Corrupt and proud of it...

Here is a Tamil Nadu minister proudly claiming that he is corrupt. I am sure he is wondering what all the fuss is about and can probably give hundreds of examples of "others" doing similar things. The difference in this case is that he took the stink of corruption all the way to Rajya Sabha and talked about the same. His fortright behavior needs to be commended; hopefully appropriate legal action will be taken against him.

Another funny issue seems to be the actions against film stars for not attending the token fast. The dam issue is dead for another few months with Congress party deciding that it is time to shut up and both the partners in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka agreeing to it. So there is no need to pursue that dead horse any further. I guess the next set of riots will be somewhere in June/July. Whoever is in opposition in Karnataka at that point in time will get to burn some Rajnikant posters and Tamils will retaliate by torching a couple of Iyengar bakeries. That is a lot of irony and a testament to the ignorance of people.

தமிழன் என்று சொல்லடா..தலை ஒழிந்து நில்லடா?

This article is about female infanticide and how we can work together to eradicate the issue. Why the title? I will explain after we discuss the ideas, right at the bottom of the post(for those who can't wait)

Spread these ideas and make sure that your voice is heard and these ideas are implemented.

- Free education for women upto college and even post graduate education in government run institutions (Similar plans are being implemented in many states)
- Males should stand up to their own moms and dads when they start chirping about unwanted female children. This is one area when where the male "புலி" are acting more like "பசு மாடு".
- Come down hard on eve teasing and harassment activities in states that practice foeticide. The harassment arises out of the same attitude that causes foeticide down the line. A few "நல்ல பைய்யன் s" will end up behind bars, but it will be a better lesson than reminding them that their sisters and mothers are women too. That carrot approach does not seem to be working well anyway.
- Create a feminine movement so that women feel a sisterhood towards each other and stand up for a woman in a neighboring house rather than turn a blind eye.
- Refuse marriage of women into households or be very careful of families that have only male children or a very high percentage of males. Chances are high that they did you know what. Again, a few innocents will be in needless trouble, but sometimes poisonous and normal snakes look alike and it is better to get out a stick and protect your own daughters and sisters.
- Do not provide any government incentives to families that have only males. Again the bad snake good snake logic applies. But that is OK. Consider it payback for all the dead female children.
- Provide extra incentives for families that have more than one girl child. This will help correct the gender balance in a few years.
- If you have a female child, rub it in other peoples faces by educating her and providing her the same opportunities as a male child. This is the one thing that makes female killing folks look foolish and dumb.
- Encourage marriage of males to educated women. A lot of mother-in-laws are scared of educated women as they cannot practice foeticide in those cases.

Now for the title of this article. The above were comments I had originally posted on the Tamil Nadu Orkut board as female infanticide prevention ideas. It was removed by the moderators whose belief in Tamil "superiority" caused them to delete the message rather than acknowledge and think about the social ill afflicting portions of Tamil Nadu. People in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai are Tamizhans just like any other Tamizhan.

Like an ostrich that buries it's head in the sand, such willful ignorance of the issues is not going to get the Tamil leadership and the Tamil populace anywhere. Even more disturbing was the fact that three of the four moderators are educated females. Now that is one sisterhood that is definitely not happening!

தண்ணீர்..தண்ணீர்..தண்ணீர்..

Received from an anonymous source...

Here is an interesting link to the tussle of almost 150 years over the Cauvery waters between what started out as Mysore and Madras presidencies and now Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Thanks to the last few rulers in the south and Tipu Sultan, the "Tamil" portions receded into the arid parts and Kerala and Karnataka received the more fertile parts, the only exception being the areas in the Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu borders.

The last 40 years have been especially fun, since Kannadigas have become more aware of their identity and started asserting it. The relatively obscure Mysore presidency became Karnataka and the political mismanagement of Tamil Nadu allowed it to become more economically stronger. The presidencies themselves were not linguistically divided, hence the relative lack of malice among the various South Indian ethnicities. Tamil Nadu's economic demise is owned in part to it's own "kick them out" movement related to the educated upper class, many of whom are now settled in Karnataka and speak poor Tamil and bear the brunt of being Tamilians there.

The Hogenakkal dam is an absolute waste of money, but it can be done. The maximum amount Karnataka seems to have released during drought times seems to be 19 TMC against a supreme court directive of 205 TMC. Even those were accompanied by torching Tamil Nadu related items or violence against ethnic Tamilians. Ofcourse the Hogenakkal dam is not needed if Karnataka releases the required amount of water. But that is not going to happen as the water is diverted at very high costs to other parts of Karnataka and there are no votes to be gained by letting the water run its natural course. If the water ran it's natural course, Tamil Nadu will definitely get more that what Karnataka finds in its heart to release. But that is water under the bridge now. Dam it!

A dam in Tamil Nadu...a fit in Karnataka...

The Cauvery river flows into Tamil Nadu and then back into Karnataka and then back again into Tamil Nadu in the stretch below.

Map link

Karnataka's point seems to be that somehow the lines of the Cauvery river are the borders of Karnataka, especially at the points along the river here where they will end up with more land as a result. These lines have been drawn since independence, so the argument is absurd. Plus they would have to give back Belgaum to Maharashtra with such an argument. So the Kannadiga "nationalist parties" are definitely trying to have their cake and eat it too. They have gotten used to Tamil Nadu water sufferings and feel infuriated that Tamil Nadu can do something to solve the problem without "the annual begging" that goes on during droughts.

Plus they keep attacking Tamil movie theaters at any available opportunity, prompting a token hunger strike by the Tamil film stars. Upcoming elections in Karnataka compound the issue; Tamil bashing is one of the best ways to get votes in Karnataka for nationalist Kannadiga parties.