Names that speak volumes – The Hindu

KThe Dravidian movement had solid feet when it was still in its infancy. Their fixtures were full of fire and the caste was determined to upset the status quo.

R. Kannan, biographer of CN Annadurai and MG Ramachandran (MGR), says that almost each of them came from a humble background. He points out that, barring a few, most of the leaders they took on in Congress came from wealth and high status.

Therefore, these early leaders needed to boost their profiles, even if it meant resorting to exaggeration. Some changed their rather ordinary names to more exotic ones. Narayanaswamy, who has a master’s degree in Tamil literature, tried to do away with a Sanskrit name as Nedunchezhiyan and achieved the aura of Sangam period royalty; the original Nedunchezhiyan was a king from ancient history.

Along with the new names, leaders of the Dravidian movement also received titles. The title of Perasiriyar, meaning professor or rather great teacher, added gravitas to K. Anbazhagan, who was assumed to be number 2 in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), even though he was not a full professor in the academy; He was a lecturer in Chennai college. EV Ramaswamy was Periyar, the respected figure who shaped the movement.

Some titles were literary and sounded good. Periyar’s nephew EVK Sampath was Sollin Selvan (the one with rich words). Karunanidhi was Kalaignar (artist).

Vaiko was sometimes the Kazhagathin Por Vaal (war sword of the organisation), but the DMK was reformist at best and sometimes hostile to the Center for ideological reasons, but rarely went to war.

MGR was the Makkal Thilagam (darling of the masses). He was praised as Puratchi Nadigar (revolutionary actor) after playing a Robin Hood type bandit in the film. malikalan. Later, when Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was launched, his lieutenant KA Krishnaswamy replaced him as Puratchi Thalaivar (revolutionary leader). MGR’s successor, Jayalalithaa, took the feminine form of the title and became Puratchi Thalaivi.

Followers of MGR will cite various “revolutionary” policy measures such as the school feeding program that increased school enrollment and attendance rates. By introducing quotas for women in local bodies and later increasing this to 50%, Jayalalithaa changed the gender profile of grassroots politics, who could easily rise to state-level positions.

However, independent scholars view the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) as the more conservative version of Dravidianism. The two revolutionary leaders stayed away from any movement-based strategy and were not rebels.

When Edappadi Palaniswamy (EPS) became the Chief Minister after O. Panneerselvam’s rebellion as a compromise candidate who could balance conflicting interests within the AIADMK, he decided to follow the Dravidian tradition of taking titles. EPS claimed the mantle of Jayalalithaa, a leader who towered above everyone else in the party and still does. He became Puratchi Tamizhan (Tamil common man). But by the time of EPS, receiving titles became a ritual. And Puratchi Tamizhan hasn’t quite stuck.

Prime Minister MK Stalin’s son and successor – Deputy Prime Minister Udayanidhi – received many titles. He was Makkal Anban (people’s friend) for a while and briefly became Engalin Ethirkalam (our future) when his successor was not yet official. Neither of them could stand it.

The titles not only boosted the profile of Dravidian leaders of the past but were also a nod to ancient Tamil culture, where it was disrespectful to call someone by their first name. On the other hand, communists—both leaders and cadres—called on each other to abolish hierarchy. However, they maintained respect by using initials such as AB and PR. Nowadays, Tamils ​​may use a simple respectful suffix to a leader’s name; but the language does not have an exact equivalent of the Hindi suffix ji.

A frequently used title is Thalapathy (commander). Mr. Stalin was a commander for a long time before becoming Thalaivar (leader) after his father’s death. The new star of the Tamil political horizon, Vijay also carries the title of Thalapathy. It created a stir, especially among young people who did not remember MGR and barely remembered Jayalalithaa. The last commander claims that the real fight in 2026 is between him and the DMK.