National

Sunshine Soldier

A pan-Dravidian movement mellows. A young ward shows how it kept up with times.

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Sunshine Soldier
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"In Tamil Nadu, it is not religion but caste which is a stronger force. It is in the North that clashes take place along Hindu-Muslim lines." This is no social scientist offering a quotable quote, but a personable 21-year-old BSc computer science final-year student—who’s also a youth wing member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Ward 76 in Chennai.

N. Anand Kumar comes from a family that has always voted DMK and whose maternal grandfather, Vedagiri, "strengthened the party" in Chengalpet district during the late DK leader C.N. Annadurai’s time. Today, Anand is an active participant in Sun TV honcho Dayanidhi Maran’s campaign in Central Chennai.

Anand Kumar, with his rather pan-Indian sounding name, represents the contemporary face of theDMK. Ironically, he was drawn to active politics in 1999, after he heard a speech by party president Muthuvel Karunanidhi, now a sprightly 80 years old. "He speaks Tamil so well. He has an answer for every question mediapersons ask of him."

That the party’s youth wing is headed by 51-year-old M.K. Stalin, Karunanidhi’s son, does not bother Anand much. "Stalin has proved his capability. To give good direction to the youth wing, you don’t need to be young." Anand joined the DMK only a year-and-a-half ago, but it’s not just the speech-making abilities of Karunanidhi that drew him to the party. He is a big admirer of the late Murasoli Maran’s administrative and economic vision. "Hyundai, Ford, Saint Gobain, Tidel Park (a self-contained enclave for IT firms), they all came up in Chennai when theDMK was in power, and Maran was the force that shaped this new DMK vision."

If Anand, unlike his friends, is not considering the option of going overseas for higher studies or a well-paying job, it is not because of mere love for the party. "With so much business process outsourcing, there’s no need for me to look to the West for employment. There are many plush jobs available right here." He points out that even animation work is being outsourced from here—and that’s an option for him. In staying on, there’s of course the added motivation of serving the party. And society, he adds, like a seasoned politician.

Unlike the conventional DMK workers in their Rising Sun-embossed red T-shirts and black trousers, Anand rarely sports the party colours. Nor does he wear the white veshti. Quite like theDMK candidate he is campaigning for, the Harvard-educated, English-speaking 37-year-old Dayanidhi Maran, Anand wears the party tag lightly but surely.

For a party that rode to power in 1967 on the back of a potent anti-Hindi agitation and amid many slogans of Tamil pride, today’surbanised, bpo-savvy DMK worker does not even read a Tamil paper. As he says, "I read only The Hindu and The Indian Express. We do get Dinamani at home, but I don’t read it." He even points out that Sun News could learn a lot from NDTV. "Sun TV is not creative." Not for him blind opposition to anything from the north or blind loyalty to apro-DMK channel.

The DMK itself has come a long way from the 1970s and ’80s when it opposed anything Hindi, North Indian or ‘Aryan’, and successiveDMK regimes always cocked a snook at successive Union governments under Nehru, Shastri, Indira and Rajiv. Today, theDMK is keen to share power with any formation at the Centre and Anand shares that view. "Tamil Nadu should work closely with the Centre. Only then can the economic prosperity of the state be ensured. The emphasis today is on new technology, new industries. TheDMK built the Tidel Park, a landmark for many youth, but we need more Tidel Parks. Only the newDMK can ensure this."

What once used to be the ideological core of the party—rationalism, atheism, anti-Brahminism—has been jettisoned both by the party and its generation next". Even Kalaignar Karunanidhi does not toe a hard line on atheism and rationalism these days. Belief in God is necessary but must be limited. Equally, opposition to God cannot take extreme forms. Parties should follow a neutral middle path. In our family, we do visit temples on festival days. My grandfather was an atheist. He, like Karunanidhi, is 80 now. But we must all change according to the times. And theDMK has realised this."

In fact, Anand, a Mudaliar by caste, proffers some un-DMK-like theories. "According to a German scientist, Sanskrit mantras have the potential to activate our cells. So when religion can have a scientific basis, we cannot blindly oppose religion. It’s like Brahmins who are good at studies, and so non-Brahmins do look up to Brahmins."

He has another theory that may be hard to swallow for some, that non-vegetarian food is scientifically not healthy. So in Loyola College, where he recently completed his graduation, he does not find it problematic that there does exist separate messes for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. There was a time when for the non-Brahmin Self-Respect Movement—from which theDMK drew sustenance—such discrimination was a major issue. For Anand, it’s a way of life.

Anand Kumar agrees that there was a time when the DMK was called a party of Mudaliars—a "forward Shudra caste" (even if that seems a contradiction in terms). At the mention of former chief minister Annadurai and current general secretary K. Anbazhagan, Anand says: "Yes, we belong to their caste. But in terms of MPs and mlas, the Mudaliar stock in theDMK is now down." Yet when A.C. Shanmugam formed the New Justice Party for Mudaliars, it did not hold much attraction for Anand.

So what place does passion for the Tamil language—a pet DMK theme—hold for someone like Anand? "It’s very important. TheDMK has always wanted Tamil to be declared a classical language. It even lobbied hard with the nda government on the issue."

But isn’t that only of symbolic importance? "Not really. When the Americans go to the moon, they are going to keep the Bible there. When we Indians land there, a copy of Thiruvalluvar’s Kural has to be placed on the moon. If Tamil is recognised as a classical language, that would become possible."

Anand is just one among the millions of young men and women seriously engaged with politics in urban and small-town India. Their priorities may span a vast range—from hi-tech cities to caste-based oppression. But they certainly are not apathetic.

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