Chennai Corner

Remembering Rajiv Gandhi
Whenever the case against Rajiv Gandhi's assassins comes up in court, Icannot help remembering that I was witness to that piece of history. On May 21,1991 I was among many journalists who had gone to cover the meeting atSriperumbudur where Rajiv Gandhi met his end at the hands of Dhanu who triggeredher belt bomb while garlanding him. Days after the gory assassination I paid avisit to the ground which today is a sprawling, beautiful memorial to the formerPM. A policeman was giving curious people who wandered in a guided tour. Thatday, several pairs of eyes gored into me as the policeman pointed to me andsaid, "She (Dhanu) was just like you, wearing the same kind of glasses(back in those days I did wear spectacles after a brief experiment with contactlenses failed)."

Macabre as it may sound, two other journos (who had interviewed Rajiv Gandhicoming in ) and I left the ghastly scene in the same car that had brought theformer PM to the venue. The driver of the car was a nice man. He took charge ofus saying, "Saar (Rajiv Gandhi) told me to get you ladies backsafely," and drove us back. I was in shock remembering that the former PM,who was riddled with questions at the airport , had arrived late. Mindful thatthere were many more meetings that night, he had put an end to the pressconference smilingly commenting on my attempts to ask a question, "The ladygets the last question". I was charmed just as youngsters today are by hisson Rahul Gandhi, who is perpetually having to explain his single status.

The Nalini Saga
Weeks after her meeting with Priyanka Gandhi, who sought closure for hertragedy, Nalini is still attempting to get the court to release her. Althoughlife prisoners are usually let out after ten years, Nalini is no ordinaryprisoner. Nor are Robert Payas alias Kumaralingam and S Jayakumar, also chargedin the Rajiv assassination case, and who too are seeking premature release. 

Incidentally, Nalini and 25 others were sentenced to death by a special courton January 28, 1998. But the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence toNalini and her husband and two others on May 11, 1999. Nalini's death sentencewas commuted to life imprisonment by the Tamil Nadu governor on April 25, 2000at the behest of Congress President, Sonia Gandhi.

After serving 17 years in prison, Nalini has been fighting for her release, aneffort that apparently got fresh impetus after her March meeting with Priyanka.After the home department rejected her petition for premature release on October30, 2007, she filed a petition challenging the order. Her petition hit a roadblock after Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy tried to implead himself inthe case on the ground that "the state and central government might colludeto ensure her premature release".  Now the Madras high court has ruledthat Swamy's apprehensions had no basis.

Nalini, who had labeled Swamy's petition as an attempt to get "cheappublicity", now goes up against the Tamil Nadu government which is opposingher premature release. 

The Overstaying Firangis
With Chennai and its environs being a manufacturing and IT hub, the expatcommunity comes here in large numbers. It  includes Americans, Europeansand South Koreans. But it seems many of them overstay their welcome. Nearlythree weeks after Chief Minister M Karunanidhi issued a warning to overstayingforeigners in the state, the police have estimated that at least 4,800 foreignnationals live here without requisite visa. Of them a major chunk are SriLankans and this is apart from the nearly 10,000 that stay at refugee camps allover the state having fled the emerald isle because of the war between the LTTEand the defence forces. Interestingly, 300 odd American nationals of Indianorigin are technically seen as "over stayers" because their visaextension is under process. Other ethnic Tamils from Singapore, Malaysia andFiji also visit. 

But apart from the usual attendant pros and cons of expats, at least onecommunity has strong reasons to like the expats a lot, and these are thedomestic maids who work for them. As they earn upwards of Rs 10,000 per monthfrom these foreigners, have fixed hours of work, get a bonus and "nokit-kit from the amma". Many of them have bought scooters and zip aroundtown going from one expat house to another. This high income helps them educatetheir children better. Some of them have also become experts at other cuisines,having learnt to bake and turn out Italian delights from their employers asopposed to the sambar, rasam, poriyal recipe that they were cooking earlier.

A TT legend's life on TV
In these days of hype and hoopla over "entertainments" such as therecently concluded IPL, it was a bit of a pleasant surprise to see so much ofexcitement over the launch of the inspirational saga of V Chandrasekhar,three-time table tennis champ in the 1980s who also boasts an Arjuna award onhis mantelpiece.

In a country which has too few role models, Chandrasekhar's life as an ace TTchamp was going great guns till he was halted by a surgery that went horriblywrong and sent him into a coma. He recovered, went to court and in a landmarkjudgement, the Supreme Court ordered the premier hospital in question to providehim compensation. He then went on to be a bank officer and started a TT academywhich is currently training 200 children.

Now Chandra's life and times will be serialised on Jaya TV from mid-Augustand will have the great TT player playing himself in the final episodes -- thereare 26 -- although three youngsters from different age groups have been pickedto play the young Chandrasekhar. The script is based on the book by Chandrahimself called My Fight Back From Death's Door. "The storyhighlights the different aspects of Chandra's life starting from his childhood,his passion for table tennis, fan following in his heyday, the fateful day ofhis surgery, treatment in the US, how he bounced back fighting against all oddsthen became a bank officer and his TT academy," says Haricharan who isdirecting the serial.

The nice thing about the launch -- or to be cynical, probably why itgenerated publicity -- was that Cricket greats like Sachin Tendulkar, AnilKumble and Rahul Dravid took time off and showed up for it. Chandra says thatthe revenue from the biopic would be used to fund his academy.