The "double-chinned Mona Lisa" of Tamil Nadu is the Tamil "Mutti"

Some writers are gifted and they string together words that are simply charming, like this one:

You know you’ve entered Tamil Nadu when you begin to see Jayalalithaa’s face everywhere: a double-chinned Mona Lisa, her long, dark hair pulled back in a demure chignon. 

I will never again think about the Mona Lisa without associating that portrait with Jayalalithaa ;)

It is to the NY Times' credit that they have run a lengthy piece on "The frenzied, fanatical politics of Tamil Nadu, India."  How many readers will be interested in the politics of some place called Tamil Nadu, right?  We might blog, tweet, and snapchat, but all those cannot take the place of a NY Times or the Economist or the, well, you know my favorites ;)

To an insider like me, there is nothing new in that essay.  To a complete outsider, there are many names--multi-syllables at that--of people and places and the complex inter-relationships.

Tamil Nadu, which is where I am from, is a fascinating setting for all kinds of reasons.  Tamil, the language of that area, is the oldest living language in the world with a rich literature past.  Most old-time politicians, including the 92-year old Karunanidhi who is discussed in that essay, are well-versed in that literature and can be masterful orators too.  Jayalalithaa is everything that Karunanidhi is not--a woman, a Brahmin, fluent in English and Hindi--but otherwise there is no difference in their politics.

The two of them rule as if in a melodrama, having each other arrested, dropping snide insults and wild accusations, destroying each other’s pet projects.

One of the fascinating things about the politics in Tamil Nadu is this: the state has prospered despite all the antics of these politicians.  Not merely these two, but--and definitely--including the third and the biggest of them: MGR, who is extensively discussed in that NY Times piece.

You would think that given all this emotional mayhem, Tamil Nadu would be a mess, but in fact it’s one of the best-run states in India. Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen, in their book ‘‘An Uncertain Glory,’’ an analysis of economic development in India, single out Tamil Nadu as a paragon of administrative innovation among Indian states, ranking it best in the country for the quality of its public services. Under Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi’s governance, Chennai has gained a reputation as the Detroit of India (in the car-manufacturing-hub sense, not in the bankrupt-and-abandoned sense). Her raw instinct for political survival was enough to put her in office. Once there, she revealed a surprising talent for administration. ‘‘She schooled herself, and to that extent one has to salute her,’’ the journalist Sadanand Menon told me. ‘‘She has worked to understand procedures, rules and regulations, policies.’’

If this cinematic and melodramatic politics with unprincipled and corrupt politicians makes for "one of the best-run states in India," one needs to worry about the worst of the states in India, right?

MGR and Jayalalithaa from an movie still, in the NY Times piece

To some extent, the presence of such a strong woman who is adored by mindless millions--men and women alike--has immensely strengthened women in Tamil Nadu.  Even the poor do not think twice about educating their girls or sending them to college.  Jayalalithaa is a good role model for female empowerment!

Sometimes I feel that the reason women in Tamil Nadu enjoy Jayalalithaa in power is that they see how she controls men, keeps them at a distance, falling at her feet.’’

Jayalalithaa was the "mother" well before Germany's Angela Merkel was nicknamed that.  The world is becoming ok, finally, with the idea that women too can be political leaders, and can be as good as, or as corrupt as, the men.  So much so that we are apparently ready to even have grandmothers as leaders, argues this essay in the Atlantic:

modern life seems to be suggesting another possibility for older women. Lately, a group of prominent 60-somethings—Janet Yellen, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, and Angela Merkel among them—has begun forging an alternate path: whatever the reason older women were put on this Earth, their example suggests, maybe the time has come for them to run it.

A modern day Leonardo da Vinci will have quite a few political Mona Lisa portraits to paint--some with double chins too, just as the male leaders had and do ;)

Women rule in Bengal and Tamil Nadu! Communism dies!!!

Jayalalitha (left) leads her party to one ass-whooping victory over the geriatric Karunanidhi.  Not that I am a supporter of either, but the margin of victory is simply awesome.
The defeated Karunanidhi said, “The people of Tamil Nadu have given me rest.”

All the way across, Mamata Banerjee routs the Commies from power.  A 34-year rule by the same folks.   She said it was "a victory for maa, mati, manush [her party slogan that translated reads: mother, soil, people]”  I suppose all over the world we love alluring alliterations :)

Perhaps the end of "democratic" communism in India?

Somewhere down the line in a fast-changing world the communists, many believe, began losing their way. After the first wave of farm reforms had exhausted its potential, they needed fresh ideas as governments cut back on spending, and private capital was touted as the main driver of growth and jobs. Land reform had run its course in Bengal, and farm produce prices were falling. Peasants, with enough food in their bellies, now aspired to better lives.
But a largely gerontocratic and hidebound leadership - already stunned into stasis by the break-up of the Soviet Union - "lost its way coping with the pressures of a globalised market", says social scientist Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya.

Well, in my part of India, communist leaders were never exciting anyway.  In Tamil Nadu, elections were simply way too fascinating for me when I was a kid.  It was fantastic rhetoric and theatre. Even at local campaign speeches, the guys--rarely a woman leader those days--would go on for hours, and even throw in more than one challenge to the United States.  Literally, sentences such as "I am warning the US President ..."  But, boy, some of those politicians had wonderful command of the language, with quick and biting wit.  When I watch the C-Span speeches at Congress, I can't believe our politicians are as boring as the fabled Soviet leaders were!

The family lore is that as a four year old kid, I wanted to go watch MGR (Jayalalitha's boss, co-actor, lover, ...) at an election rally.  This was in Sengottai, where I spent most of my upper-kindergarten years.  With grandma saying no, apparently I sneaked out while it was raining, stood at a corner lost for a while, until somebody brought me back home.  Promptly, it was a high fever the following morning, which was then referred to as "MGR fever."

 So, to mark the occasion, here are MGR and Jayalalitha, who were both movie idols before switching over to politics, in one of my favorite songs featuring them

Music video of the day: MGR and Jayalalitha, "Aayiram nilave va"

A wonderful song that perhaps is even better if one doesn't watch MGR in his exhibitionistic short-skirt like outfit :)  Kind of weird and ironic that it is the male whose wardrobe malfunction that one worries about in this video!
Even more bizarre that these two went on to become chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and, for all we know, Jayalalitha might yet again become the chief when election results are announced in a couple of days.
Life is infinitely stranger than fiction.

SPB's voice is so youthful in its tone--it was his debut into movies.  And, boy, what a career he has had!
Here is ஆயிரம் நிலவே வா 

Remembering Melina Mercouri

One of the characteristics of getting old is, I suppose, we think about the lives we had.  And, all of a sudden pop up in our minds events we didn't even know had registered in our memories.  

I had one of those this evening.  I have no idea what led to me thinking about Melina Mercouri's visit to India--this was when I was back in India, working on my undergrad degree.  I wonder if her trip registered in my memory because it was at then that I had read "Zorba the Greek". Anyway, I recall thinking that Mercouri as a minister was so much like the politicians in Tamil Nadu, who had extensive movie connections.  The chief minister at that time, MGR, was a big time movie star before he became a full-time politician.  For that matter, the party to which he belonged for the longest time before breaking away, the DMK, was founded and led by Annadurai and Karunanidhi--both screenplay writers .... 

Ok, back to Melina Mercouri.  So, thanks to YouTube I pulled up the famous song from Never on Sunday, which, of course, I heard for the first time during her visit to India.  Here is the clip:

After that, I thought I should revisit Zorba the Greek; here is that famous dance scene that is also the movie ending