All major political upheavals of Tamil Nadu have had a scent of Madurai around them. The city has left its indelible footprints in the sands of time. Very few people have chronicled the social, cultural and political history of this ancient city. But most of them are from outside Madurai. It was not a surprise when Madurai Arasiyal , authored by a person who was witness to history getting unfurled in the last half a century, made waves in this year’s Chennai Book Fair.
The book, written by B. Thirumalai, senior journalist, and published by Sixthsense Publications, belongs to a rare genre of political journalism. In 34 chapters, it recasts the significant happenings in contemporary political arena, prefixed by a chapter on the rule of regent Rani Mangammal. It captures in vivid detail historic moments in Indian history, like Mahatma Gandhi’s decision to take to common man’s attire, Congress leader A. Vaidyanatha Iyer’s entry into Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, along with the so-called untouchables, and the Perungamanallur massacre, described as South India’s Jallianwala Bagh.
A reading of the events associated with the DMK, AIADMK and their leaders provides answers to present day political puzzles. The attack on Indira Gandhi by DMK men during her visit to Madurai on October 29, 1977, will make one understand why the DMK and Congress cannot be “natural allies.” Here the narrative is authentic as it comes from the person who literally saved Indira Gandhi - P. Nedumaran.
Good, bad and ugly
Any book on Madurai cannot be complete without reference to its sons - the good, bad and ugly. In this book, there are chapters on the sons of soil — P. Kakkan, Moulana Sahib, K.P. Janaki Amma, Sornathammal, N.M.R. Subbaraman, I. Mayandi Bharathi, Madurai Muthu, P. Nedumaran, Andi Thevar, Subramanian Swamy and Vijayakant; on people whose lives were centred around Madurai — Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, Padmasini Ammal, K. Kalimuthu and M.K. Alagiri; and about those who were indebted to Madurai for their achievements — MGR and Jayalalithaa.
Mr. Thirumalai recalls that it was Ilangovan, Editor of Anthi Mazhai , a literary magazine, who prompted him to write a series on Madurai district. It proved to be a laborious task and hence the politics of the district was taken as the focus. “Chronicling the political history of the district has been difficult as not many records are available. I had to refer to over 800 books, meet family members and friends of those associated with the events or movements to make the narrative as authentic as possible,” says Mr. Thirumalai. The topics were chosen only after discussions with local scholars.
The book will stand out for chronicling the evolution and growth of the Communist movement in 23 pages. The chapter on Perungamanallur massacre discusses in detail how the Criminal Tribes Act was misused by the British. A person was booked for possessing a matchbox and a pair of scissors.
For the record, 16 persons were killed in police firing at Perungamanallur on April 3, 1920, when people protested the forced registration of men under the Act. The victims included 43-year-old Mayakkal, who was shot for offering drinking water to injured persons.
What shakes the reader is the final chapter on ‘Madurai Arivaal Arasiyal’ in which the author describes how, unfortunately, the city, which has Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, jasmine and jigarthanda as its symbols, has added one more unwanted element, ‘arivaal,’ in recent years.
Political murders
It bravely speaks about political murders — the murder of CPI (M) councillor V. Leelavathi, former Minister T. Krishnan and ‘Pottu’ Suresh, M.K. Algiri’s Man Friday, and the infamous Melavalavu massacre of June 30, 1997 – and hired gangs.
The fee for Madurai gangs for murder is cheap and negotiable.
G. Gnanasambandan, Professor Emeritus, Thiagarajar College, rates the book as one of the most significant among Madurai records. “It is in participant’s narrative, as the author was witness to many of the events described in it,” he says.
Rev. Fr. V. Arulraj, human rights activist and founder of Babuji Nilayam, Nagercoil, says that the book makes refreshing reading as it contains a variety of information on Madurai politics.
Madurai Arasiyal cannot be read as a mere record of political events. The way chapters are knit together makes it a wholesome presentation. The way it begins with Rani Mangammal and ends with ‘arivaal arasiyal’ is significant as a reading of the book ends with a forlorn feeling: ‘ Eppudi iruntha naan ippudi aayitten !’
