-parallel-in-the-journeys-of-mgr-and-jayalalithaa-116100500125_1.html

MGR campaigning in an election in Tamil Nadu. Credit: Wikimedia

When M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) was shot by fellow actor M.R. Radha on January 12, 1967, I was probably a few weeks old in my mother’s womb. MGR’s next near-brush with death was 32 years ago, and as an aware 17-year-old, I have distinct memories of it. MGR was admitted to the same Apollo Hospital where his protégé J. Jayalalithaa is now apparently battling for life. The parallels are stronger than mere calendrical coincidence.

MGR was then 68 – so far as birth records are reliable for a man who came from such humble beginnings as him, about the same age as Jayalalithaa is now. He had suffered a kidney failure, and was soon flown to Brooklyn Hospital, New York for treatment. In the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984, Rajiv Gandhi went in for snap polls a few months ahead of schedule. MGR’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was in alliance with the Congress.

Those were pre-satellite channel days, and the media had great prestige but could easily be thwarted by the government. During the long months of treatment, there was little real news of MGR’s condition but for the periodical press releases that H.V. Hande – now a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a physician himself and a minister in his cabinet – issued. The press releases carried little credibility, and in one of his famous wordplays, MGR’s erstwhile friend, sworn political enemy and many-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, called it ‘Hande pulugu, anda pulugu, aakasa pulugu’. The line is untranslatable, but the rhyming reference is to ‘blatant lies of universal proportions’.

Access to MGR and his wife, Janaki Ramachandran was controlled by a major faction of the party led by Rm. Veerappan, a successful film producer and a minister in the cabinet. In this, the Congress was a willing ally. MGR filed his nominations papers to the Andipatti constituency from his hospital bed in the presence of India’s Ambassador to the United States. Those were pre-RTI days and no one has seen the signed nomination papers to date. Indira’s assassination and MGR’s ill-health formed an unbeatable combination and the coalition swept the polls. Until MGR’s miraculous recovery and return to India some months later, there was no acting chief minister. And when MGR was sworn in, Doordarshan and Films Division, the only media allowed inside Raj Bhavan, decided to mute the cameras!

MGR ruled for three years until his death on Christmas eve, 1987. And these years remain one of the many dark spots in Tamil Nadu’s post-independence governance. Jayalalithaa was side-lined, with little or no access to her mentor, and fought a rear-guard battle with the help of some dissidents. Matters reached their nadir when she was pushed from the gun carriage hearse at MGR’s funeral.

In the waters troubled by MGR’s death, the Congress, which had not ruled  Tamil Nadu by itself for two decades, began to fish. In a single year, in 1988, Rajiv Gandhi visited the state 17 times, making tall promises. With P.C. Alexander playing the pliant governor, the Congress desperately tried to shore up its fortunes. In the January 1989 elections, it contested on its own under the leadership of G.K. Moopanar. The results not only exposed the Congress’s limitations, but also confirmed Jayalalithaa’s claim to MGR’s mantle. After her resounding victory in the 1991 elections riding the sympathy wave generated by Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, Jayalalithaa ensured that the AIADMK survived MGR’s death. But, in a bid to emerge as a leader in her own right, she did everything to erase MGR – invoking his name only in crises.

Marx must be turning in his grave every time a lazy political commentator alludes to his famous dictum: ‘Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.’

And yet, it is impossible not to invoke Marx in this context. The parallels and analogies leap off the first page of his Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.

If MGR made history by being the longest serving chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa has similar, and other dubious, records to her credit. And her stint in power has not only been longer but also spread over a quarter of a century. If anything, she has widened the AIADMK’s vote bank.

Due to apparent ill-health, accentuated evidently by her incarceration in Parpana Agrahara jail in late 2014, Jayalalithaa has sported a jaded look over the past few years. Her campaign in the recent elections was lacklustre. Public appearances have been stage-managed to give a modicum of normalcy. If heavy make-up disguised possible signs of ill-health, special arrangements were made not to expose her limited mobility. And the sojourns in her Kodanadu estate have, if anything, got only more frequent and longer.

If credible reports were scarce in 1984, paradoxically, in the face of a phenomenal media glut, information now seems to be in even shorter supply. Apollo’s medical bulletins will not convince a primary school student. That even ministers of the central cabinet and the governor of the state have not actually met her only confirms the hold of Jayalalithaa’s friend, Sasikala, and her extended family.

The government remains paralyzed, and none dare even hint that an acting chief minister should hold the baby. At this moment, the BJP at the centre is as soft as the Congress was during MGR’s times, desisting from calling the state government to account. Questions are already being raised if the union government is not failing in its constitutional duties. If the Congress was hoping to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu in a post-MGR scenario, the BJP is in an analogous position now. But the union government’s volte face in the Supreme Court on October 3, challenging the court’s powers to intervene in the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board, suggests that the BJP is torn between regaining power in Karnataka and gaining a foothold in Tamil Nadu.

The other constant is M. Karunanidhi, and it does speak for the phenomenal staying power of this ever-sharp politician. After two consequent defeats, in 1977 and 1980, he was desperate for a victory in 1984 but could do little to wrest the initiative in the face of twin odds: Indira’s death and MGR’s ill-health. But he had the last laugh at least in relation to MGR, surviving him by three decades, completing two terms in office, and still being in the reckoning for another shot at power. However, it’s been a see-saw battle with Jayalalithaa whom he would have scarce imagined to be a rival when she was prancing on the screen. As he now fights his own son, M.K. Stalin, inside the party, Karunanidhi must fancy that the throne is once more within striking distance.

One wonders what other parallels lie in store.

A.R. Venkatachalapathy is a historian of the Dravidian movement.

Karunanidhi - Electoral history

Published: March 21, 2016 01:44 IST | Updated: March 21, 2016 02:04 IST Chennai, March 21, 2016

An unmatched appetite for winning elections

D. Suresh Kumar

The man who has had an invincible run in electoral battles, M. Karunanidhi is as confident as ever.

When Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1957, from the Kulithalai Assembly constituency in the composite Thanjavur district as an Independent candidate (the DMK was then not a recognised party), Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s Prime Minister.

Now, when the fourth generation of the Nehru family is in politics, the nonagenarian from the Dravidian heartland is still hungry for success in the electoral battlefield. His electoral contemporary since 1957, K. Anbazhagan, DMK general secretary, has retired, paving the way for a possible political baptism of a grandson.

The DMK warhorse’s electoral winning record is perhaps unmatched in the country.

Mr. Karunanidhi had been successful in each of the 12 Assembly elections he had contested. While he represented the rural constituencies of Kulithalai (1957), Thanjavur (1962) and Thiruvarur (2011) for a term each in the Assembly, he was twice elected from Saidapet (1967 & 1971), Anna Nagar (1977 & 1980) and Harbour (1989 & 1991) in Chennai. Voters in Chepauk in the State capital elected him in 1996, 2001 and 2006.

His winning streak would have been another notch higher had he contested in 1984, when his friend-turned-foe and AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran, or MGR, famously won lying in a hospital bed in Brooklyn, U.S. Mr. Karunanidhi chose to stay away as he had been elected to the then Legislative Council after resigning as an MLA in 1983 in protest against the attack on ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Karunanidhi managed to enter the Assembly even while his party lost on five occasions. Two such victories would stand out. In 1980, when MGR fielded H.V. Hande, a medical practitioner in Anna Nagar, against Mr. Karunanidhi, the DMK president faced his toughest electoral battle. He scraped through by a margin of 699 votes.

The next close call was in 1991 when he was the lone DMK candidate to win, but by a thin margin of 890 votes in Harbour (another candidate won in a by-election), as the AIADMK-Congress combine swept to power on the sympathy wave generated by the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Sriperumbudur. But he resigned his membership.

http://www.thehindu.com/elections/tamilnadu2016/tn-assembly-polls-m-karunanidhi-an-unmatched-appetite-for-winning-elections/article8378242.ece




Karuna’s Kutumbam
Gopu Mohan Posted online: Sun May 31 2009, 00:24 hrs

His elder son M.K. Azhagiri and grand-nephew Dayanidhi Maran have got Cabinet berths and younger son Stalin is now Tamil Nadu’s deputy chief minister.

DMK leader M.K. Karunanidhi’s life is the story of a movement and a party that’s now a family affair

This is the story of a patriarch and his kin. Spanning a time frame of over eight decades, this is also a story of their politics and its connection to the future of a party and a movement, two factors that contributed immensely in shaping the destiny of Tamil Nadu.

His story takes you back to Thirukkuvalai, one among hundreds of obscure villages in the then Madras Presidency, to June 3, 1924. The Muthuvel-Anjugam family was a humble rural household. In fact, the birth of the boy who went on to become five-time Chief Minister and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, was no longer the biggest event by the following morning: a thief who broke into their house stole his thunder.

Fourteen years later, Karunanidhi became the leader of a small group of youngsters, Tamil Students Federation, who grew up with the Self Respect Movement led by Dravidian icon Periyar (The Elder) E.V. Ramasamy. The movement that started in 1925 had given special significance to words to spread its social reform agenda. Even when he was young, Karunanidhi had a way with language that made him special among the backward class’s assertive new generation. By then, he had started an eight-page, handwritten magazine called Manavar Nesan to be circulated at a zero-profit basis among 50 people. This craft became especially useful for the group of elders during the Dravidian movement and also during the birth of its political form, the DMK, in 1949.

His elder sister Shanmugasundarathammal’s son Maran was one of the youngest members of the youth brigade led by Karunanidhi—the second one from the family to enter public life. Karunanidhi married Padmavathy, daughter of musician ‘Pataka’ Sundaram Pillai and sister of singer C.S. Jayaraman, at the age of 20, around the same time he wrote the script of his first movie, Rajakumari.

BY 1967, DMK had drummed up enough support from the masses to install its president C.N. Annadurai as Chief Minister, the first non-Congress Chief Minister. The South Chennai parliamentary seat that he vacated went to Murasoli Maran, the influential second-rung leader of the party and editor of Murasoli, the monthly-turned-weekly-turned-daily that Karunanidhi launched as an 18-year-old.

There are stories that trace dynastic tendencies to that period, alleging that Karunanidhi, the then PWD minister, recommended his nephew Maran’s name as the potential candidate as ‘he was qualified and could speak English’ in the national Capital. However, it is equally true that Maran’s credentials in the party and the movement were as good as anybody else’s.

If the first instance of family promotion was considered automatic, the second one was planned and executed, but ended in a disaster. By the ’60s, when he became one of the leading members of the DMK, much had changed in Karunanidhi’s personal life. Padmavathiammal had died young—of tuberculosis—in 1948, leaving a son, Muthu. Karunanidhi lost his vision in one eye due to a medical condition after which he was advised to wear dark glasses, which became his trademark.

Karunanidhi later married Dayaluammal and had four children—Azhagiri, Stalin, Tamilarasu and Selvi. Around the time he became Chief Minister, he accepted Rajathiammal as his companion. When he was asked to explain his relationship with Rajathiammal in the State Assembly, he said, “She is my daughter Kanimozhi’s mother.” There were not too many questions asked after that.

Karunanidhi became party president and Chief Minister after Anna’s death in 1969. According to old-timers, this promotion came with ample support from matinee idol MG Ramachandran, who became the treasurer. Two years later, even after facing serious charges of corruption, the DMK came back to power, riding on campaigns by Karunanidhi and MGR. The consecutive defeat also pushed Congress to the periphery of state politics.

But soon, there were frictions between the writer and the actor, which prompted Karunanidhi to introduce his first son, Muthu, into the tinsel world as a counter to MGR. When Muthu was launched in home production company Anjugam Pictures’ Pillayo Pillai in 1971, his resemblance to MGR was accentuated by the make-up, mannerisms and acting modelled on the superstar. Those who lived in Chennai then remember Muthu taking out processions across the city on a white horse with a group of ministers in tow.

But his moderate success was not enough to take on the idol status that MGR attained by the ’70s. If anything, his promotion only hastened MGR’s exit from the party to form the Anna DMK (the present-day AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa) that claimed it would restore a non-corrupt government and the party symbolised by Annadurai.

Muthu’s failure as a replacement idol soon pushed him to oblivion. In came M.K. Stalin, Karunanidhi’s third son, who was born on March 5, 1953. Four days later, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died.

Stalin was active on the sidelines even before Muthu made his movie foray and had campaigned for Maran in the 1969 Lok Sabha elections. Though he was inducted as a member of the party general council, it was Emergency that put this wild child on the political course. By the time Stalin emerged from prison, a year after he was arrested under MISA on January 31, 1976, he attained anti-Emergency credentials that more than carried their weight in gold.

In 1980, the DMK formed its youth wing with Stalin in charge. The same year, elder brother Azhagiri was sent to Madurai to ‘manage the Madurai edition of Murasoli’, though it was later interpreted as a move to avert an imminent clash of interests between the brothers who did not share the best of relations.

If Muthu was moulded after his rival, Karunanidhi groomed Stalin after himself. Stalin became the general secretary of the youth wing. He also acted in a couple of movies, including Ore Ratham (same blood) and Makkal Anayittal (when people decide) in the ’80s, apart from a brief stint on the mini-screen.

Over the years, Stalin toured the state and grew in stature within the party and outside, attracting criticism of family politics. Critics raised several points: Karunanidhi was the seniormost leader of the party; his son was in charge of its youth wing; and nephew Murasoli Maran was the party’s pointsman in New Delhi and its boss’ conscience-keeper.

However, there is no denying that the party did not have a leader to replace Maran at the Centre, and Stalin had his initiation into full-time politics as a member of the Opposition party after MGR’s AIADMK relegated DMK to the fringes for 13 years—between 1976 and 1989.

In the hotly-contested personality politics in Tamil Nadu, Muthu made a brief, dramatic comeback, to join the ruling AIADMK in the ’80s. But he was reported to have a drinking problem and soon faded out of public life, leaving only memories of some songs that he had sung for his own movies. The next time he made news was when a Tamil weekly published a report about Muthu living a life of penury.

Over the years, while in the Opposition, Karunanidhi came to be more in control of the party. The leader’s writ ruled in a party that believed in consensus in decision-making. So when Stalin was elected Mayor of Madras Corporation in 1996, it was seen as an apprenticeship to succeed his father, the then Chief Minister.

The only person capable of upstaging the plan was Maran, who was by then an important leader in Delhi and a minister in the United Front Government. The space was divided well, not leaving any ground for grudges.

Just When the path was cleared for Stalin, Azhagiri returned as a challenger. The elder brother, often portrayed as the hot-headed Sonny Corleone of this Godfather story, never had any post or responsibility in the party or Government. But this didn’t mean he had no control over the party apparatus in the southern region.

In the first three years of this decade, supporters of the brothers clashed on the streets of Chennai and Madurai, and inside the meeting halls of local bodies, seriously undermining the functioning of the cadre-based outfit. This was the first struggle for succession.

After Karunanidhi, Stalin and Maran were arrested under corruption charges in 2001, the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa put Azhagiri, too, behind bars as an accused in the murder of senior DMK leader and Stalin supporter, T Kiruttinan, two years later. The family then joined hands against the common enemy and this working relationship was crucial in ensuring the DMK-led alliance’s victory in the 2004 elections.

According to a keen observer of the family, the present-day problems began with the death of Murasoli Maran in November 2003. With this, two new power centres evolved in the family: Rajathiammal and her daughter Kanimozhi, and Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi Maran. If there was a singularity in purpose during Murosoli Maran’s time, the new groups reportedly pulled in different directions that eventually led to the bigger crisis.

Dayanidhi Maran’s rise, fall and partial resurrection are part of folklore. If the infamous survey by AC Nielson for the Marans’ daily Dinakaran gave Azhagiri only a meagre two per cent public acceptance as Karunanidhi’s heir, the feud that followed its publication only helped rehabilitate him in the family in a battle of Us vs Them.

Maran’s fall from grace was closely followed by Kanimozhi’s transformation as a politician after years of remaining non-political. Kanimozhi grew up as a public figure without entering politics. She worked as a sub-editor in The Hindu and was also in-charge of a Tamil weekly from the ‘Sun’ stable.

After waiting in the periphery since the UPA victory in 2004, she finally entered active politics when she was made a Rajya Sabha member in 2007, two months after Maran was shown the door. There were strong rumours at that time, most vocally aired by Opposition leader Jayalalithaa, that she would be made the IT and Communications Minister, though that did not materialise. But her residence in CIT Colony in Chennai, which she shares with her mother, became an important address.

For a while, she was seen as Karunanidhi’s answer to the woman-power that Jaya boasted of, and DMK’s plan to organise its first-ever women’s conference at Cuddalore last year was to be her launchpad. But during the meeting, she had to share the limelight with a surprise newcomer: Kayalvizhi, the politically ambitious daughter of Azhagiri.

Karunanidhi’s daughter Selvi, married to the Maran household, was instrumental in their resurrection, as was Stalin. But not many outside the inner circle know the real deal behind the patch-up between the Marans and the Karunanidhi family. Apart from the talk of money changing hands, one of the rumours that gained currency spoke about a regrouping of the core family to keep out Rajathiammal and Kanimozhi from power. Interestingly, Kanimozhi was missing at the time of the reunion, like she was absent when Azhagiri and Maran took oath as Cabinet members on Thursday.

Karunanidhi’s life is a story of a movement, the party and the politics of a state—but finally reduced to a family. Whoever wins this internal struggle will lead the party in the coming days. It will also complete the metamorphosis of the DMK from an ideological entity to one based on dynasty and thus patronage.

In a warm sidelight to the main story, Muthu came back again, this time standing on his own feet as a singer. He has shaken off his past and sung a film soundtrack. His son Arivunidhi, a doctor by profession, has also sung for a film, the audio of which was released by Karunanidhi. Arivunidhi has also floated a trust in the name of Padmavathyammal, which, some say, is part of a grand design for the politics of the future.

Tamil Nadu politics: A ready reckoner of political parties

ABCD of Tamil Nadu politics: A ready reckoner of political parties in the state

DMK and AIADMK have been the predominant Dravidian parties that have influenced state politics.

Luke Koshi| Monday, January 11, 2016 - 15:30

Understanding the alphabet soup that is Tamil Nadu politics can be difficult for many. Perhaps due to the confusing antonyms and jumble of Tamil words, the unique nature and intrigue of the state’s politics have not been fully understand by most, outside of Tamil Nadu and by many even within the state. Here is a ready reckoner of the very basics. Bookmark this page, elections are just round the corner.


The two main parties of Tamil Nadu are the AIADMK and DMK, the Dravidian majors. Apart from that, parties like the DMDK, PMK and MDMK have had their rise and fall depending on the political dynamics. National parties like Congress and BJP have always been at the mercy of the Dravidian majors. Smaller parties based on castes and minorities, like the Kongu parties and Muslim-centric parties also have their small share of political space.

The state has 234 MLA seats which are elected, 39 Lok Sabha and 19 Rajya Sabha seats.

1. DMK – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Dravidian Progress Federation)

Important leaders: Kalaingar M Karunanidhi, MK Stalin

It is a Dravidian party formed in 1949 by CN Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar. The Dravidar Kazhagam was formed from the Justice Party in 1944. Karunanidhi has headed the party since 1969, when CN Annadurai died. Karunanidhi is 92 years old and remains the undisputed leader of the party and has been the Chief Minister of the state 5 times so far. His son, MK Stalin, is believed to be the heir apparent of the party but has been waiting to ascend the leader’s throne for several years now.

Karunanidhi has one other son and a daughter in politics, former Union Minister MK Alagiri who has been dismissed from the party and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi.

In the 2011 assembly elections, DMK was in alliance with Congress, PMK, VCK, KMK. For 2014 general elections, DMK was in alliance with VCK, MMK, IUML and Puthiya Tamizhagam.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 4

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 23

Vote share in 2014: 23.6%

Vote share in 2011: 22.3%

2. AIADMK – All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (All India Anna Dravidian Progress Federation)

Important leader: J Jayalalithaa

It is a Dravidian party founded by MG Ramachandran (popularly known as MGR) in 1972 after it broke away from the DMK. Jayalalithaa has headed the party since 1989 and remains the single power-centre of the party. She is known to rule the party with an iron-hand, along with her long time aide Sasikala.  She is currently the Chief Minister, and in spite of her tryst with the law, she is considered a strong contender.

AIADMK was not in alliance with any major political party during the 2014 general elections. In 2011 assembly elections, the party was in alliance with DMDK, CPI, CPM, MMK, PT and AIFB. It has still not decided the alliance for the 2016 assembly elections.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 37

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 11

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 152 (including AIASMK which contested under AIADMK symbol)

Vote share in 2014: 44.3

Vote share in 2011: 38.4

3. DMDK – Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (National Progressive Dravidian Federation)

Important Leader: Captain Vijayakanth

DMDK is a political party formed in 2005 by Tamil actor Vijayakanth. It was in alliance with AIADMK coalition for 2011 assembly elections while it was part of the BJP alliance for 2014 general elections. Though the party is not considered a major threat to the two Dravidian majors, it is seen as an important ally during elections due to its vote share and strongholds in certain areas of Tamil Nadu.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 28 (8 have defected)

Vote share in 2014: 5.1

Vote share in 2011: 7.8

4. MDMK – Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Renaissance Dravida Progressive Federation)

Important Leader: Vaiko (V Gopalsamy)

The party was formed by Vaiko in 1994. He was originally a leader in the DMK but was pushed out because he was deemed a threat to DMK chief Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin. Since then, MDMK has contested as an ally with several parties including the AIADMK and DMK. The party was at the forefront of the movement to support Tamils in Sri Lanka. The party is now a part of a political alliance called the People’s Welfare Alliance (PWA) for 2016 elections.

The party boycotted the 2011 assembly elections while it was part of the NDA alliance in 2014 general elections.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 0

Vote share in 2014: 3.5

5. PMK – Pattali Makkal Katchi

Important leaders: S Ramadoss, Anbumani Ramdoss

The party was founded in 1989 by Dr. S Ramadoss. His son Anbumani Ramadoss is a Lok Sabha MP from Dharmapuri, and has pitched himself as a Chief Ministerial candidate for 2016 elections. The party is strong in certain parts of northern Tamil Nadu, and draws its strengths from the Vanniyar community.

It was part of DMK alliance in 2011 assembly elections and fought 2014 general elections along with BJP.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 1

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 3 (1 person defected)

Vote share in 2014: 4.4%

Vote share in 2011: 3%

6. VCK – Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (Liberation Panther Party)

Important leader: Thol Thirumavalavan

VCK is a Dalit community based political party formed in 1988. The party’s main aim is the abolition of the caste system. It is now a part of the PWA.

It was part of DMK alliance in 2011 and not part of any alliance in 2014.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 0

Vote share in 2014: 1.5%

Vote share in 2011: 1.5%

7. CPI – Communist Party of India

State Secretary: R Mutharasan

The state unit of the CPI, it has a strong presence in the delta districts of TN. In 2014, CPI and CPM contested together while for 2011, it was part of an alliance with ADMK.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 1

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 8

Vote share in 2014: 0.5

Vote share in 2011: 1.9

8. CPM – Communist Party of India (Marxist)

State Secretary: G Ramakrishnan

This the state unit of the CPI(M). The CPM was in alliance with CPI in 2014 and in 2011, it was part of ADMK alliance.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 1

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 10

Vote share in 2014: 0.5

Vote share in 2011: 2.4

9. Congress – Indian National Congress

State leader: EVKS Elangovan

Before the Dravidian parties swept the state in the 60s, the Congress was the most influential party in the state under the leadership of Kamaraj, who is still revered. Now the party’s strengths have been significantly reduced. In 2011, the party was in alliance with DMK, while in 2014, it contested alone.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 1

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 5

Vote share in 2014: 4.3

Vote share in 2011: 9.3

10. BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party

State leader: Tamilisai Soundararajan

This is the state unit of the BJP, and has had a strong hold in just one district – Kanyakumari. It fought alone in 2011 assembly elections and was in alliance with PMK, DMDK and MDMK in 2014 general elections.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 1

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 0

Vote share in 2014: 5.5

Vote share in 2011: 2.2

11. MMK – Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (People’s Conference Party)

Leader: MH Jawahirullah

The party was formed in 2009 and entered into an alliance with ADMK for the 2011 Assembly elections and was allocated 3 seats. It was part of DPA for 2014. The party has a strong hold on the Muslim community.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 2

Vote share in 2014: 0.6

Vote share in 2011: 0.49

12. PT – Puthiya Tamizhagam

Leader: Dr. K Krishnasamy

The party was founded in 1996 by Dr. Krishnasamy who is the founder-president and looks after the interests of Dalits in southern Tamil Nadu. It formed an alliance with ADMK for the 2011 assembly elections and got 2 seats. It was part of DPA for 2014.

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 2

Vote share in 2014: 0.6

Vote share in 2011: 0.4

13. KNMK – Kongu Nadu Munnetra Kazhagam

Leader: ‘Best’ S Ramasamy

The party was founded in 2001 and based in the Kongu region of Western TN, and has a strong hold over the Kongu vellalars community. It contested 7 seats in 2011 assembly elections in alliance with DMK and lost all.  

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 0

14. AISMK – All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi

Leader: R. Sarathkumar

The party was founded in 2007 by Sarathkumar who is backed by the Nadar community. It contested and did not win any seats in the 2011 assembly elections in alliance with ADMK. 

Seats in Lok Sabha: 0

Seats in Rajya Sabha: 0

Seats in the Legislative Assembly: 2 (contested under AIADMK symbol)

15. Tamil Maanila Congress 

Leader: G.K. Vasan

It was formed in 1996 by GK Moopanar as a breakaway faction of the Congress as it was opposed to the party high command's decision to ally with the AIADMK. After Moopanar's death in 2001, his son GK Vasan became the party president. In 2002, TMC merged with Congress before splitting again in 2014. 

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