# Coming to think of it: roots of my writing - jogging down the memory lane I am not experienced in politics. But I do watch politics. Although I do keep writing now and then what I think about political developments, I wonder what makes me write about political developments. My interest in political developments without realizing they were even political developments started in late sixties largely because of 4 things in my life. First, I rushed to see Mr K Kamraj, then CM of TN who had come to visit Taluk Office in Thuraiyur. The Taluk Office was close to our School. I guess I was in 9th standard. I saw him from proximity. Clad in white shirt and dhoti, he was simple and majestic at the same time to me as a young boy. He was interacting with officials standing outside the premises and in the open. I do not recall what he was discussing but I know for sure he would have talked about the place, surrounding villages and something or other that Government could potentially do for the common man. I kept knowing more about him. He was the first leader I ever saw. Second thing was the fact that my first ever prize in school days was Chakaravarthi Thirumagan, authored by Shri C Rajagopalachari. It was a treatise on Ramayana. Later I got his works in English covering Ramanaya and Mahabharata. I knew him as author first then as political leader. Third is the anti Hindi agitation that gripped Tamil Nadu, what with Central Government offices being attacked. I used to pass through the Post Office in our small town with a disdain for the Tar that had been applied on the Hindi alphabets in the boards. At home I used to love learning Hindi and being greatly inspired by Hindi literature and the scene outside used to arouse an uneasy curiosity, the hatred against a language being not understandable to me as a student inspired by the language. The fourth thing that happened was the speeches of politicians in Tamil that were regular supplement to whatever was available in public domain for hearing. I would say it was a kind of entertainment. Often good oratory but sometimes contents becoming derogatory, the speeches the politicians used to make did attract a young impressionable mind. But then while returning home after listening to some of the speeches, I used to disagree in my own analysis. I would think those disagreements were status updates Facebook missed for ever! Earlier I had been inspired reading about many leaders mostly Indian and had particular inspiration towards Mahatma Gandhi, Pundit Nehru, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri and Shri C Rajagopalachari. I added Mr K Kamraj to complete the list. I took note of Mr Annadurai seriously soon after Shri Rajaji joined him to oust Congress from power. I took notice of the graffiti painted in the walls of our house during an election season. I still remember one graffiti which translated from Tamil would read as Do you want Congress, which asked you to eat rats?. I vividly remember the drought that had engulfed Tamil Nadu where there was a severe rice shortage leading people to supplement rice with certain root vegetables - poor took to eating even mice when some Congress politician supported such supplements in times of drought, the statement turning out to be foot in mouth. DMK catapulted into big time campaign with Mr Annadurai promising rice at Re 1 per kg, a key highlight of DMKs manifesto. He told people to punish him in public if he does not deliver. Civil supplies became a benchmark and bottom line for TN politics which of course was super built into luxury goods stepping into essential category, thanks to competitive freebie electoral politics. Earlier DMK was riding on the crust of a popular wave by taking to agitation against imposition of Hindi as official language in Tamil Nadu and against compulsory teaching of English in schools and colleges. This was a development that would have potentially cost jobs of my parents as both were teaching Hindi in Higher Secondary Schools. DMK came to power and Mr C Annadurai, among other things ensured teachers losing job as Hindi teachers would be reinstated as teachers in subjects in which they have a proficiency and this was something that endeared DMK to Hindi teachers of Tamil Nadu. They became teachers on par with rest of the teaching community. This set Mr Annadurai apart from the rest of the party: he was a Statesman, with a heart for all. Although I never picked up inspiration from Periyar, I did watch his actions in the social front and his famous anti Ram programme in Salem was covered by Thuglak. I used to read Thuglak regularly. I was aware of politics being unavoidable in day to day life of common men, women and even students as sight of school teachers being arrested on certain agitation programmes and being released later, especially teachers teaching Tamil and having party affiliation - all this became part of school life. Enthusiastic students would even prepare a small programme within class room to honour the returning heros (teachers resuming class after release from jail). I used to be prodded to speak a few words in their honour and I used to respond positively, later wondering whether it was appropriate to honor teachers who preferred going to jail to teach us. When I went to college, I added to my regular reading Indian Express, Hindu, Swarajya (a periodical founded by Shri Rajaji - Shri R Venkataraman was editor for a while) and writings of Shri NA Palkhivala. I became a member of Forum of Free Enterprise. I wonder whether this Forum is still alive. If it is I would like to renew my contacts. Mr Arun Shourie was my role model and his investigative journalism was something I used to admire with awe. I used to read all his articles that carried revelations about Mr AR Antulay. Of course, my favourite political cartoonist those days was Abu Abraham (I picked up interest in RK Laxman a bit later). When Sunday was started, I started reading MJ Akbar regularly. I still remember Abu Abrahams cartoon soon after proclamation of emergency. The then President would be telling secretary picking up papers from him after signing proclamation Tell Madam, I am on my way to meet her. He would be saying this from his bath tub! Similar to Mr Shourie whom I have listened to in Chennai by early eighties, I used to be great admirer of Cho. I was a regular reader of Thuglak and later for a brief while his English magazine (Pickwick?) till it was published. Along the way, Illustrated Weekly of India by Mr Khushwant Singh was a favourite and a regular read. Those days reading outside curriculum meant a menu of magazines, Readers Digest (preserved and never thrown to the old paper merchant), Mirror, Caravan and of course in Tamil, Ananda Vikatan (grew up reading Jayakantan), Kalki (grew up reading Kalki), Kumudam (grew up reading Chandilyan) Kalai Magal and Deepam (grew up reading Na Parthasarathy) Kalkandu (very famous for hundreds of tit bits, trivia and rare knowledge bytes as well). When I had my first employment with a monthly pay of Rs 458 or so, I realized I could potentially run out of cash buying books and magazines and remember resolving not to exceed Rs 100 per month! There was so much so much to read in print. And reading was something too exciting not to do, whatever it cost was just fine. Somewhere reading interests converged on socio political and spiritual spheres. I used to be greatly inspired by reading Maha Periyavaas (Great Seer of Kanchi Mutt) that used to be published in Kalki, Kalaimagal and later by Vikatan. His painting in Kalai magal Deepavali Special Edition used to be watched by me for hours. The gravitation was inexplicable. Even today I get clarity from the greatest sage of our times and Shri Ramana Maharishi whom I read and knew from writings of Mr Baranidharan, a great writer devoted to spirituality those days. Swami Vivekanandas speeches in Chicago were amazing source of energy as a young and inspired reader; his speeches made me very proud of the civilization I belonged to. His speeches imparted in me pride of heritage as well as a sense of what I owe to humanity, being an Indian. Along the way, I developed interest in all time great litterateurs such as Thi.Janakiraman, La.Sa.Ramamirtham, Anuthama, Sundara Ramasamy and many more of them, last but not least Sujatha. Subramania Bharathiar, Bharathidasan, Kannadasan and Valee had their own influences on the poetic space. Of course I had a rich collection of literary works of Hindi writers viz H Bachan, Mahadevi Varma, Jaishankar Prasad, Prem Chand - just to mention a few. These were from home library where Hindi was part of the curriculum. A number of translated works of eminent writers in other languages, notably Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada. I had a liking for translated works of Russian, French and Chinese authors. Among Japanese authors, I had read Nathsume Suzukis Kokorokko (that was the translated title in Tamil). Most of the writings kind of centered me in a social perspective with spiritual quests creeping in now and then. In a continuum of reading influences, I would say I have continued to be in the social compartment, crowded and packed with the labor, pain, hardship, gratitude and generosity that characterize life of ordinary people. Spiritual awakenings, if any and realized now and then, were through life on earth, mostly human. There is an inexhaustible heroism in the life of the common man that keeps me interested in reading again and again about people in various walks of life. And politics interests me as I have come to believe that is a variable that could potentially make a positive influence and impact on the life of ordinary people. Why I have been following politics along with very many more noble or arguably nobler interests, social, literary and spiritual and sometimes relatively more closely than the rest of my interests is something that is perhaps rooted in my growing years. I am thankful I am tolerated by my social network in this regard (my family must have given up on me and now being used to it) and surprisingly enough I am complimented for my verbal wanderings on political developments by a few friends now and then, making me worry about the longevity of my interest! Having revisited the variety of interests that came into my growing years and recognized politics is just one of them, I perhaps should spread out my thoughts and reflections on the diverse interests that continue to be breathing through my life. Let me dust up the sources through the internet and revisit some of the works that inspired me most in my growing years. May be some notes should be in Tamil. I am not above trying them out!
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:41:50 +0000
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