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| FOOD FOR THOUGHT |
| Saturday, January 14, 2006 |
My pongal ceebrations were slightly different this year.For the first time I attended the 36th anniversary of the very famous political magazine "Thuglaq" held at Narada Gana Sabha.I had the opportunity to watch the greatest political critic,Cho Ramaswamy,in action.The show was to start at 1030 am but the hall was packed from 830 itself.I couldnt find a seat and so I sat in the aisle.
It was an anniversary function with a difference.No famous people as chief guests.Cho Ramaswamy arrived at 10:30,with hands folded and after a simple address of "Ellorukkum vanakkam" he started the proceedings.Also the anniversary had nothing to do with Thuglaq's achievements,sales records etc.Rather it was a forum for readers to interact with the critic on current issues.Other VIPs present for the discussion were Bosskey and Ferrari.
Issues like forthcoming elections,UPA government's achievements etc were discussed.Excerpts:
**The BJP is yet to come to terms with defeat and this is reflected in the way it is boycotting parliamentary sessions.
**Prevention of terrorism has been an issue that is constantly being revoked govt after govt.A terrorist is a merciless killer and he should not be spared.The repeal of the POTA should not have happened.
**A reader put forth a question of why most terrorists are muslims.To which cho responded by saying that naxalites are not muslims,LTTE militants are not muslims and that it is wrong to blame just one section of the society.
**About the achievements of Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh,cho said that the former was far better than the latter.The reason,he said,was that ABV was free from coalition pressures while MMS had to cope with pressure from the communists and gopalapuram.He quoted an example of how Indian successfully developed the nuclear missile during ABV's regime.If MMS were to initiate such a missile programme he would have to consult first sonia,then sitaram yechury,next karunanithi,then laloo yadav(who would consent it if MMS agrees to drop the missile on Ram vilas paswan's head),and then a few more.The whole process takes more than a year until finally newspapers would read "Nuclear missile programme dropped."
**The issue of whether Rajinikanth would foray into politics keeps cropping up in every anniversary function of thuglaq.And this time it was no exception.
**The topic shifted from poltitics to sports.Cho strongly criticised the behaviour of Indian cricketers on the field.He quoted an example of how Yuvraj singh would turn epileptic on scoring a 50.He lauded the gentlemanly attitude of the West Indian cricket team with an instance of Lara who would only acknowledge the crowd with his bat if he scored even a 200.
**One reader put forth a question on whether actor Vijay would join the DMK.Cho asserted that joining the DMK would only ruin one's career.
The audience had a good dose of Cho's funny takes on Karunanithi,yet again.He stated that karunanithi's(let's call him MK)focus is only to promote Stalin the assembly elections and Dayanithi maran in the lok sabha.On the arrest of MK in 2001,what once was "Izhuthu sendraar" mushroomed into "Adithu izhuthu sendraar","Muttikku mutti thattinaar" etc.MK opposed the desalination plant on grounds that it degrades the environment without realising that he too's destroying the environs in the name of Sethusamudram.In short,any accolade to ADMK or jayalalitha is not tolerated by MK.
Cho also spoke in length about jayalalitha's good work.About the scrapping of the entrance exams he said that it was a good move and that the country is in need of plenty of graduates which means the filtering system of entrance exam is not needed.Sankara Mutt also made a brief appearance in the discussion.To this cho replied that the cases filed against Acharya were baseless.The discussion ended with cho's tribute to actor R.S.Manohar,a statement that Ganguly needs to be in the team and finally the national anthem.
Met ferrari at the exit but didnt have time to stop by and talk to him.
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Came across this in a friend's blog.Bangalore or chennai,think twice before giving lifts. |
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Name: Sheks
Home: Madras, TamilNadu, India
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