The Man from Marathur and Malai Nadu
- Sachi Sri Kantha, 1999

Eighty two years ago, a baby boy was born to a migrant couple, Gopala Menon and Sathyabama, in a ‘line-room’ of a tea estate in Kandy. Later, this baby boy would grow into a leader with the name Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (popularly adored by Tamils all over the world with the acronym MGR).

Maruthur was the ancestral village in the Kerala state from where his parents hailed from. Many have ridiculed the uncertainty of his birth date, though MGR had used 17 January 1917 in his personal documents. One should sympathise with MGR on this matter because he was born to an Indian immigrant family in a tea plantation in Ceylon, which was then under British colonial rule. Way back in 1917, the health care facilities available for the plantation workers were atrocious, leave alone the requirements related to birth registration. That he survived into adulthood itself was an achievement.

Though as a two-year old he was taken to Kumbakonam by his mother (who had been widowed after the birth of MGR), the destiny would make it that in his last five years of life, MGR would again have close links with the Tamils in the land of his birth.

After landing in Tamil Nadu, MGR would rise in his professional ranks with perseverance, hard work and the smile of Lady Luck. He reached the ‘top’, step by step; 10 years as a vaudeville child actor, 10 years as an apprentice actor with secondary roles in movies, 30 years as an ‘uncrowned king’ in the Tamil movie land and finally 10 years as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Having experienced poverty personally during his young days and forfeiting the opportunity to have a formal education, MGR would see to it that at least one song in his movie had some educational value to the average man.

He would take a keen interest in the theme of the song, its musical composition and its exact appearance in the movie. Not surprisingly, it would turn out to be a hit song. I can recollect a dozen of these songs here:

1. Acheham enpathu madamaiyadah - Anjaamai Dravidar udamaiyadah (on Dravidian glory and heroism) அச்சம் என்பது .. மடமையடா.. அஞ்சாமை திராவிடர் .. உடமையடா

2. Thoongathe Thambi Thoongathe - Nee somberi enra peyar vaankaathe (on the consequences of idling and procrastination) தூங்காதே தம்பி தூங்காதே - நீயும் சோம்பேறி என்ற பெயர் வாங்காதே!

3. Chinna payale Chinna payale Chethi keladah (on character-building and self confidence) சின்னப் பயலே, சின்னப் பயலே சேதி கேளடா

4. Thirudathe - Paapaa Thirudathe (on prevention of bad habits, especially stealing, while young) திருடாதே, பாப்பா திருடாதே, வறுமை நிலைக்கு பயந்து விடாதே

5. Moonrezhuthil En Moochchirukkum - Athu mudinthapin thaane Pechehirukkum (on the dignity of duty) மூன்றெழுத்தில் என் மூச்சிருக்கும்.... அது முடிஞ்ச பின்னாலும் என் பேச்சிருக்கும்...

6. Onru Engal Jathiye - Ouru Engal Neethiye (on the unity of human race)

7. Unnai Arinthaal Nee Unnai Arinthaal Ulagthil Pooradalaam (on developing self confidence) உன்னை அறிந்தால்...நீ உன்னை அறிந்தால், உலகத்தில் போராடலாம்

8. Buddhan Jesu Gandhi pirandathu Bhoomiyil etharkaaka (on the dignity of labour)

9. Atho Antha paravai pola vazhayendum (on freedom and liberty) அதோ அந்த பறவை போல வாழ வேண்டும்

10 Thaayillamal Naanillai Thaane evarum piranthathillai (on mother love) தாய் இல்லாமல் நான் இல்லை...

11. Chirithu vazhavendum - Nee chirikka vazhnthidathe (on dignity of the labour)

12. Poomazhai thoovi vasanthangal vaaztha oorvalam nadakkirathu.(on sibling love)

MGR would also make sure that he will teach good manners and discipline to the masses through the movies. Therefore, in the characters he played in 120-odd movies, he would never smoke or take alcoholic drinks. On top of that, he would never physically or mentally abuse women. This self-imposed rigidity restricted the character roles he would play and movie critics ridiculed him for this 'un-natural style' of his characters. But MGR would have the last word.  Ultimately, he claimed the respected honorific ‘vaathiyar’ (teacher) in its proper sense of the word.

Call it a mere coincidence or the destiny of Eelam Tamils, that when the liberation struggle began earnestly in 1977, MGR would become the chief minister of the Tamil Nadu. Though his interest in the problems of Eelam Tamils remained passive till 1982, the ethnic holocaust of 1983 kindled his support for the Eelam cause. 1983 also saw the change in guard among the political leaders of the Eelam Tamils. MGR had never felt comfortable with the TULF leadership since he had perceived them as emotionally more close to the DMK leadership.

When the leadership mantle in the struggle for Eelam needed a change and a boost, MGR became the god-father of the LTTE and made sure that the ‘new born baby’ would not suffer a premature death in the hands of wily J.R.Jayewardene.

To his allies in politics, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the link that MGR had with the LTTE proved embarrassing. But they simply had to ignore it for their own political survival in the South India. For the support that he extended to the Tamil Eelam cause, MGR became the arch-enemy of the Sinhalese power brokers from 1983 till his death in December 1987.

Many Eelam Tamils also did not expect much from MGR after his skirmish with the TULF leadership at the 1981 Madurai Tamil International Conference. But, now in hindsight, one can see how vital  was the support of MGR for the Eelam cause from 1983 till his death.

That the admiration Tamil masses had for MGR was not purely a ‘cinema craze’ was proved in India, when movie stars of equal stature such as Sivaji Ganesan, N.T. Rama Rao and Amitabh Bachchan could not transfer their popularity in movies to the political world. The political careers of Sivaji Ganesan and Amitabh Bachehan never took off from the ground.

Only N.T.Rama Rao was able to become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and he too lost that position subsequently.  To my friends in the USA, when I tried to explain the unusual career of MGR, I called him  a "three-in-one". He had the movie magic of John Wayne, the political success of Ronald Reagan and the messianic appeal of Martin Luther King Jr.

How could one explain the extraordinary career of MGR, which began in Kandy and ended in Madras? Though not considered  a native in the place of his birth or in Tamil Nadu where he grew up and called it home, he became the adored leader, who would be envied by every local politician.

At least Kavi Arasu Kannadasan (who had been a close friend and sometimes harshest critic of MGR) had an answer. In 1980, Kannadasan noted that MGR was blessed with an "Asura Jathakam" (devil’s horoscope). Not everyone will agree with that assessment. But, considering the unfavourable odds he faced in his life and the ‘fights’ he won, definitely there should have been a blessing from the devil which protected him in so many trials.

Like other great leaders and revolutionaries, MGR also had his weaknesses. But these do not detract the good deeds he did for the down-trodden in Tamil Nadu and for  Eelam Tamils who landed in India as refugees after 1983. MGR was neither an intellectual nor a folk philosopher. But his life-time teaching was short and simple; "Fight for your Rights". That’s what he preached in his 100-odd movies. ...We miss you, Vathiyar.

Recently I provided a translation of an anecdote about movie maestro Sivaji Ganesan which had appeared in renowned Tamil movie script writer Aroordhas’s memoir book ‘Naan Muham Paartha Cinema Kannadigal [The Cinema Mirrors I have Looked At, Kalaignan Publishers, Chennai, 2002, 224 pages]. Here I provide the translation of another anecdote recollected by Aroordhas in this book, but on M.G.Ramachandran (MGR), whose 89th birthday was on January 17th.

It is a well known fact that MGR was born in Kandy for an Indian immigrant couple in 1917. Aroordhas had visited Kandy nearly six decades later, when the shooting for Pilot Premnath movie starring Sivaji Ganesan took place in Kandy. Here follows Aroordhas’s anecdote [pp. 33-34], in my English translation:

“When the shooting for ‘Pilot Premnath’ movie took place in Kandy, I grapped a handful of soil from that city and filled it in a plastic vial. After returning to Chennai, I met MGR.
‘Elder, I’m offering you a gift now, which othes might not have given it for you until now.”
‘Is that so? May I know what is it?’
‘Will you open your palm?’
[MGR] offered his palm.
I placed that particular plastic vial in his sandal wood-colored palm.
‘What’s this? Soil?’
‘Yes of course. This is your birth soil. I collected this from Kandy, and brought it especially for you’, I explained. When MGR heard this, he became so emotional and touched both his eyes with that vial.
He opened the lid of the vial. Like picking the holy ash (viboothi), he pinched a little of the soil by his thumb and index finger, and placed it in his mouth. Then he applied a little soil onto his head as well.
I saw both his eyes were welled [with tears]. Like a child, he asked me, ‘Can I keep this vial?’
I replied, ‘Elder, what are you talking? I brought this especially for you.’
‘Thank you. I’ll keep this gift forever with care.’ he said and grapped my hands.”

The Significance of the ‘Birth Soil Bond’

In Tamil language, the ‘birth soil bond’ is known as ‘Pirantha Mann Patru’. The event described above by script writer Aroordhas happened in late 1970s, after MGR became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. But Aroordhas have brought this to the public domain in 2002.

Curiously in 1995, I have alluded to this ‘birth soil bond’ of MGR in an essay I wrote on him and published in my short collection of essays, entitled ‘MGR Movies Revisited and Other Essays’ in a limited edition of 100 copies. It was entitled, ‘MGR-JR Duel’ (pp.9-10).

In this essay, I attempted to highlight the point that of all the Indian politicians who had shown interest on the Eelam Tamil issue, MGR had something special – the ‘birth soil bond’. This is not to cast aspersions on the sincerity of politicians like Vaiko, P.Nedumaran and a few others who stand in the Eelam corner. But the link of MGR to Eelam Tamil issue was unique. Since that book of mine is now long out of print, here is a reproduction of the relevant section of my old essay for reading.

“Most commentators have viewed MGR’s interest in the Sri Lankan Tamil issue as a not-so unusual response of a regional chief in Indian politics, to score brownie points with the prime minister of India, whether it is Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi. There may be some truth in this perception. But, I feel the story is incomplete if one accepts this reasoning as a complete one. Three other plausible reasons for MGR’s active interest in the Eelam issue are as follows:

First, MGR viewed the young Tamil rebels (especially the LTTE and its leader Prabhakaran) as fighting a worthy cause against oppression. When J.R.[Jayewardene] labeled the LTTE as ‘the private army of Mr.M.G.Ramachandran, the present chief minister of Madras’, MGR retorted strongly, and as reported in the Time magazine (May 11, 1987), he thrashed J.R. with the words, “Tamil groups are spearheading the war against the dictatorial and fascist actions of the Jayewardene regime, and they should be congratulated and helped.”

This view has to be interpreted from the perspective of MGR’s lifelong philosophy of ‘fighting the evil forces’. For four decades, MGR preached the down-trodden Tamil masses, via the Tamil movie screen, a simple philosophical theme; ‘Fight for Your Rights’.

Secondly, MGR also wanted to project an international stature as a politician. And the Eelam issue was the only one in which he could exert his weight. As the Time magazine (May 11, 1987) stated, ‘Even as the Central government in New Delhi tried to maintain a civil, though somewhat cool, stance toward its neighbor to the south, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ramachandran seemed intent on fueling the fires on the island. He announced a grant of $3.3 million to Sri Lankans last week for food, clothes, medicine and ominously, other help.’

While diplomats and academics viewed MGR only as a regional politician of India, he himself (with some justification) did not believe in that line. Demographically speaking, Tamil Nadu’s population is three fold larger than that of entire Sri Lanka. In terms of population, Tamil Nadu ranked equally with Britain, or France or [the then] Federal Republic of Germany.

Due to historical and political incongruities, while the titular heads of these three European nations were given the status as ‘world leaders’, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was treated as an ‘extra’ in MGR’s cinematic analogy, and he would have felt uncomfortable with that reality. Tus MGR aimed to make a stronger stage presence than he was assigned by the diplomatic protocols.

Thirdly, Eelam issue also provided a psychological tonic to MGR in his last years of the legendary career. It gave him an opportunity to contribute to the history of his Land of Birth. It is well known that displaced individuals keep an affectionate spot to the land of their birth, and this affection reaches a climax, when they near the end of their lives.

MGR was a displaced individual and fate had it that he was moved to Tamil Nadu as a toddler from Kandy, the place of his birth. Though he earned fame in Tamil Nadu, MGR was treated as an outsider in the political arena. Thus an active role in the Eelam issue would have given MGR a psychological uplift to influence the history of his Land of Birth. It can be asserted that other ranking Indian politicians would not bother to engage themselves with the Eelam issue as MGR was, since they do not possess the ‘birth identity’ MGR had with Sri Lanka.”