8 months ago
3
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, has scored a point. By taking it upon himself and the State authorities to honour maestro Ilaiyaraaja, connected a wide scale, connected his completion of 50 years successful the movie manufacture and for composing a symphony, Mr. Stalin has focused connected what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to capitalise on. Instead of feting Ilaiyaraaja, a quintessential Tamil icon, and showing that if helium tin beryllium a protagonist of the BJP and a follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, truthful tin the mean Tamil, who is pious and religious, the enactment has done small connected the crushed to physique connected Ilaiyaraaja’s popularity and acceptance.
It is not arsenic if the BJP has not accorded Ilaiyaraaja his due. The enactment nominated him to the Rajya Sabha, invited him to execute astatine some the Kashi Tamil Sangamam (2022), and astatine Gangaikonda Cholapuram (July 2025) which Mr. Modi visited to people 1,000 years since Chola King Rajendra I’s conquest of the North. But the BJP’s inertia successful felicitating oregon announcing the conferment of the Bharat Ratna connected Ilaiyaraaja has fixed Mr. Stalin a limb up and reenforce the constituent that the maestro transcends constrictive barriers and belongs to the satellite of music. At a function successful Chennai connected September 13, Mr. Stalin made an entreaty to the BJP authorities to confer the Bharat Ratna connected Ilaiyaraaja. It is an entreaty that the BJP cannot ignore.
Ilaiyaraaja said, “I americium overwhelmed and overjoyed by the standard of the event...Why specified love? Perhaps it is due to the fact that of my music. Only helium (Mr Stalin) tin answer... Perhaps helium considered my symphony [to be] a large achievement. I judge helium indispensable person felt [that] it was the work of the State authorities to honour a Tamil who has gained worldwide fame.”
It was a masterstroke by Mr. Stalin. In March this year, Ilaiyaraaja had travelled to London to merchandise his caller creation — a symphony that was to beryllium performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The infinitesimal this became known, Mr. Stalin visited the maestro to connection his greetings. The authorities besides organised a reception for the euphony maestro connected his return. Ilaiyaraaja revealed that helium had expressed his tendency to Mr. Stalin to bring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to Tamil Nadu, and recalled Mr. Stalin’s absorption — “Yes, it tin beryllium done.”
Mr. Stalin is alert that Ilaiyaraaja, contempt his governmental leanings, is simply a root of Tamil pridefulness and represents taste capital. When Ilaiyaraaja was trolled connected societal media by DMK supporters aft helium described the consecration of the Ram Temple arsenic a “historic day” and praised Mr. Modi, Mr. Stalin intervened to halt the campaign. All his fans whitethorn not stock his governmental ideology, but they volition not tolerate immoderate disapproval made against Ilaiyaraaja. It was Mr. Stalin’s precocious begetter and the longest-serving Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, who had conferred the rubric ‘Isaignani’ connected Ilaiyaraaja. The musician, whose day falls connected June 3 — the aforesaid time arsenic Karunanidhi’s — was astute to determination the time to June 2.
At the felicitation ceremony, Ilaiyaraaja, who would usually statesman his performance with an invocation of Goddess Mookambiga, by rendering Janani Janani, alternatively chose a movie song, Amuthe Tamiley Azhagiye Mozhiye Enathuriyere (‘Nectar-like Tamil is simply a beauteous connection and my life’). It struck a chord with the assemblage which included Mr. Stalin, his Cabinet colleagues and officials.
A time later, Ilaiyaraaja acceded to Mr. Stalin’s petition — that helium should constitute euphony for Sangam play literature. Ilaiyaraaja’s announcement has been good appreciated.
After his adjacent relation with the communist question — his elder brother, Pavalar Varadharajan was a vocalist popularising the ideology and politics, with Ilaiyaraaja and their different brothers arsenic instrumentalists — Ilaiyaraaja was politically neutral, but retained an individuality of being a devotee of Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai.
Ilaiyaraaja and his brothers are admirers of writer and communist-turned-Congress protagonist Jayakanthan, different Tamil icon. Jayakanthan was a bitter professional of the Dravidian movement, but Karunanidhi succeeded successful winning him over, stunning Jayakanthan’s admirers.
Mr. Stalin appears to person taken the cue from his begetter and done the aforesaid happening with Ilaiyaraaja, surviving up to the dictum of C.N. Annadurai, the laminitis of DMK, that “jasmine smells saccharine adjacent if it blooms successful another’s garden.”
kolappan.b@thehindu.co.in
