So, how will the youth of TN spend this unexpected holiday gifted to them by politics? Though cinema and cricket are obvious choices, why not also enlighten themselves on Ceylon? After all, some efforts to know thy neighbour is certainly warranted, since the student protest, though having its locus here, has its focus there. Here are some tid-bits gathered from secondary sources; I request everyone to delve deep on their own too.
The March of April Fools
The fooling spree seems to have kicked off a little ahead of the appointed day. In any case, with our politicians fooling everyone all the time and thus giving the lie to an age-old adage, April Fools’ day has become generic and genetic too in this nation.
From the mouth of a river
Koovam. That’s the village in Tiruvellore district where I was born, though my ancestors hailed from places to the West, as far as even Dharmapuri. But here I am in Chennai as the desolate, dirty Cooum, far removed from my original history and habitat. I know you will hold your nose on hearing my name but please lend your ears to my tale of tears.
Survive to suffer
For the n’th time, an Indian court has held suicide attempt a criminal act. The utter absurdity of section 309 of the IPC, a colonial hangover that the colonisers themselves have shed as archaic, is once again on parade in the Irom Sharmila case.
My Budget Biography
Me? A fan of Manmohan Singh? How dare I? I must confess that such a skeleton did exist in my past though it’s long since I have exorcised the ghost. Let me explain! I can already feel those familiar filmy flashback circles going around my head, of course with the appropriate BGMS invoking nostalgia, and lo, we just went back 22 years in a jiffy to 1991 June/July. To the Budget, to be precise.
