Long live ' wisest of the wise'!

"Arignar' refers to a wise man and "Perarignar"therefore should mean "wisest of the wise".Yes I mean the inimitable late shri Annadurai,the first Dravidian chief minister of Tamilnadu whose birth centenary was celebrated with the usual pomp and show by the "thambis" belonging to various political parties, on 15September.All the fuss and the torrential downpour of freebees like ONE KG ONE RUPEE RICE,the subsidised masala packs etc not withstanding,what strikes one is the amazing ironies that stand out on the occasion.

C.N.Annadurai was a simpleton,with a real literary bent of mind who came from a humble background at Kancheepuram.He was known for his upright nature and benevolence in public life.When he founded the "Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam" he would never have dreamt that his future political 'thambis'would idealise him much agaist his principle against idol worship.Today you cannot name a city or a street in it without an "Anna silai"in it.So much for a man who ridiculed "silai vazhipadu"!

At the time of founding the DMK,C.N.Annadurai's main doctrine was a separate "Dravida nadu"--"Dravida nadu dravidarukke"(The dravidian land-read Tamilnadu belongs to the Tamilians alone).But then came a time and political compulsions that he he could not hold on to his secessionistic ideology any more.So without any hesitation he sacrificed the main doctrine of the DMK,namely the "dravida nadu dravidarukke' slogan.He was indeed very practical and down-to earth in his approach.I can still recall the posters put up by the congressmen throughout my hometown Sivaganga condemning the DMK for this ruthless compromise on its basic doctrine.

"Kolgai izhandha mundam
Adhu komali piditha pindam
Theera mudiyatha gandam
Ini Dhi mu ka vazhvadhu dandam"
(The party that has sacrificed its ideals is like a doll used by a clown.The land cannot get rid of this menace(DMK) and this headless body has no reason to suvive.)
As a school boy I used enjoy the rhyme scheme of these lines though I couldn'y comprehend the import of the same.
It is no small wonder whether the congress which is a faithful though shameless ally of the DMK today, can afford to have the same attitude towards the ruling DMK.

Another commendable character of Annadurai was that he was very accommodative towards his colleagues in the party and the govt.Never ever could he even think of" dynastic rule" that has become the order of the day today.He was the one who gave prominance to Karunanidhi who later overtook others in race to the "gaddhi".But today it is an open secret that ,given the choice,Tamilnadu will be subdivided into two different legacies sooner or later.The two "rising sons" will share the booty among themselves--the northern Tamilnadu being named "Stalin Nadu" and the southern Tamilnadu being "Alagiri Nadu"!But still there will be a hitch.How will you then account for "Kanimozhi Nadu" and "KayalvizhiNadu"?So much for the founder who hated dynastic rule.
If it is rising sons in the DMK,then it is the "friendly sister "who calls the shots in the AIADMK,there being 'no family' for the AIADMK supremo!What a way to honour a leader by burying the ideals that he stood he stood for.

The Congress that has always ridden piggy back on either of the Dravidian parties opportunistically does not lag behind in celebrating the birth day bash as well.One may recall what the last Congress Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Bakthavatsalam said after conceding defeat to the DMK,"A virus has entered the Tamilnadu political scenario".One hopes some strong antivirus potion is put in place!The congress that excells in singing Itllian lullabies to MadamGandhi and her son," the future yuvraj", has again no scruples whil eulogising the ideals of Annadurai.All one can say while watching these "satans citing Scriptures" is,is the title of a famous satire of the legendary Cho Ramaswamy"Yarukkum Vetkam Illai"(No one is ashamed).