The state of Tamilnadu was carved out of the erstwhile  Madras, Hyderabad State. This was done as per the recommendations of the states reorganization commission set up by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Tamil Nadu thus became a distinct part of the Indian Union, where the majority of the population spoke the Tamil language.

The state of Madras also had a thriving film Industry which almost rivaled Bollywood. The Tamil film industry had it all, stars and superstars who were immensely popular among the people of the state.However, unlike other states the psyche of the Tamilians is to associate more with the film stars and the films. One reason could be that the stars give an escape route to the common man to live a fantasy and have a dream world and have a dream world away from the harsh reality of life.

The result of this was that film stars became the dominant face of everyday life. It was thus not unreasonable for them to venture into the world of politics. The Tamil masses accepted the film stars as political leaders for the last 6 decades out of the 7 decades of Indian independence, film stars have ruled the roost in Tamilnadu and they are the dominant political force

The first star who made a big splash on the political arena was MG Ramachandran. He was a superstar in his own right and extremely popular. MGR, as he was popularly called, was a wonderful man and he has the distinction having any number of women consorts, one of these consorts was Jayalalitha, who later took over the leadership after his death. MGR came into the limelight when he broke away from the DMK chief Karunanidhi and formed his own party the All India Anna DMK. Both parties paid allegiance or maybe lip service to the founder of the Dravidian movement Annudarai. 

MGR

MGR upset the apple cart of Karunanidhi and defeated him in the elections. He followed up by becoming the chief minister of the state of Tamil Nadu. MGR was a great leader but he was getting on in years and though he had a kidney transplant he left for his heavenly abode after few years.

His consort was Jayalalitha, who was 30 years his junior and had been along with him as his intimate companion. She was also a film star having acted opposite him in a number of films. Just for the record she also starred with the Indian Superstar from Bollywood Dharmendra in the Hindi film "Izzat". She donned the mantle of the leader of the AIDMK and made a place for herself on her own in the hearts of the Tamil people.There have been there having been many allegations of corruption against her but this did not  stop the Tamil people from almost worshipping her like a goddess

 Earlier MGR was opposed by another superstar name Sivaji Ganesan. He was a formidable star and was often referred as the Dilip Kumar of the Tamul film world. He was a supporter of the Congress Party but compared to MGR who talked of Tamil Pride Sivaji Ganesan by virtue of being a supporter of the Congress Party failed to gel with the people of Tamilnadu or to cut much ice with them and in the ultimate analysis lost out to MGR

Jayalalitha had a good career as a chief minister of Tamilnadu.Though she did lose the election  to the DMK and Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister, her hold on the populace was complete and when she died many Tamil persons immolated themselves. Such was the emotional attachment to Jayalalitha.

Death of Jayalalitha

The death of Jayalalitha has opened the Pandora's box for new film stars to appear on the scene. As it stands Karunanidhi is now too old and confined to the wheelchair. His son Stalin does not have his Charisma and as such is unable to enthuse the masses. The All India Anna DMK which was a one-man show of Jayalalitha and after her death is now almost at headless.  Her close companion Sasikala tried to take over the leadership of the party but she was convicted in a corruption scandal and has been sentenced to jail for 5 years. There is a possibility that in case Jayalalitha had not expired she would also have been convicted by the Supreme Court and that would have barred her from contesting elections in the future.

The field for the leadership of the All India DMK is open Jayalalitha's nephew has claimed the leadership but there are two new entrants in the field for the leadership of the Tamil people. They are the superstar Rajinikanth and another important star Kamal Hassan. Both claim to be good friends in real life but are politically miles apart. Kamal Hassan claims to be more secular and has mouthed some statements against Hinduism and Hindus. What his game is and why he mouthed such statements is not clear, because Kamal Hassan is a Hindu

Rajinikanth is playing a shrewd game. He has met Prime Minister Modi and generally is considered closer to the BJP. That is the reason that on a recent visit to Harvard, Kamal Hassan in a statement to the press said that there was very little likelihood of he and Rajinikanth joining together and he also hoped it that  Rajnikant would get away from the saffron flag. Saffron, as you all know, is the color associated with Hinduism and the BJP.

Last word

The stage is set for a battle between these two superstars. Cho Ramaswamy the popular columnist and political Guru have brought out that a similar fight was between Sivaji Ganesan and MGR. He feels that just like Shivaji Ganeshan lost, so also Kamal Hassan will lose.  He has also said that India can only progress forward once Rajnikant is the Prime Minister of India and that I think is the ambition of Rajinikanth. He is a great person, a philanthropist and a man with a golden heart. It is not inconceivable that with the permutations combinations going around in the political scenario in India that Rajnikant could be catapulted to the topmost post of political power.That is however a long way off and first, we will have to wait and see what happens in the coming general elections to the state assembly

For some time Rahul Gandhi has been going hammer and tongs at Narendra Modi. In UP on the election trail he blamed Modi for robbing the poor. He also accused the PM of joining the one percent of rich to rob the nation and as an example gave the case of Vijay Mallya. Earlier after the surgical strike by the Indian army he accused Modi of playing with the blood of the soldiers.. in fact his exact words were ' khoon ki dalali'. This is a bit difficult to translate.

What RG has been stating looks like empty rhetoric. The one percent he talks off is not something recent. It has been there ever since the Nehru Gandhi family ascended the throne of power. In fact the roots of this one percent can directly be traced to this dynasty. Certainly it was not Modi who erected it. Modi belongs to one of the bottom victims of the oppressed. He came out of it with great and tireless effort. In truth  the Nehru Gandhi Clan is the one that belongs to this one percent class. Look at this: Forbes lists his mother Sonia as one of the richest women in the world. Did she bring her wealth from Italy? Did she inherit anything from there? What did she come to India with? Fact is back home her parents were not affluent at all and she came to India with nothing it is obvious the Gandhi Clan made money and they had no business as well. They made the money on the back of the poor, the laborers, the fishermen and it is sad RG sheds tears for them Crocodile tears? So who is the person doing ' khoon ki dalali'?

Modi it must be understood has no magic wand to wipe away the ills of 7 decades of elitist rule. He has however started in the right direction. One such action is demonetization. So when PC asks whether all the black money has been unearthed, he himself knows this is not possible. The question is what did he do for 60 years? But the right direction is taken by Modi and this has given jitters to the men who has stacked crores of unaccounted money in their houses or safe havens. What Manmohan states can be dismissed out of hand as he was a stooge of the Nehru family. He himself presided over the most corrupt government in Indian history. It's unworthy of him to talk this arrant nonsnse. A man allowing corruption to take place is an accessory and the IPC says it. So Manmohan better beware and not dance too much to the pipe music and drums  of the Nehru Gandhi family.

RG has a lot to answer. He not only must justfy how he came into the one percent category but how his family allowed the nation to degenerate. A nation which was developed became a laggard below China. He must answer how Mallya got his loans. He has to answer to history and also the entire Nehru Gandhi dynasty led by Jawahalal himself. Modi is like a breath of fresh air in a moribund society, so let's give him his due. Robert Frost wrote" I have miles to go before I sleep" and so has India under Modi.

The clock has turned full circle and a man which the 4th estate detested and many even in the GOP led by Mitt Romney abhorred has won. The result? He is the president of the United States. Here was a man a year back dismissed sometimes as a clown for stating things that looked unbelievable, knocking out all his opponents with a blow. All through the election campaign, Donaald railed against migrants, he was against illegal migrants and most came from Mexico and the war-torn nations of the Middle East. His solution was also simple. Rather too simple and his opponents talked that it was "unreal".

The Wall

Donald proposed the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico to stop the Mexican people from entering the USA. There is no doubt that this migration is a big problem in the southern states which border Mexico. The reason is simple. The economic conditions of Mexico with many people being destitute and a prey to poverty looked for a brighter future just across the border into the USA. So many people flooded into the USA and at a conservative estimate, there are 8-10 million illegal migrants from Mexico in the USA.  That's a huge number weighs down the economy and creates fewer opportunities for the genuine American citizen as the migrants work cheaper and take away jobs.

Donald had a simple solution. He proposed the construction of a wall with a beautiful door to allow in "good" Mexicans while keeping out the lumpen elements. Donald also claimed that Hispanic are responsible for most crimes of murder, rape, and homicide. He proposed a wall and this struck a chord with the people of the Southern states. Maybe, it was rhetoric but sometimes a man gets carried away by his own rhetoric which becomes logic. So Donald convinced himself and people believed him that a wall is the only solution to stop the illegal immigrants from entering the USA.

Cost

Nobody really thought about the cost of the wall and the practicability of its construction. Now the border between Mexico and the USA is close to 2000 km. It touches 4 states and is a border replete with hills, jungles, and ravines. Constructing a wall could cost the exchequer $ 25-30 billion. That's a lot of money for an economy which has a $ 3 trillion deficit. Donald sidestepped this issue by stating again and again that he would make Mexico pay for the wall. The Mexican president clearly stated that Mexico would not pay for the wall and the matter was back to square one.

Now that Donald is president he has acted on one of his poll promise with a vengeance. In one of his first executive orders, he has signed for construction of a wall. Signing for this was the easier part but getting money say $25 billion is the difficult part. Trump will have to take Congressional approval for the same. He has said he will ask Mexico to pay for the wall by indirect taxes and tariffs.

This again is easier said than done as Mexico is incensed and the first repercussion is that the scheduled visit of the Mexican president has been called off. Donald, of course, is unfazed and not really bothered. He has a one track mind and goes after his promise with a hammer. The people of the border states are happy and that is what really matters. Mexico is damned!

He has also said that NAFTA will be re-negotiated and one can see that he is going to turn the world upside down. It could lead to an antagonstic Mexico, but Trump is not the man to bother about such trivalities.

Last Word

History records that the Berlin wall which was 96km in length  lasted just 3 decades and collapsed under its own weight. Considering that this wall is over 1800km  long one wonders what is the feasibility of its permanence. The wall will take years and Donald can rest that while he talks the end result is not going to happen soon. Maybe that is the saving grace of this wall. Which may end up just as a rhetoric to please the people of the border state.

https://pixabay.com/en/two-girls-concrete-wall-loft-1828539/

A sensational news has been broadcast all around that is salacious in the extreme. The aim is simple to try and malign the image of Donald Trump as being unworthy to hold the chair of the president of the United States. This is what we can say the final salvo to discredit the incoming president after earlier attempts to besmirch him with his comments on women years ago failed.  At that time it was announced that Donald had made some disparaging remarks against women and show his macho image.  The 4th estate and men of standing who were averse to a Donald presidency went hammer and tongs after him. Even Hillary stepped in and used the words "despicable" for the crowds attending Donald's meetings.

All this did not stop Donald who won the electoral college and the seat of the US president. The sad part is that even men of letters and members of the GOP joined the Democratic candidate Hillary to try and ensure the defeat of Trump. Yet, Donald won and then began a systematic campaign to malign him. The aim was simple, to discredit the victory of Trump and show the world that the man won the election with the help of an external power. They hatched the cyber attack by Russia in favor of Trump. The Intelligence agencies having their own ax to grind joined in and secretly leaked the report. But again Donald remained unscathed and the man mounted an attack head on the Intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI.

Now another lurid detail has emerged. It is alleged that Donald on a visit to Moscow for a Miss world contest asked for a couple of Russian girls to do an act before him which included urinating on each other. The press opposed to Donald coined the word " Golden Showers". The event may or may not have taken place, but the fact remains there is no proof and the entire report is unsubstantiated. Yet the mainstream US media latched on it and began to broadcast it. Donald Trump has called the incident fake. he may be correct because in case there was any truth this report would have been made public before the counting day. Now the only aim seems to be to malign Trump.

The Russian president has come out in support of Donald Trump. he has rightly pointed out that the Russian intelligence has no such news or information. He has also added that it does look unreasonable that a man who had access to the most beautiful women would do this. He contended that Russian girls are the most beautiful in the world but the act of urinating or indulging in Golden showers in front of Donald may not be true.

One can say this was like David the last sling to down Donald ( Goliath) and it will probably die a natural death.  But it will also give fodder to the tabloid newspapers that publish salacious news item to investigate this further. Yes, they could come out with "proof" but one can be sure that it could be manufactured one.  Even if the event was true it is no reflection on the capability of the man himself who like Samson has shaken the foundations of the US democracy and slanted thoughts.

Donald Trump is a phenomenon and one will perhaps see results in the months to come. Donald is a showman and will be the 45th president of America. Sadly it is a divided America and the world will never be the same. In the meantime thennews of Golden showers is good news away from mundane speeches and news in the political arena. The world is an interesting place and so is politics.