Chennai Corner

Is Fatigue Setting In?
The Sri Lanka Tamil issue has led to a spill-over of emotion on the streets of Chennai and Tamil Nadu,whether it is the"self-immolation" of four persons over the last ten days; thedesecration of statues of Rajiv Gandhi which led to a stand off between Congressand Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi cadres;  the attack on Congressheadquarters (Satyamurthy Bhavan) after a car belonging to director Seeman, whomade a pro-LTTE speech, was torched; the strike by advocates who showed a verymilitant streak or the burning of a car belonging to CPI state secretary DPandian. What is clear is that whether a person is identified as pro-LTTE oreven pro-Tamil without being pro-Tamil Tigers, it's as if this state caught acold when Sri Lanka sneezed. But another thing is also clear -- that fatigue issetting in the general population.

In a way, political parties have beenmanufacturing opinion -- just like the TV channels which are trying to whip upan anti-Pakistan hysteria post- 26/11 -- and evidence of that was the funeralof 67-year-old Amaresan. It was the same crematorium and the same pro-LTTEleaders, only there were a couple of hundred mourners as opposed to Muthukumar'sfuneral which was attended by 20,000 people, many of them young people. Maybepeople have realized that all the sabre rattling here for the last few months has not managed to distract Sri Lanka's focus in its fight with the LTTE. And maybe people have realized that the LTTE itself reportedly killscivilians -- as it did when it opened fire felling 19 people this week -- soit's a war with disastrous consequences.

Sleeping With The Enemy
Or perhaps people are just cynical, particularlywhen the biggest champion of Tamils, CM M Karunanidhi, is seen to be makingcommon cause with the Congress which lost a lot 18 years ago when its PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi met a ghastly end at the hands of a LTTE suicide bomber.Back then, Karunanidhi was dismissed as CM (instigated by the Congress) becausehe was seen as being pro-LTTE. In fact, just before he died, Rajiv Gandhi hadstitched up an alliance with AIADMK and that had helped Jayalalitha come topower for the first time in 1991. In 1998, the United Front government led by IK Gujral was toppled by the Congress because the interim report of the JainCommission, which probed the conspiracy behind the assassination, hinted at aDMK role in the assassination. So one can say now that the Congress is sleepingwith the enemy.

Pot Calling The Kettle Black
The quote of the week came from CM Karunanidhiwho has been accused of hanging on to power and sullying his reputation as achampion of Tamils.  Why didn't he step down? "I was prepared for that,"he maintains and adds: "But I changed my mind after Lankan Tamil leader S C Chandrahasan-- who is thefounder of the Organisation for Eelam Refugees and Rehabilitation (OfERR)-- and leaders of various political parties pointed out that the continuance of theDMK government was needed in the interest of Lankan Tamils."  It'strue that PMK Founder S Ramadoss has been jeering at Karunanidhi over every movehe makes (or does not make, as the case, may be). But it's also true thatRamadoss' is a case of the pot calling the kettle black because while he hasbeen egging on Karunanidhi to resign to uphold the Tamil cause, his son union healthminister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss is well ensconced in Delhi and does notplan to change that position any time soon.

A Twist In The Soap Opera
One of the fallouts of the reunionin the first family is that Sun TV is stomping ahead with nothing to challengeit. Remember last June when in what was seen as a gross deviation fromprocedure, the Telephone Dispute, Settlements and Apellate Tribunal (TDSAT)heard the petition of Royal Cable Vision (RCV) in the midst of its vacation becauseunion communications minister A Raja said so. And he said so because thepetition was by RCV, floated by M K Azhagiri, son of CM Karunandhi. Azhagiri hadfloated RCV  to challenge the dominance of Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV)owned by the Marans. The petition wanted TDSAT to instruct Sun TV to give itssatellite signals to RCV to be distributed in Madurai and other southerndistricts in Tamil Nadu.

But since the Maran brothers kissed and made upwith the Karunanidhi clan, what has suffered is Arasu Cable TV Corporation,which was floated by the DMK government to put Sun TV in its place. The truth isthat between Arasu, Kalaignar TV and RCV -- which represents the combined mightof the Karunanidhi clan and his government, Sun TV could not be oppressed. Andthat, dear readers, was part of the reason for the great rapprochement lastDecember.  

Now Sun TV is marching ahead stamping everythingin its wake.  

Last month, a senior IAS officer with Arasu, C.Umashankar charged the Maran-owned SCV of widespread destruction of Arasu'soptic fibre. Last June, Azhagiri was accused by the Marans of sending his goonsto damage SCV's cable. But now, Umashankar has been shunted out after beingslapped with a "charge memo" because he dared to accuse the Marans.The charge being that he lobbied for a job for his wife in a US-based company,Tessolve, in violation of rules. The memo claimed that Umashankar had"dealings" with Tessolve when he headed Electronic Corporation ofTamil Nadu.

Incidentally, Arasu's petition filed beforeTDSAT earlier seeking Sun TV signals among others has been granted, according toArasu's General Manager (Operations) Sampath. Says Arasu's CMD P.W.C. Davidar,"The case has been withdrawn based on mutual understanding and agreement.We see it as a first step towards working together." This soap opera has anew angle.

A Rose By Any Other Name
I'm not sure whether Rama Sene Chief PramodMutalik will be as cross when he receives Valentine cards as Lucky Singh was in LageRaho Munnabhai when the message of Gandhigiri was said with flowers whereverhe went. But in this state, Tanflora has big plans to say it with roses andrecipients will blush to rival the petals of the flower which has inspired manya poet. Taj Mahal is going to be the rose of choice for lovers in Europe thisyear for February 14.   Tanflora is the Tamil Nadu government promotedrose co-operative farm spread over 40 hectares in Amudagondapalli in Krishnagiridistrict. Tanflora will sell five million roses this Valentine and another twomillion roses on Mother's Day in March. Of the five million roses, one millionwill exclusively be the Taj Mahal roses -- a deep red rose which has 40 petalsand big buds and a 70 cm-long stem -- a magnificent creation by Hollandbreeders.   "The red coloured Taj Mahal rose has all the artisticand aesthetic beauty associated with love," says Najeeb Ahmed, managingdirector, Tanflora. In 2007, Tanflora sold three million roses and it plans tosell ten million in 2010. Next year, lovers can watch out for Kohinoor, anew GM variety also developed by a breeder in Holland and 'test'grown exclusively by Tanflora. According to S Ramasundaram,chairman, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, "Krishnagiri hasall the characteristics to emerge as the cut flower garden of Asia itself. Wewill be exporting seven million roses of more than 30 varieties in 2009." Science has helped farmers to time the blooming of flowers with festivals, butI'm sure anti-GM activists are not going to be impressed.

Slumdog Millionaire in Tamil
With Slumdog Millionaire collecting theGolden Globe and BAFTA awards in its triumphant march to the Oscars later thismonth, the curiosity factor about the film is immense. Although Indian audienceshave not been part of the rah rah brigade, unlike Western audiences who havebeen raving about it after the hype over Slumdog… made it a must see,the latest ploy to get audiences into theatres is to dub the movie. With Chennaibased A R Rahman, already a superstar in the music world, it was only naturalthat Slumdog… would be dubbed into Tamil. Titled Naanum Kodeeswaran,it has actor Simbu lending his voice for 19-year-old Dev Patel, veteransinger S.P.Balasubramaniyam dubbing for Anil Kapoor and actor Radha Ravi,  doingthe voice of Irfan Khan. To be released on Valentine's Day, the film is beingproduced by K Natarajan of Falcon Films.