The Jallikattu bulls have a contextual link to Tamil Tigers. Back in the early 1980s, droves of Lankan rebels had a free run of the island-nation—with the blessings of India’s prime minister Indira Gandhi. Madras did its back-up, with CM M.G. Ramachandran playing a second fiddle. The motives, though, differed. Indira was driven by certain geopolitical considerations, while the actor-turned-politician had to walk the extra mile to fight taunts of being a Keralite and prove his ‘Tamilness’.