Thuglak's 47th annual meeting

The not-so-eagerly awaited 47th annual meeting of Thuglak readers took place on January 14th at the Music Academy. Surprisingly, it was well attended despite the unfortunate absence of CHO.

Purpose of this meeting was only to pay tribute to the memory of the unique satirist. Readers were not allowed to express their sentiments. 'In keeping with the solemnity of the event', only the five on the dais spoke. They were Padma Subramaniam, N.Ravi, G.Viswanathan, Rajinikanth and S.Gurumurthy.

Padma Subramaniam spoke of her family's long relationship with Cho's. She repeatedly broke down, but was able to regain her composure immediately. N.Ravi, deputising for N.Ram, was matter-of-fact just like The Hindu. He referred to Cho's strong espousal of freedom of expression.

G.Viswanathan, educationist, eulogised Cho's quality of listening to views contrary to his before tearing them apart. He acknowledged Cho's contribution in his electoral success.

Rajinikanth proved that he is a talented speaker. His gesticulations (mannerisms?) added value. His talk was as witty as it was profound. Gurumurthy said that Cho had identified him as the next editor of Thuglak as early as 1989. He promised to continue Thuglak as a fearless magazine. He acknowledged the contribution made by every employee of the magazine.

Can Gurumurthy maintain the enviable standards set by Cho? It is too early to comment on this. Gurumurthy has safely hedged his position saying that Thuglak is what it is because of its staff members. So the burden of living up to the benchmark is not on his shoulders alone.

The meet culminated in a live video-talk by Narendra Modi who confirmed that like others, he also benefitted immensely by Cho's sagacious objective advice.

Tughlak's 46th annual meeting

The meeting held on January 14,2016 was different from the earlier annual meetings for the following reasons:

1) When the national anthem was sung, Cho had to continue sitting because of his health conditions.
2) Employees of the magazine were not formally introduced in order to save time.
3) Thuglak readers were not given a chance to speak.

In the 45th meeting, Cho had said that he was not keeping good health because of lack of physical exercise. In the current meeting, he attributed his difficulty to his exertion in the last year's meeting.

Readers of Thuglak normally relate to him intellectually rather than emotionally. Because of Cho's ill-health, emotions have now taken the upper hand. Cho's response was as razor-sharp as ever.

There were six speakers apart from Cho. Sarathkumar of AISMK, S.R.Balasubramanian of TMC, EVKS Elangovan of Congress, Anbumani Ramadoss of PMK, Pon Radhakrishnan of BJP and Pazha Karuppiah of AIADMK spoke in that order.

Anbumani Ramadoss spoke most sensibly (many listeners must have been pleasantly surprised) and Karuppiah spoke most philosophically and humorously (it is intriguing that his candour is unaffected by the party he is in).

Saratkumar recounted the 'golden years' of Kamaraj rule. He was supportive of Jayalalithaa ('who has fulfilled 177 of 177 poll promises') and Modi who is marketing India world-wide.

Balasubramanian compared Cho and Kannadasan and concluded that the former is more persistent as an editor / writer. He spoke against chauvinism of any kind and expressed his view that Tipu Sultan was not a religious bigot. According to him, the Sringeri Mutt was adequately compensated by Tipu Sultan when it was looted by people from Maharashtra. He was suspicious about Pakistan's intentions and actions. He criticised Modi's goodwill visit to the neighbour.

Anbumani Ramadoss wanted a cultural metamorphosis. He criticised the freebies culture, administrative lapses in the recent flood-relief and reliance on TASMAC. He roundly criticised all other political parties and concluded that movement from the fire to the frying pan is not what we are looking for. He was against the preponderant role of film artistes in many political parties. He narrated in detail how the policies for education, public health (he is a medical doctor), employment and farmers' welfare should be different from what they are today. He recalled that C.N.Annadurai predicted that the Dravidian parties will rule for 50 years from 1967. That period is now coming to an end. He lamented that drinking habits are now so widespread that even girl students in schools are becoming alcoholic. He revealed that he had done a course in Macroeconomics at the London School of Economics.

Elangovan warned against terrorism and global warming. He was against youngsters (students) taking to politics. (Paranoia?) Politics should not be a career! We should move away from 'cash for votes' culture.

Radhakrishnan glorified the government's performance under Modi. Central government's help in flood-relief, opening of 20 crore accounts in banks in a short span of a few months, policy towards Sri Lanka, national recognition for Thiruvalluvar and Barathiar and promotion of transparency in tendering processes were counted as achievements. He pleaded for Gujarat-style government in Tamil Nadu.

Karuppiah complimented Cho for his ceaseless role as an effective permanent opposition. He compared Cho with Kamaraj in his ability for quick assessment of people. He insisted on the need for dissent in any forum to enable a culture of thesis - antithesis - synthesis. He recounted Sardar Patel's emphasis on efficient bureaucracy, watchful press and just judiciary. He regretted the unholy alliance between bureaucrats and politicians in power. He pointed out the contemporary significance of names of Cho's past plays like "Yarukkum Vetkam Illai" and "Unmaiyae, unn vilai enna?"

Summary of Cho's views:
Balasubramanian was hedging his bets not knowing which Dravidian party will be in power post-elections.
Films will continue to play a role in politics which is not necessarily bad. It may be noted that many actors including Sivaji could not shine in politics.
It is not practical to impose prohibition. It is advisable to watch what happens in Bihar and Kerala which are attempting to introduce it. How to avoid illicit liquor? Anbumani Ramadoss has been admirably consistent in his views on need for prohibition.
It is difficult to wipe out competitive cash for votes culture. Congress party started this nefarious practice as an SSI and it has grown into a large scale industry.
Congress had initiated both good and bad practices.
BJP cannot take all the credit for policy towards Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi was a pioneer in this.
Many had wished Cho a long life. But he prefers a healthy life and not a long life of suffering.
At the state level, law and order is deteriorating and corruption is gaining newer grounds.
Jayalalithaa's image as a strong leader against goondaism is becoming suspect.
Jayalalithaa's contribution in ending dynastic dominance (in DMK) in the state is credit-worthy.
Flood relief measures in the state were apathetic to begin with, but caught up later on.
Overall, the pluses of state administration outweigh its minuses.
Sun TV and Jaya TV take only extreme positions. The truth is between these extremes.
Modi continues to be a clean politician. If he cannot reduce corruption, nobody can.
Modi stands for scam-free economic development. His foreign tours are beneficial for the country whose global image is now better.
Modi is accused as intolerant because he does not tolerate corruption. What a contrast from Manmohan Singh!
Hinduism is the most tolerant religion. This is because it does not believe in conversion and numerical strength.

Thuglak's 45th annual meeting

The 45th annual meeting of Thuglak readers was held at the Music Academy, Chennai on 14th January, 2015. Since neither parliamentary election nor the Tamil Nadu Assembly election is scheduled in the near future and scams have become rarer, it was expected that there would be thinner audience this time compared to 2014. But, surprisingly, it was not so. The event was also simultaneously webcast on www.kalakendra.com (Deferred webcast also is available)

Cho initiated the proceedings sharp at 6.30 pm. Suspenseful expectations that gripped the patient audience just before the commencement was reminiscent of the Corporation stadium or Chepauk stadium atmosphere just before the first ball was about to be bowled in a cricket test match. Coincidentally, times were when the test matches would be held in Madras / Chennai during the Pongal season. Just as the cricket matches gave more fun and enjoyment than the accompanying holidays, Cho meetings give more thrill than holidays themselves.

This year Pongal is on 15th January and therefore, 14th was a working day to many. Despite this, the enthusiastic crowd was as thick as ever.

Cho started off facetiously observing that people cared either for physical fitness or for mental alertness and never for both. This was perhaps the only statement of Cho which might not have received the unanimous approval of the listeners. He attributed his present ill-health to absence of physical exercise.

Cho responded to questions posed by some readers of Thuglak. The readers were eager to know his mind on issues like the political future in Tamil Nadu, Modi's leadership, terrorism and secularism. Tamil Nadu's future politics, according to Cho, depended on the final verdict in Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets case. If she is acquitted, ADMK would continue to dominate. Else, it would depend on who allies with whom. In his concluding remarks, Cho picked many holes in the trial court's judgment. The judge's reliance on a Patna High Court judgment in Lalu Prasad case dealing with the significance and finality of assessment by the tax authorities was criticised because the judgment was subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court. Justice Cunha's estimation of expenses incurred by Jayalalithaa in the marriage of her then adopted son as somewhere between the prosecution's assertion and defence's statement has no basis in law and hence is contestable. However, Cho refused to hazard a guess on what the High Court, and possibly the Supreme Court, will rule in this case.
Regarding the Congress party, Cho mentioned that whatever little support it had in Tamil Nadu is now with G.K.Vasan who has restarted his political party, TMC. Cho complimented Vasan for his straightforwardness and long-term orientation.

He was all praise for Modi's development agenda. In his view, based on world media observations, Modi ranks among the first 3 or 4 leaders in the whole world. Modi's sincerity and self-confidence were applauded. Modi's strong response to terrorism and Pakistan's aggression is in sharp contrast to UPA's pusillanimity. Pakistan's renewed attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue is a reaction to Modi government's boldness in countering invasion and terrorism.

Cho mocked at attempts to reduce secularism to vote-bank arithmetic. He was equally condemnatory of puerile attempts made by fringe elements to provoke backlash against religious minorities. Cho suspected that these elements are trying to sabotage Modi's developmental efforts from within. He opined that it was unfair to make Modi accountable for this mischief. (This view was strongly countered by Jawahirullah who was one of the guest speakers. The other two were H.Raja of BJP and D.Raja of CPI).

( Prof. M. H. Jawahirullah Tamil: எம்.ஹெச். ஜவாஹிருல்லாஹ் (born 1959) is an Indian politician and incumbent member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Ramanathapuram constituency. He represents the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi party.^[1]He is also the founding member and present leader of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazagham.)

(H.Raja is a National Executive Member of BJP)

(D. Raja is a politician and the member of Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. He is from the Communist Party of India(CPI) and he is the National Secretary of the Party since 1994)

Cho was amused by the tendency to fault Modi for all our ills and to attribute any positive development like reduction in inflation rate to extraneous factors.

Cho was predictably critical of Karunanidhi's opportunistic politics, co-habitation with NDA and UPA with equal ease to suit his 'family' constraints. He also appreciated the grand old man's sustained survival in politics despite many challenges, personal and political. He would not write off the DMK as a political force. Its future depends on the verdict in Jayalalithaa's assets case and probable alliances.

All three guest speakers spoke forcefully and with conviction. The first to speak, Jawahirullah found the gap between Modi's pre-election utterances and post-election action dismaying. He ridiculed the 'swachh Bharat' campaign as a marketing ploy. Cho's counter was that symbolic deeds are also necessary to change societal habits. This counter was later supported by H.Raja. Jawahirullah questioned central government's inaction in retrieving the fishing boats seized by Sri Lanka. The central government's move to 'take full credit' for release of Tamil fishermen by Sri Lanka attracted his ire. 

H.Raja spoke about 'convoluted secularism'. He gave some statistics from Kerala to drive home his contention that unequal treatment of different religious institutions would torpedo social equilibrium. Though H.Raja was certainly very eloquent, his job was made much easier since Cho had all praise for Modi and RSS. Cho gave examples of RSS' commitment to national interests.

D.Raja of CPI was expectedly critical of 'capitalistic methods' of the NDA government. He questioned the legitimacy of the NDA to govern since it received only 41% of votes and therefore 59% was against. This fallacious argument attracted a strong rebuttal from Cho who exclaimed that probably 95% are against the Communists. D.Raja referred to the consistent struggle of communist movements against all types of terrorism including the Khalistanis. (He was lucky that no one made an inconvenient reference to Maoists.) He pleaded for more government initiatives to help the poor. He quoted from Thomas Piketty's 'Capitalism in the 21st century' that there is now unprecedented economic inequality.

D.Raja strongly objected to de-prioritisation of MGNREGA by the government. This, he asserted, proved Modi government's 'anti-poor' policy. Cho combatted this argument saying that MGNREGA as it exists is only a cornucopia of corruption and that the government is rightly trying to reform it. D.Raja voiced his concern over the government's pro-FDI policy. In the same breath, he also criticised the government for not enabling the continuance of Nokia factory in Tamil Nadu. Cho responded that the Nokia issue was a creation of earlier UPA government and Modi cannot be blamed. Perhaps he missed an opportunity to point out the paradox of simultaneous anti-FDI and pro-Nokia arguments. Cho batted strongly for more FDI.

Finally, Cho signed off hoping to continue the traditional meeting next January. As usual, every one stood to attention when the national anthem was sung.

Thuglak's 44th annual meeting

Chennaivasis celebrate three main festivals every year. Deepavali, Pongal and Thuglak anniversary are all looked forward to with great fervour. Of these greatest gusto precedes the last function. It is a badge of honour for the helpless middle class to attend the annual function despite the physical strain it involves. Earlier we had an occasion in this blog to compare this Chofest with Nani Palkhiwala's talkathon on annual budget. In terms of crowd frenzy, however, the former takes the cake.

This year it was no different. On 14th January, the normally indolent and inexpressive middle class converged at the Music Academy to coalesce into a mesmerised mass ready to take up cudgels against political atrocities. The vehemence, of course, dissipated as soon as the crowd disassembled after the 3-hour odd meeting. For the function to start at 6.30 pm, the hall was fully occupied as early as 3.30 pm, a full three hours in advance! The theme of the 44th meeting was "General Elections 2014".

Recording of Bhagavad Gita and its meaning by Cho was broadcast in order to keep the eager attendees engaged and to benumb their physical discomfort. If Krishna were to deliver his message to Arjuna today, Krishna would readily declare, "Among critics, I am Cho".

Cho Ramasamy followed the usual format in conducting the proceedings. There were four parts. First, the Thuglak team was introduced to the applauding crowd. Next, some Thuglak readers were given the opportunity to voice their questions. Paeans of praise were expectedly showered on the editor of the magazine by randomly chosen readers. Cho responded to the questions then and there except the question on whom to vote for in the upcoming general elections. (Gist of Cho's response is given in the later part of this post.) The third part was the address by three political leaders namely L.Ganesan of BJP, T.K.Rangarajan of CPM and Peter Alphonse of Congress. The concluding and the most awaited part was Cho's address.

Ganesan had an easy run thanks to multiplicity of scams under the UPA regime. An interesting argument he advanced was whereas all political parties (including BJP) readily express sympathy for any minority in distress, BJP is the only party to console Hindus in distress. This in his view is the reason why the party is mistakenly attacked as non-secular. He compared Manmohan Singh to a kid who was asked by his mother to keep an eye on milk when she is away for some time because cats may turn up. When the mother returned home, the kid dutifully explained that he watched a cat really turn up and drank all the milk. (Cho subsequently explained how the prime minister is a lot worse.)

Rangarajan was comparatively unimpressive. He said that only communists understood that politics is nothing but 'concentrated economics'. He regretted that Cho is keen on decimating communism. (Not one to let go an opportunity, Cho wondered how something as dead as communism and dodo would be a candidate for decimation.) Rangarajan desired that India should not overexploit its natural resources and as expected cited China as an example of a model country that does not overexploit its mines. Cho countered this also. Rangarajan compared BJP and Congress to devil and the deep sea. They are also 'political cousins' taking similar views on Lokpal Bill. Rangarajan demanded that the bribe-giver should also be punished like the bribe-taker. He had in mind the 'corporate devils'.

Alphonse had the unenviable task of defending a party that has become a synonym for scams. (I wonder why no one highlights the presence of 'con' in congress.) In the event, he handled his job deftly save an uncalled for reference to Sonia Gandhi as 'the only leader' who was genuinely interested in the safety of prime minister Vajpayee when the terrorist attack on the parliament took place. The crowd could not resist its derisive laughter. He cleverly claimed that the audience present were unlikely to vote for his party and thus preempted scowls from the listeners. A difficult job neatly executed. He claimed that scams are not exclusively associated with any one party and that the credit for 'so much economic progress in the last 66 years' goes to Congress. (A funny argument of heads I win and tails you lose.)

Finally came the chef-d'oeuvre. Cho straightaway launched a missile on Congress calling it the fountain of corruption. If others are only in second or third standards, the Congress has completed a Ph.D. in being corrupt. He extended the story of cat. The kid even advised the cat not to drink milk. The kid also told his mother that he also noticed someone come in and take away the vessel. The kid pleaded that he sincerely carried out mother's instruction to keep an eye. (I think Cho is giving some benefit of doubt to Manmohan Singh which he may not deserve.) Cho added how Kapil Sibal came to kid's succour trying to establish there was no milk, no vessel and no cat.

Cho felt that though Raja was certainly guilty of corrupt practices in the 2G scam, disallowing his presence before JPC was only to shield persons like Chidambaram and Sonia Gandhi. He referred to the practice of the prime minister receiving chits from AP (Ahmed Patel) on coal allocation. Surprisingly, he did not refer to AP figuring in the helicopter scandal also. Age catching up? (Doesn't Sonia Gandhi have a Godlike omnipresence in all scams?)

Cho came down heavily on Aam Aadmi party. He said it is forcing itself to be an Aamaam party ('Yes' party) to Congress. He ridiculed its tendency to be high on promises and low on delivery because of compromise. From a stand of 'no politics', Arvind Kejriwal has traversed through 'no electoral contest', 'no link with Congress or BJP', 'no acceptance of power' etc.He claimed that AAP would get itself lost in its contradictions. (As if to confirm this prediction, Vinod Binny, an MLA, has started rebelling within AAP.)

Earlier Thuglak readers who spoke had wanted to know 1) why Hindu temples should be governed by a government department, 2)role of regional parties, 3)why TASMAC should function in the state and 4)why he was not contesting any election. He responded that government had a legitimate role in safeguarding the assets of temples though it should not interfere with religious practices, regional parties came up because Indira Gandhi destroyed leaders of Congress in various state including Atulya Ghosh, S K Patil and Kamaraj and the vacuum was filled up by jingoistic parties, Prohibition is not an implementable policy though timings and location of TASMAC need regulation and that he can never win any election since voters look for capacity to compromise which he sorely lacked. Rajaji, he said, was also a victim of this incapacity.

While on state politics, he continued to support AIADMK praising Jayalalithaa's leadership qualities. DMK's influence, in his estimate, continued to wane. He said DMK and Congress would continue to need each other's company to guard against their total decimation in the state.

Added on 16th January: As expected, Cho supported Modi for prime ministership. Modi, according to Cho, is assertive, decisive and honest. He disagreed with the view expressed by a reader that Gujarat under Modi was falling behind in various social parameters. The reader tactfully compared Gujarat and Tamilnadu and said Tamilnadu is progressing much faster on social indicators. Sensing the trap, Cho wanted Gujarat's progress to be assessed independently. He also desired that BJP and ADMK should discuss the possibility of mutual coordination. When a few readers of Thuglak wanted him to convince Jayalalithaa on this, he said that the general impression that the chief minister consulted him was overblown. "Jayalalithaa is an experienced administrator, capable of understanding issues and a very decisive person. Where is the need for her to consult me?"

Thuglak's 43rd annual meeting

I could not attend the meeting on 14th January due to unavoidable reasons. There are quite a few people who are interested in this annual meeting. Some of them who could not be present scan this blog to know what transpired. I regret I am unable to be of service to them this year.