A milk-selling teenager, Annamalai, is walking calmly on the road. A car coming besides him splashes mud on him and goes past him. He gets angry and throws a stone at the car. A fight unfolds between this boy and the rich kid that travels on the car. In a sweet twist, they go on to become friends from there and there is a lot of drama around their egos that arise because of the financial barrier that separates them. Once the best friends would become arch-rivals and Annamlai would take the challenge of raising himself above the status of his friend to prove a point that money shouldn’t interfere in pure relationships. Him being the protagonist would go on to achieve unprecedented heights teaching his friend great lessons, and inspiring millions of Tamils with the journey. A true rags-to-riches story.

On the other rags-to-riches story, we have Chinraasu, A Perennial loser. He goes to school, he fails. He does something to inspire his father and he fails even more miserably. He has a ray of hope that his love with his girl would turn his life round. But that becomes the biggest of all failures when she leaves him stating he is just unfit for anything. Chinraasu loses his heart. He convinces himself that he is a loser and starts accepting the way life is. Except, he finds a new love who instils belief in him and boy, Chinraasu would work out of his skin and with this new lady luck (literally and figuratively) he would go on to become a successful business phenomena himself and would gain more on more laurels from his family that originally abandons him for his earlier misdeeds.

Annamalai is the protagonist of the movie “Annamalai” released in 1992 and “Chinraasu” is the lead character of the movie “Suryavamsam” released in 1997. In a sense both are true reflection of the state of the youth, or society or even our country for that matter in those years. I am reminded of “Varumaiyin Niram Sigappu” another gem in Tamil cinema which was released in 1980. The hero “Rangan” (One of Kamalhaasan’s memorable roles) could never become an Annamalai or Chinrasu. The times he lived in was not suitable to explore his skills. You can also argue that Rangan was impractical and he should have learned to create his own ways of becoming successful. But in theory his opportunities were limited. Let’s stick to that.

The booming economy of 90s aided by globalisation unlocked the opportunities for Annamalai and Chinraasu. And to dream of such success is a story of every household. Having personally seen such success stories, I am never short of inspirations around me. But to seem them in movie, with all the drama and presentation, it was surreal. I often have this discussion with my father what is success. It’s very bad that most often the financial success is what people think success is. But it is not a bad yardstick either. One thing I can vouch for sure, once you take the financial insecurities out of the equation, the world you could explore becomes even larger. It’s unfortunate that many that work their hell out don’t get out of this shackle and end up being termed as losers. You may call it a luck. Well, it could be!

Coming back to our heroes, Yes, they were fantasies. But they taught a lesson of values. They never took any shortcuts. Annamalai is reluctant to get money from politician as a capital investment and only after convincing that he would repay from his business returns he agrees to borrow. So is Chinaraasu when his peers come up with a strategy for his transport business to allure local travellers with a female conductor. Chinraasu makes his point clear that it is a cultural violation and stops it straight away also incorporates innovative strategies to stand out in his business. In a stark contrast, The Mangathas, Pokkiries, Sullans and Rajini murugans go on to any extreme to compromise all their values to gain something in life which is a paradigm shift to their predecessors. This is wrong and I call them social evils.

Get back to the track. The most convincing aspect of Annamalai and Chinraasu is how they handle success. They remain the same as they were earlier. Annamalai is quick to embrace and support his friend when he loses all his assets and offers to save his family that is sinking in debt. So does Chinraasu when he offers a job for his ex lover’s spouse in his company. Man, the choice of words is a stir of emotions. Chinrassu remains unscathed. Not emotional with his old love. Gently says, if your husband doesn’t have any prestige issues in working with me, I don’t have any concerns offering this job. Funnily though, Chinraasu’s wife (A district collector herself, A real cliché!) takes a real dig at her. Could have avoided, but we all need that kick, ain’t we?

For a reason, movies are representation of the state of the society we live in. Annamalai and Chinraasu are true reflection of what those 80’s and 90’s kids were born and brought up with. We longed for success. We believed hard work would mean success. We believed values are something you can never compromise on. That defined us and that, dear boys and girls, is a copybook definition.

 

Meet us along with Lord Navaladiyan, the protagonist of the story that I am presenting you this time.

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Spoiler Alert: if you’re a believer in certain ideology/beliefs and would find yourself be disturbed to accept others the way they are, if you’re a vegetarian averse to non-vegetarian rituals, I request you to move away. I am also aware certain section of people are ‘interested’ in your caste and get ‘clues’ from your customs. I deliberately want them to be disillusioned by discussing this subject in detail. Don’t ask whether I am a believer or an atheist, let me remain just a storyteller.

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Navaladian is one of the Avatars of our gods “Karuppannaswami”. A Karruppannaswami, an iyyernar or Muniyappan are believed to be the gods that stand and save our borders against evil forces. Some call it “Siru Deivangal”(small gods), ironically they are not, they are giants. You can see them with big build, a big mustache and the biggest of the swords. Some carry guns as well. They are basically hunters, accompanied by a dog or a horse that would help them hunt down the evils. They eat anything a hunter would eat, primarily non-veg in its most possible raw form. For example, we sacrifice cocks and sheep to them along with Pongal (Not the sweet Pongal, it is the sweet-less Pongal that you make by over-boiling the rice and making it in the Pongal form) and mix it with raw blood and do a Pooja where we would also offer a peg of liquor. A peg may be an understatement, it indeed is large (or full however you call it). Of all the liquor he is believed to prefer, “Patta Sarayam”. Again, The liquor in its most raw form. These gods are none but our own men, only a little exaggerated. But the theme is that they would be with us to save us, they would go any extreme to save our families, the family groups, or the villages in general.

Navaladian is one of them that stays in Cauvery riverbed. By virtue of being under “Naval” Tree he gained this name, As I remember from one of my ancestors. The temple built around him is about 500-1000 years old and is in Mohanur, Namakkal District, Tamilnadu. It takes a 60Kms drive from my place. Turning back my clock 25 years back, I would go to this temple along with my relatives who were mostly lower middle-class families, by hiring a tempo-traveler which is typically a goods carrier vehicle. Not that there were no buses, we found this was the most convenient, less budget travels, which would also let us load it with our utensils to cook and to board the lambs and cocks we were going to offer. Smell of the stained goat skin, cock feather and its faeces remain in my memories.

Usually we plan to reach there an early Sunday morning. We would reach there, settle down on one of the corners to make our firewood stove and keep our other stuff along with many other family groups that would come there from different places but would follow similar practices. The other side of the temple had a handful “Ural” and “Ammikkal” (Manual Grinding machines) which women would timeshare to make food for the families and would make friends in the process. They shared firewood, they offered Arivalmanais (custom-made knife-like utility for women), they exchanged cooking methods, they spoke gossips and they even ended up finding pairs for their offspring. To say the point, even in the male chauvinistic world, women remained/remains the fulcrum of our families.

People had their ways to provide their offerings. If you go now you can be attracted towards a car custom made in size of a big size TV, that would mean someone wanted to buy a car and once that dream is fulfilled they would come and offer this to this temple. Similarly, there were miniatures of houses and babies. (I think, I remember this was predominant in Velankanni as well, where I was surprised by the spectrum of offerings. Different religions - same emotions!). People also write letters to Navaladiyan. Their miseries, grieves, desires all they would write and hang it in the naval tree in an eternal hope that the horse-riding Navaladiyan will help them get over it.

Those that offered lambs or cocks had a procedure as well. They would bath them and wait for their consent before butchering them. Another common ritual is when the lord himself would come down on the pujari while doing the Pooja and would drink the blood of the cock or sheep right from its neck. (I understand in some places they offer ox or pig, but the story remains the same). We would the burn the liver (A lamb liver) in firewood and give it as a prasadam (Yes!!) to our families. The liquor that was presented to god also is treated as prasadam and apparently in some places even women would have a peg of it. When the Poojas happen in midnight all people would leave the pujari in isolation to finish feeding the food to the lord. The pujari would take off his cloths, stand naked right in front of the deity, throw the rice soaked in blood in the air, and would walk away without turning back. The belief is that the rice wouldn’t come down.

If I can group all these practices under one word, it would be a “Keda Virundhu” (A goat feast). The underlying theme is the same. I have a certain prayer and if my lord saves me from the evils that would come on the way, I ll do this pooja to my make him happy and offer to host my relatives to celebrate it. The food that we prepare for our guests is very very unique and that is where the cult lies. Morning we would prepare idly with “Kodal kari” (lamb intestine curry) which allegedly is the best of the combination for idly in our cuisine and afternoon it will be a banana leaf meal with Mutton, chicken dries, curries and boiled egg. (Make a note, this menu is what you can expect in any “Keda virundhu” if you visit the people of Salem region). Some of our Mamas, Periyappas and Chitappas would go have some “Sarakku”(Liquor) to round off this celebration. Since Navaladiyan stayed in a riverbed, we would go to have a swim in the afternoon and believed Mother Cauvery would wash all our sins away.

On our way back, in the evening, we would carry the remaining food in the same tempo traveller. Now, it is a different smell. You would see the people are all exhausted having been under hot sun all day and afternoon swim would have tired their body out and they would want to go and sleep off. We would stop the vehicle somewhere in the middle and have our dinner (Rasam rice was the most preferred option) and part our ways. Sometimes we did a 'Drishti' (with a lemon or with a coconut that has camphor burning on it) for the whole vehicle to stay away from the wicked eyes. The host and guests would sleep in satisfaction that having visited Navaladiyan and praying him heartfully they would begin a new chapter of hopes for the rest of their life.

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Last Sunday, I along with my family visited there by driving my car all the way. My sons are of the same age as I mentioned myself above. I am sure we would visit this place more in future and that would create a different memory for them about the same place. But I would go on record saying, the car journey was not as joyful as the tempo traveler one.

 I remember the first day of my college. I sat in the first row. To my right was the girls row. There was something noteworthy about that sight. They had worn good clothes. I can hear you saying , "big deal!". Yes, it was. Those were the kind of dresses and colors which I had never seen someone wear in all my life. Those clothes fit perfectly, they appeared apt to their physique and I learnt that day, that it's a way in which you can be more presentable. I remember some of the many conversations with the girls. They had a vision of what they are going to do in life. They even had a vision on what I should be doing in future. I nodded to them politely.

I remember my Team Leader in my first job. She was a show-stealer. She was handling the team like a seasoned pro. Team would always second her as if they were obliged. She had absolute command over what she was saying. More so when she was talking to the senior management about her plans. I assumed she must have been used to the system for a few years at least. No, she was hardly a year old in the company. I was awe struck.

Later, in another job, I discovered a strong woman in a leadership position. She was leading a business unit. I hadn't encountered women who occupied such positions. She carried an aura that I had never seen a woman carry. She was the most charismatic woman I had seen, placing her in my mind possibly only after Jayalalitha who I have heard a lot of stories about.

Enough. There ended my course correction, and my prejudice about women was all but over.

To be brutally honest, till I stayed home in my village, I was never serious about women's talents or career, and I hardly believed they could be competent. I always had thought that they could be extremely skilled only in household chores and help their spouses in their businesses if they are shrewd enough. But never in the wildest of imaginations did I think they could create identities of their own. The ten years I stayed away from home taught me great lessons. I gradually learnt what it truly means to think beyond gender boundaries. I began to let go of preconceptions and prejudice.

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There was the time when I met this father of a school girl in my village. She had topped her Class 12 exams. The father said he was proud of her and was going to admit her in a college. I started recommending courses I knew and listed the colleges that were offering them and the prospects. He seemed disinterested. He told me that he had already got admission for his daughter in the college nearby. He said, girls should remain in our ‘eyesight’ so that they are ‘safe’. The ‘safety’ he was referring to is, the girls getting into love marriages and even eloping with their loved ones. Here comes our casteism. What if the girl falls in love with someone not from our caste? It would get even worse. Thus, they justify their ‘safe’ game. I was shell-shocked.

More than a year of staying in my village (due to covid reasons), I realised that this is what is happening in most of the families that has daughters. You cannot even call ours a village, it's rather densely populated akin to a suburb and most of the parents have at least finished school education. Unlike many other Indian places where girls don’t get to complete even school education, Tamilnadu has come a long way in giving them the school education at the minimum. And in places like mine, they are mostly sent to under graduation, but the progress has only been by that much – for the sake of doing a graduation, so that they will find better grooms. You can counter me by saying it is a progression, it indeed is. But what is the purpose? You will let them grow only to the point what you think is good for them and never let them exercise their full strength. It is like saying I will let you grow your wings, but you can’t fly. I call it a new age oppression.

The other extreme is when even those girls who studied in nearby colleges find a job after their graduation, they would not be sent to work to other cities until they get married. Again, for all the same reasons. So eventually you are shutting down every possible option for them. (Do account the young moms that quit their jobs because family wants them to prioritize baby over their profession).

While I am in great admiration for the girls that have gone beyond all these hurdles (there aren’t many to recall) I am deeply saddened by the current state. When I came out of school this was the case way back in 2004. But the fact that it remains the same in 2021 is a pure shame.

I can recall few instances which I think are the reasons possibly how it all went wrong. I would be of remiss if I don’t call that out. In a generation of reformation, When girls started going out to study, there were this increasing cases of girls choosing their life partners right at the college. Some eloped to continue their marriage life without even informing families. It would honestly be shocking to any parent to see their daughters end up with jobless, degree-less guys or sometimes even those that already has mediocre careers. Well, let me make the point clear. Caste is none of my concern, but the credentials of their choices. It would have been far smoother, if they took time to time to complete their degree, settle in on a career and make a well thought decision of who would be their partner or how they want to go about their respective careers. Girls should have started to realize or should be taught to get their priorities straight. If you choose love or marriage over career, it is like letting someone else be in control of your life all the way. The mistakes by ‘some’ ends up creating adverse effects on the families and around and thus the society. Thoughts extend to the boys as well. If you truly love a girl, you will not rush her into marriage and ruin her life, instead you will be a support and help her in all her endeavors.

Well, let’s be honest. Parents are casteists and they will remain so for another couple of generations at the minimum. But they may compromise if their daughters shape up great careers. If the next-door girl goes onto achieve greater heights that would inspire them hugely to send their daughters out. This indeed is a butterfly effect. I am a true believer that Empowerment should start from within. Be a catalyst of the change than falling prey to circumstances. As I have experienced with many wonderful women in my life, you should be calling the shots of your life. If you start doing it, you will start to see a life unfold beyond unimagined boundaries.

I would request the parents as well. Your imprudence will cost your daughters their life. They will never be able to live a life true to their potential. Marrying someone and bearing children and raising them up all life should never be the life objective. There should be an identity beyond that. If not parents, the “Educated” brothers of the girls should help in supporting their sisters. Guys, you know, you could be their only hopes.

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A frequent sight I come across is of my immediate senior akka, washing and drying clothes in my next street. She was touted to be the smartest kid of those years in my primary school. In a parallel world, she would be driving a car to the busiest of offices in bay area. I hope fortunes change for my cousins and nieces to scale greater heights and to see a world their seniors were not privileged to.