Chennai Corner

Bling it on

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But seeing a beaming Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi flaunting his new diamond ring while unveiling Tiruvalluvar’s statue in Bangalore on Sunday, it would be safe to say that the octogenarian is very with-it when it comes to bling. Unlike AIADMK chief Jayalalitha, who has sworn off jewellery including her “Vairu thoda” (the typical diamond earring sported by Brahmin women), after her first innings as CM ended disastrously amidst swirling corruption charges, Karunanidhi is carrying no baggage. If anything, he’s being hailed as a statesman who has brought Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, bitter enemies over Cauvery water for the last two decades, together with promises of much bhai-bhaiism to come.

The solid gold ring has 40 diamonds (yes, you read me right) and was custom-made for him by a jeweller in Coimbatore. “I ordered the ring a week ago,” M Saravanan, former corporator, who presented the ring to him, said. The diamond encrusted ring has a carved image of Tiruvalluvar embossed in the centre and has been made against the red and black flag of the DMK.

Gold chains are routinely presented to Kalaignar by fawning partymen on his birthday, but the octogenarian may give an inferiority complex to former Chennai Port Trust chairman Suresh. One of the lockers belonging to Suresh was opened last week to reveal a pile of gold bars weighing 3.5 kg after a raid on him by the CBI last week for having assets way in excess of his income. Incidentally, Chennai is waiting with bated breath about what the other four lockers will reveal.

Give and take, Azhagiri-style

It seems to be raining gold in this state with the CM’s son and union minister M K Azhagiri promising a 25 sovereign (one sovereign is equal to 8 grams) gold chain for the district secretary who pulls in the most number of votes for the party in the five by-polls next week. Extravagance should be Azhagiri’s middle name because he has promised gold chains of 10 sovereigns each to workers in Cumbum, Illayankudi and Bargur which the DMK is contesting (DMK’s alliance partner Congress is contesting the other two, Srivaikuntam and Thodamathur).

With the AIADMK boycotting, Azhagiri did not want his partymen to rest on their laurels and hence the golden incentive. By the way Cumbum’s BJP candidate has joined the DMK this week so one wonders whether Azhagiri’s target is to get his party candidates elected unopposed.

Incidentally, the DMK’s trinity – father (Karunanidhi), son (deputy CM Stalin) and other son (Azhagiri) – have been jeering at Jayalalitha declaring that she is opting out because she is running scared. Stalin told an election meeting that she should boycott the assembly poll in 2011 for the same reasons – that she does not have a level playing field because EVM’s are not tamper-proof and because the DMK will unleash its money and muscle power. He has a point but Jayalalitha is not listening, not even to the criticism that she is not functioning effectively as an opposition party leader.

Sculptors forgotten

Now that the Tiruvalluvar statue has been unveiled in Bangalore despite the opposition by Kannada chauvinists (incidentally, there has not been a squeak here about Kannada saint poet Sarvagna’s statue, unveiled at the Jeeva park in Ayyanavaram), the Tamil saint has been hijacked to a political platform. Which is why, the man who sculpted Tiruvalluvar who is none other than the 83-year-old celebrated sculptor Mani Nagappa, was sidelined at the Bangalore function where Karunanidhi referred to Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa as his “thambi” (younger brother) . Not a word, not even an acknowledgement although Mani Nagappa was present at the function as an invitee of the Bangalore Tamil Sangham. “It slipped our minds to invite the sculptors. We will either take them to Chennai or felicitate them here during one of the department functions,” Jayaram Raje Urs, secretary, Kannada and Culture department, is quoted as having said.

Two days before the unveiling of Sarvagna, Pramodhini Deshpande and her husband, who carved out the 9 foot bronze statue of the 12th century poet Sarvagna, have not received an official invitation. Incidentally, the original demand for Tiruvalluvar’s statue came from the Bangalore Tamil Sangham two decades ago. Likewise, Attavar Ramdas, president of a social and cultural organization here called Sneha, had met Stalin, then Chennai’s mayor, for land near Ayyanavaram, which is a Kannadiga conclave. And Stalin okayed the proposal in just three days, says Ramdas.

The real followers of Tiruvalluvar

Former President A P J Kalam’s bible was Thirukural and he often quoted from the 1330 couplets that cover every aspect of life. Other not so well-known fans of the Kural have been children (there are debates and competition centred around the kurals in schools), a cobbler near the Chennai railway station who handwrites a “kural for the day” and displays it on the roadside where he works so passers by can acquire some wisdom. Then there’s an auto driver who has been propagating kurals. A school dropout, Vallimuthu, has used his earnings and donations from friends to bring out over a 1000 booklets on Tiruvalluvar’s philosophy for the last three years. His mission to propagate the kural began six years ago when he began writing a couplet everyday on the back of his vehicle. When his customers asked him about it, he was encouraged to bring out books containing three chapters each (about 30 pages) to give away for free. His initiative brought in donations. “I have so far printed more than 50,000 booklets,” he says, adding that he gives them away near schools and colleges so GenX will learn about kurals.

Social workers, really?

Most of us feel politicians are fat cats at our expense. Social activist “Traffic” K R Ramaswamy agrees because he has filed a PIL in the Madras high court against the decision to give MLAs a pay hike and also to allot them plots (of two ground or 4,800 square feet) each at Sholinganallur.

“As representatives of people, MLAs must set an example by receiving the bare minimum as salary instead of seeking enhancement frequently,” Ramaswamy said. Incidentally, the monthly emoluments of an MLA in 1999 was Rs 10,000, and after the recent budget session it’s gone upto Rs 50,000. Ramaswamy petitioned the court to direct the assembly secretary not to implement the hike saying, “It is unwanted for the service-oriented MLAs more so because they get all benefits free.”

The state has an outstanding debt of Rs 74,456 crore which was Rs 57,457 crore when the DMK came to power in 2006. While debt has gone up, revenue has not and in fact, has come down. Commercial tax collection is down 3.5 per cent, stamp duty is down by nearly 35 per cent (reflecting the crisis in the realty sector) and TN’s share of central taxes has gone down by Rs 986 crore. In addition, the expenditure and pensions during the current year will cost the exchequer Rs 30,447 crore. The hike for MLAs will cost the government Rs 1.2 crore.

As for the other proposal to allot housing plots for current MLAs, Ramaswamy said legislators were already entitled to a flat with all “modern facilities like air-conditioner, telephone and other luxury amenities.” So, why give them additional accommodation? Well, ask Congress member Gunashekharan who fought for the MLA colony and got it while the communists had a stab of conscience and protested. The Congress member’s retort was that they were going to pay for the plots. The point is they won’t be paying market rates.

In response to Ramaswamy’s petition, the high court has sent a notice to the government seeking details. Watch this space.