Election Fever & Few Days Of Watching TV

Elections in India are no less than a war and can go deep into the minds of people. There are debates, discussions, stories, projections and predictions on electronic media pertaining to political parties and political candidates.

While writing this article, state elections are due in the eastern states of Bengal & Assam and southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. But there has been a wide coverage and wild speculations about Bengal and Tamil Nadu states in all major TV news channels.

Few days of watching TV, I have learnt how to speak Bengali language ; I have learnt or understood Bengal culture, Bengal cuisine, Bengal Famine, East India company, Shubhas Chandra Bose (freedom fighter), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (founder of Hindu Mahasabha), Jyoti Basu (communist leader who led and ruled the state six times in a row), and the three political wings that decided and guided the destiny of Bengal polity. Elections in India are dear and costly but can increase your knowledge of history no end.

Few days of watching TV, I have learnt that Shri Anna Durai (household name in Tamil Nadu) was the founder and brain behind Dravidian movement and the first ever regional/dravidian political party launched in Tamil Nadu (as a counter to Congress) namely DMK party which subsequently split into two after his demise. Anna Durai had two staunch & loyal disciples (both ambitious) : (1) Shri Karunanidhi who was a story writer and wrote scripts for Tamil movies ; (2) Shri M.G. Ramachandran, popularly referred to as MGR, who acted in Tamil Movies including those scripted by Karunanidhi; Both were good friends and scripted the future of Tamil Nadu state ; Eventually both fell apart because of ambitions and jealousy ; MGR then floated & founded AIADMK party and even went on to become the first Chief Minister of TN state from AIADMK party after defeating his DMK rival candidate Mr Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister of TN state, prior to his defeat. MGR then went on to lead his party and TN state for years before he started grooming Miss Jayalalitha, the then popular actress or heroine in Tamil Movies, who was very ambitious to say the least and subsequently took over from him ; the rest is history which we all know and not worth remembering.

I also learnt an interesting fact : Shri M.G. Ramachandran or MGR who ruled Tamil Nadu state for many years as the Chief Minister, was a Malayali or Keralite by birth. In fact MGR was born in Sri Lanka to Malayali parents (migrants) where he grew up in paddy fields and subsequently shifted or migrated to Tamil Nadu/Madras.

“ One thing leads to another ” is a popular phrase which applies very much to MGR who took part in Dravidian movement & politics, went on to become a successful & charismatic actor in Tamil movies, went on to float a political party with his sheer popularity, went on to become the Chief Minister of the biggest state in South India namely Tamil Nadu, went on to shape the future of Tamil Nadu state & politics, and then went on to become a cult figure !

All this was a new revelation to me which i learnt just by watching TV news channels over the last few days. Talk of serendipity (discovery by chance) and this is the best example !!