A deluge of books greeted DMK leader M.K. Stalin as he celebrated his 65th birthday on Wednesday. Stalin had requested his admirers to present him with books instead of the “ponnaadai” (decorated shawls) since they served no useful purpose.
“Books will help me expand my knowledge. So please gift me books if you truly love me,” Stalin had declared last week. ‘Ponnnadai’, though considered a Tamil tradition, has little utility or even decorative value. Leaders who get them by the dozens usually send them back to the stores that supply them for fifty per cent of their label price.
“We do not give them cash but instead they buy dhotis or towels for everyday use,” said a textile merchant in T. Nagar.
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His party’s MLAs and functionaries visited Higginbothams book shop, the oldest book store in Chennai, to pick up a suitable title for the birthday boy. While party spokesperson Tamilan Prassanna presented a book on “Speeches that changed the world,” the party’s Ariyalur district secretary S. Sivasankar gave a book on the great Tamil king Rajendra Chola. His choice of “Gangaikonda Rajendran,” detailed the naval conquests of the great warrior king, who conquered kingdoms up to Bengal and brought water from the Ganges to commemorate the famous Siva temple at Gangaikondcholapuram.
The party’s Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchy N. Siva gave three volumes of “The history of the Justice Party,” the precursor to Dravidian politics. The book could actually be redundant since any DMK leader worth his salt would already have it on his book shelf and Stalin definitely would. Stalin’s father and DMK president M. Karunanidhi was an avid book reader and also a tireless writer. Karunanidhi’s latest work was the script and dialogues for a TV serial on Tamil saint “Ramanujar.”
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“Compared to his father Stalin is not much of a book worm but this is a good way to begin. Now that he has inherited the leadership of the party it is natural for him to become well read like his father. I only hope he will find the time for reading as he is travelling all the time,” pointed out a senior MP. On the last count Stalin had received over 12,000 books on Wednesday and the numbers could mount as a few more well-wishers are expected on Thursday.
Even if he cannot read all of them he could at least donate the repeat titles to the library at the DMK headquarters or school and public libraries in the state.
