The State makes news for the wrong reasons!
Turkey was once said to be the sick man of Europe. Likewise, can we ask:which Indian state can qualify as the sick state of the country?
There are now surveys of states and also selection of Chief Ministers as the best and the worst! But there are also surveys of states in terms of economic growth, per capita income, industrial development, even IT growth, the latest indicator of a state’s progress. Tamil Nadu had become an odd state for several reasons.An educationally advanced state now a wrong example for its governance norms. High corruption, corruption as a way of life, its most gifted educated classes,stooping to powers for bending government rules to serve wrong ends,its commercialised education sector also marked by utter cynicism, religious leaders in the docks, political leaders also in longest pending court battles, its Opposition leaders also caught by a virus that needs a thorough diagnosis.
We are interested in the educational and more so the cultural aspects of the states, One more popular actor announces one more new political party. Leaders fight non-existent enemies! Why? There was a conference by parties and movements in the name of “Tamil Paadukappu Iyakkam” (Tamil protection movement) by people who see the Tamil language facing so many “enemies”!
The reasons for the conference is truly for ganging up for the next Assembly elections which if and when comes will be a contest between the DMK led alliance and the AIADMK.
The past masters in this game are of course the DMK, ADMK supremos. Supremos, for the simple reason they are dictators and the followers are mere crowds, masses driven by a high-pitched emotional fervour for language, leader, the imaginary self-respect their self-respect is always under threat from some perceived imaginary enemies.
By looking at the cultural status of the states and the peoples and their languages and other” peculiarities”,we can safely say Tamil Nadu stands out for the dubious distinction !
This enemy was once Hindi language. So two anti-Hindi agitations, one in 1938,another in 1965 brought the Dravidian parties effectively to power. So,we see a line of eminent persons,some scholars, film people and others had attended and spoke to ‘save’ Tamil.
From whom? They don’t say so openly! But they know well that it is the DMK as the champion of Tamil honour and also the Tamil race. If such words are used in Europe, these parties would be branded as rightwing, racist and even fascist.
But not so in Tamil Nadu which had degenerated into a mix of many undesirable features.The Tamil film industry is so developed that every one connected with the film industry is also into poltiics. So actors and actresses have a powerful cultural role.This film culture had affected other spheres,literature,poetry and even serious classical cultures like music and dance. Tamil Nadu is the home for some of the top classical arts of India.But you can’t see the purity of arts as they are dominated or contaminated by the impact of vulgar film and TV culture. Why, even the great religion of Hinduism is tarnished today, it seems, beyond repair! So,there are also great many social evils, the public morality is low, universities are helpless, business and commerical ethics is low.
Education is corrupt by unimaginable ways. Teachers are paid highest salaries and pensions,a high percentage of people compared to other states in government service! Yet you see much fear, cowardice and an all-pervasive inferiority complex in these segments. As for the so-called ruling classes, these infirmities seem to afflict them too.