A non – tamil would often find it difficult to follow the logic , or lack of it, of a common Tamilian ; be it the fierce loyalty of the unwashed masses towards their matinee idols in Cinema and Politics or the herd like behaviour in support of “jallikattu” or “bull-taming”. Any issue remotely connected to “tamil Culture” provokes such an emotional reaction not seen in other parts of the country.
It reminds me of a song by Namakkal Ramalingam Pillai made popular through MGR Starrer “Malai kallan”. (A trivia; the film was produced at Coimbatore , the then popular place for Film studios) .For those who read tamil (and understand poetry) Lyrics
So, here I go….
Secondly, Tamils have a craze or affinity for “pattam”. “pattam” is a kind of untranslatable word which can mean an academic degree, lawfully earned, or an honorific bestowed by any formal or informal society, big or small, or even a nick name . For eg Sinnaih Ganesan is better known as Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa was just referred to as amma. EV Ramasami naikar was so impressed by ganesan playing the role of the maratha leader, he awarded the pattam Sivaji and it stuck. There are other actors with “pattam” like captain or major based on the roles they played on screen.(Silk smitha did not act as silk; have to trace how she came to called simply as Silk or Silku.) Suffice to say , anybody who is anybody in Tamilnadu needs to be called by some name other than the actual name. Kamalhasan is called “thirai gyaani” or “ ulaganaayagan”
Thirdly is the popularity of debating societies or “patti manram” as they are called in tamil. Top speakers are house hold names and some are even treated as rock stars ; in great demand for any cultural or social functions. While Sunday debates are telecast by popular TV Channels, Festivals like Pongal and New year witness Special Bumper Patti manram. It is absolutely amazing to see a full house patiently listening to a group of men and women discussing a social or literary issue, quite unlike Arnab Goswamy’s panelists. The debate could be a passionate discussion on who was a nobler character in mahabharatam, karnan or arujnan or it could be a subject that touches every life; Who has more influence on bringing up a child, the teachers or parents. It could even be some trivia like idli tastes better with chuttney or sambhar. Week after week people do come up with a new subject for testing their eloquence and of course the capacity of audience to sit through hours of talk-talk-talk
Last, but the most disturbing trait is the readiness for self – immolation. Whenever a hero like MGR dies , the tragedy becomes personal loss to many a family due to spate of the self-immolations that follow. 31 people killed themselves when MGR died . Very disturbing indeed. There were other issues like Anti-hindi agitation, Srilankan tamil problems, arrest of a popular leader and so on have triggered self-immolation.
Recently we saw some bizarre ways of protest at Jantar Mantar by Tamilnadu farmers. Not easy to decode; I suppose it is a complex mix of fierce attachment to the language and culture , coupled with total inability to deal with contemporary issues in a rational manner.
PS : This post does not take into consideration, Tamil Brahmins, who are a different species all together. They love Tamil, but they also love Sanskrit, English and any other language. Atleast , I haven’t come across any of them with “Tamil” in their names.
The Tamil Brahmin Exodus started long before Kashmiri Pandits. The Dravidians with their anti-brahmin stance and reservations for education, successfully drove them out of Tamilnadu. Fortunately for them , the whole world outside Tamilnadu was good, a sort of carrot and stick; carrot outside and stick within TN. You will find them in corporate board rooms and back offices all over the world. Physically, they are too timid to tame a cat, leave alone a bull. They are outside the purview of this post, which is all about ‘dravidians’ as they like to be called.
The plight of the present day Tamils has a historic trail.
Hailing from Kerala and while schooling in Tamil Nadu State, and also during command of soldiers from Tamil Nadu in the South Indian Caste (SIC) Battery of our Regiment, here are some of my observations (may not be digestible and may be taken with a palm full of salt).
Tamils historically have been followers – that too blind followers – and not leaders. In the earlier days they followed their kings (Cholas captured area up to River Ganges and across the seas up to Java & Sumatra); later their British Masters, followed up with political leaders, ending with movie idols. Most of the leaders for whom the Tamils prostrated and self-immolate nowadays were non-Tamils – MGR was a Malayalee and Jayalalitha was born at Melukote, Karnataka and the recent one to join the bandwagon – Rajanikanth is a Maratha from Bengaluru.
Tamils enjoy drama and melodrama. It is obvious from the Tamil stage-plays, movies and literary works – especially the recent ones as brought out by the author. They love their movie actors and actresses to be 'crass loud' with panache with a pancake of makeup over their faces.
Movie Watching is as much a weekly ritual as the daily morning prayer for Tamils. This has resulted in the movie world hijacking every sphere of activity in Tamil Nadu – from literature to politics.
Tamils are hardworking. sincere and loving lot of people, with ardent love for Tamil language and culture. The saddest part is that even the educated lot of Tamils are blind followers and do not hesitate to take up issues like Jalli-Kattu Ban on the propaganda that it is connected to Tamil Culture
@Reji , I really don't claim to know much. just idle curiosity on social behaviour .I am not even sure if it is ok to generalize .
Murali,for this sardar from mrika this was a wonderfully funny discription of I,Iyer and Iyengars
Glad, you found it interesting. I am just hypothesizing. BTW, the main story is dravidians. I and Iyer is a tiny bylane less than 2 percent of TN.(but a much bigger portion of NRI and NRSI, ie south indians living north of vindhyas.)