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"The time is ripe the Kuyil sang to talk of Many (Tamil) ...... things"
TAMILIANA
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
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WHY SINHALA - HINDU and
NOT BUDDHIST - HINDU or SINHALA - TAMIL ?
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Vanakkam! Vaalthukkal!! The dawn of our traditional new year or "Sithiraip Puthaandu" in
mid - April is an oppoprtune time to commence new ventures. A new column is being launched by
tour favourite website "TamilWeek" this Parthiba "varusham". In Lewis Carrolls "Alice in
Wonderland" the Walrus said that" the time has come to talk of many things". Now the
Thamilkkuyil sings that "the time is ripe to talk of many "Tamil" things". This column "Tamiliana will
comment on all things Tamil and of interest to Tamils.
Since we are beginning our journey with the advent of New Year let us deal with an issue that
bothers many of us at this time. This April new year is one festival that is common to an
overwhelming number of Sinhala and Thamil people in the Island of Sri Lanka. What is saddening
and maddening is the recurring phenomenon of widespread attempts to divide the Tamils on a
religious basis on this happy occasion.
With very few exceptions most Sri Lankan media in English and Sinhala refer to the April New Year
as Sinhala and Hindu New Year. Instead of saying Sinhala and Tamil new year the reference is to
Sinhala and Hindu. If the yardstick for this is the fact that Christian Tamils cannot subscribe to a
Hindu new year then by the same token it is equally inapplicable to Sinhala Christians too. If so it
should be Buddhist and Hindu New Year. Assuming an overarching Sinhala identity on the one
hand and denying the same to Tamil on the other smacks not only of double standards but
possesses designs to divide the Tamils on account of religion.
Granted that the calculation of years on the basis of a 60 year cycle has its roots in "Hindu"
astrology. It is also a fact that Christians following Western custom regard Jan 1st as the New Year.
The reality however is that Jan 1st has become "universal" over the years. Buddhists, Hindus,
Muslims and Christians all celebrate Jan 1st as New Year. The Christians may have their
Watchnight services but nowadays most places of worship have special ceremonies to mark the
occasion.
It is the 365 day cycle after Jan 1st that is followed by everyone in Sri Lanka and the world in
practice. The April New Year has become more of a cultural event. The world is awaking up to the
reality that all of us have multiple - identities and that the notion of "one land, one language, one
race , one culture, one people" etc are outdated. All of us have different identities, interests and
spaces. Multiple and plural are the realistic terms of the present and future.
The custom of having two new years is but one example of this multi in ourselves. As far as Tamil
Christians were concerned the introduction of Christianity through Westerners did result in many
following or aping their practice and customs. Neglect of our traditional cultural values was a
regrettable legacy. Post - Colonialism however has brought about a fresh reappraisal There has
been a conscious effort to identify with all things Tamil. The Post - Independence politics has
accelerated this desire.
Thai Pongal and Sithiraip Puthaandu are seen as Tamil cultural festivals and not as Hindu
festivals. If one were to go to our rural or semi - urban places one would find Christians
participating and enjoying these festivals as their own. These festivals open up Tamil cultural
space. It is however less pronounced in the cities.
Three things are now affecting this pleasant commonality. The state of affairs in the Country and
modernisation is restricting the time devoted to the common cultural space in these festivities. The
limited time makes people focus more on religion than the social aspects.
Secondly there is an increasing tendency on the part of Hindu Tamils to transform these cultural
festivals into religious ones. This is notably so in the case of Thaipongal which was a non -
religious event.
Thirdly the rise of religious fundamentalism among Christians particularly the new converts is
creating a situation where people are abhorring and shunning these festivals as ungodly and
pagan. Thus the cultural roots and legacy of us all is being undermined.
This situation is to some extent applicable to Sinhala Christians too.
It would indeed be a sad day for all of us if we gradually get pushed into singular grooves instead
of living and experiencing this vast legacy of humanity to which we are all heirs to.
If this regressive process gains strength we will become Buddhists and Christians and Hindus and
Christians. That day is still to dawn.
Until then (God forbid) we are Sinhala and Tamils enjoying our common legacy of April New Year.
The "Sithirai" New Year is for Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka. It cannot be for Sinhala and
Hindu only. This sustained effort to prolong this "divide" by the Sri Lankan media deserves the
strongest possible condemnation.
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WILL NEW DELHI AND KILINOCHCHI KISS AND MAKE UP?
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The Indian media organ Tehelka made a name for itself by exposing corruption in the corridors of
power. Venkiah Nayudu and Jaya Jaitley lost their positions and George Fernandez clung on
tenuously but lost all credibilty. Recently Tehelka sent a correspondent Sathishkumar who spent
three weeks in the Wanni tiger land. One of the startling revelations in his despatches relate to a
possible thaw in the frosty relations between India and the LTTE. A few excerpts are reproduced
here without comment:
LTTE claims to have begun secret talks with India
The Tamils in Sri Lanka still derisively recall the IPKF as the
'Innocent People Killing Force'. But they now want to forget the
past. Senior LTTE leader E. Pararajasingam, head of the Tamil Eelam
judiciary, said that the Tigers have extended a "hand of friendship"
with India and are ready to apologise for the "mistake" of
assassinating Rajiv Gandhi, if the Indian government also does the
same for its military intervention against them.
In fact, another LTTE leader, police chief B. Nadesan, revealed that
their representatives have secretly opened talks with the Indian
government through the High Commission in London.
"We are eager to build a relationship. India can pressure the
government of Sri Lanka to resolve this question by peaceful means,"
Nadesan said. Immediately after the ceasefire was signed in February
2002, a delegation comprising LTTE members and sympathisers visited
New Delhi for exploratory talks.
It was headed by Father MX Karunaratnam, a Catholic priest from
Jaffna who is also the chairman of the North East Secretariat of
Human Rights, the LTTE's human rights commission. "I was in Delhi in
2002 and we had fixed up a meeting with the then defence minister,
George Fernandes. But at that time there was tension between India
and Pakistan and we were told that there might a possibility of war.
So our meeting was cancelled," Father Karunaratnam said.
According to Pararajasingam, LTTE intermediary from London, Kuppan
has been in contact with the Indian High Commission there.
"He came here and met Pottu Amman (LTTE's intelligence chief and now
the second-in-command) and other leaders. He returned to London with
our leader's message for the Indian leadership. We believe that the
message has been transmitted to New Delhi through the Indian High
Commissioner in London."
When contacted, KS Bhardwaj, Counsellor (Press & Information), High
Commission of India, London said, "I am not aware of anything. But I
won't be able to say whether anything is happening or not
happening." The LTTE leadership also revealed that it had entered
into some kind of an agreement with the Dravidian parties in Tamil
Nadu after the Rajiv assassination. "Our leadership decided that we
will not do anything that adversely affects any interests in India
and the political parties in Tamil Nadu assured us that they will
prevent India from doing anything against us," said Thaya Master,
LTTE's spokesperson.
The LTTE claims that it has witnessed a phenomenal rise in
grassroots support for its cause in Tamil Nadu through the growth of
caste parties. The party leaders in Tamil Nadu, who the LTTE claims to be in
contact with are -- Tamil Nationalist Movement president P.
Nedumaran; MDMK general secretary Vaiko; PMK leader S. Ramadoss, who
has the support of the Vanniyars who form a sizeable chunk of the middle class in the state and
dalit leader R. Thirumavalavan. But the LTTE is extremely careful of the way it positions the
growing political support as it does not want India to feel
threatened by Tamil expansionism.
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A CHICAGOAN BROTHER GOES TO TAMIL EELAM
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In the bad, bad days when Lalith Athulathmudali was National Security minister he declared a
maritime security cordon around the North - Eastern coast and boasted that there wont be any
tiger boats going through. Apart from destroying the livelihood of Tamil fisherfolk the no go zone
failed to achieve anything tangible but certainly made Southern hawks happy.
This complacency was rudely shattered when Tamil Nadu political leader Palaniappan Nedumaran
made his way across the Palk straits to Tamil Eelam. When news of this journey and back was
revealed Sinhala sentiment was shocked. The doyen of Sri Lankan cartoonists Wijesoma
captured the public mood in a cartoon showing a ball marked Nedumaran going under a
butterfingered fielder towards the boundary line. It was aptly captioned "Bhokku" the pithy Sinhala
cricket parlance for a fielder failing to catch the ball.
The Sri Lankan government seems to have done another "bhokku" in this post - tsunami era.
Republican Congressman Danny Davis from Chicago , Illinois made an unexpected trip to Sri
Lanka and toured the tsunami affected parts of the North - East known as Tamil Eelam. Of course
this was not a clandestine trip by Country boat as in the case of Nedumaran but a straight forward
open journey by air.
Danny Davis of Afro - American descent has been in Congress since 1996. His constituency has
only 8% voters of Asian descent. The guys who deserve praise for getting him to go to Sri Lanka
and visit the North - East are not Sri Lankan Tamils as commonly believed but a group of
committed Tamil nationalists from Tamil Nadu now domiciled in Chicago. Well done Viswanathan!
So Danny Davis touched down at Katunayake and was received by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
at the airport. After meeting with US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead he embarked on a six day trip
to the North - East. He was accompanied and escorted by Tamil National Parliamentarians Joseph
Pararajasingham and MK Eelaventhan. Davis toured the Wanni, Jaffna and the East seeing
everything that had to be seen. He also met LTTE police chief Nadesan who presented him a
memento on behalf of the tiger supremo.
From all accounts the Colombo regime seems to have been caught on the wrong foot. The
government had strained itself to prevent people like Kofi Annan., Paul Martin, George Bush Sr
and Bill Clinton visiting the Wanni and seeing the tsunami affected regions. But Danny Davis has
outfoxed Colombo. Of course the Congressman is not in the same league as Annan. Martin. Bush
or Clinton. Still a US Congressman is a US Congressman/ Judging by the belated , hostile
response to the visit in Sri Lankan circles one is able to gauge the level of outrage in hawkish
circles.
As for Danny Davis what does he think? excerpts from an interview to a website are revealing.
"As a member of the minority community in the
United States, we African Americans always go
beyond our reach to comfort minority ethnic
groups in other countries because we feel the
importance of upholding human rights, justice,
dignity and equal opportunity which is not fully
accomplished even in the United States," the
Congressman noted.
"The impression I got from my visit to LTTE
controlled areas was that the human rights of
the minority Tamils have been blatantly violated
and that they have been denied of justice, equal
opportunity and fair play. The Government of Sri
Lanka has failed to dispatch sufficient stocks
of essentials to the Tamil majority areas that
were destroyed by the tsunami onslaught. They
feel that they have been discriminated against
and that they have been denied of equal
treatment," Danny Davis further said.
However, he said, "I totally understood that I
was getting one side of the picture. Some of the
briefings that I got from the LTTE and TNA
officials were taken with a pinch of salt. It
was difficult for me to come to any conclusions
within a few days of my stay. But what struck me
most is that this ethnic minority has been
subject to suppression and that their basic
human rights have been blatantly violated with
no justice meted out to them".
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WILL DARK HORSE VIJAY BEAT
RAJANI AND KAMAL IN FILM STAKES?
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Will " Chandramukhi" conquer all with her moon - faced beauty?
Will the "Mumbai Express" scorch the rail tracks to a speedy victory"
Will "Sachin" wield the willow in style to notch a sweeping success?
These are the troubling questions facing the average film fan in movie crazy Tamil Nadu known as
"Kollywood"
Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and Vijay have all released their movies for "Parthiba" new year.
Rajni has his Chandramukhi, Kamal his Mumbai Express and Sachin for Vijay.
The super stars Rajni and Kamal have releases a film on the same day after fifteen years. There
is healthy competition in this clash of the titans. While they are the favourites in thses filmy stakes
one cannot rule out "dark horse" Vijays galloping past a trotting Kamal and cantering Rajni too.
Rajnis "Chandramukhi" is directed by P. Vasu. It is a mish - mash and rehash of two successful
films in Malayalam and Kannada . Mohanlal and Vishnuwarrdhan excelled in these run away hits.
Chandramukhi is the 50th film to be made by Sivaji films. Rajni is returning after three years since
the flop that was "Baba".
The angelic beauty from Kerala with eyes like stars - Nayanthara - is Rajnis Jodi. Prabhu teams up
with Jyothika who steals the show via a superlative performance. The real star however is Vadivel
who has bitten into his meaty role well.
If Chandramulhi is the top favourite versatile Kamals "mumbai express" is no slowpoke either.
Directed by Kamals alter ego Singitham Srinivasa rao the express made simultaneously in Tamil
and Hindi is a rollicking comedy par excellence.Kamals partner is Manisha Koirala looking
ravishing as ever
What could stop the express in its tracks is an unfortunate political protest. The new Tamil
nationalist combination of Dr, Ramadoss and Thirumavalavan in Tamil Nadu have demanded that
all Tamil films should only have Tamil titles.
Though Kamal explained his stance the call to boycott "Mumbai express" has been made. Though
Dr. Ramadoss backed out at the last moment Thrumavalavan and his Dalit Panthers have
mounted their protest demonstrations.
While the fate of Mumbai express hangs in the balance "Ilaiya Thalapathy" Vijay's "Sachin" is the
dark horse that may outbeat the two veterans. Vijay is fast becoming the darling of the masses.
His last three films > Killi" ? Mathura" and "Thripathy" have all clicked at the box office. "Sachin"
evoking Cricketing imagery may surpass this hat - trick.
It is directed by John Mahendran son of legendary director Mahendran who gave us "Mullum
Malarum"., "Nenjathai Killathe" . "Pootatha Pootukkal" etc
Vijay has two heroines. One is the sizzling Geniela from "Boys" fame. The other - guess what- is a
bewitching belle from Bolly wood - Bipasha Bhasu.
Already 15 theatres in Chennai and 18 in the suburbs are sold out for tickets till April 22nd.
Posses of Policemen are deployed in the theatres to control crowds.
So what will it be Rajni's action, Kamals acting or Vijays blend of both?
Let the Silver screen reveal the answer! [Tamiliana By D.B.S. Jeyaraj]
