Open thread -Tamilnadu

June 5, 2026 k jayas 20 Comments filed under Active Authors, Open Thread

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Some random points:
1) annamalai has quit BJP. Three strands are coming through :
a) he was not accommodated properly, was not given more freedom, party did not listen to him on avoiding aidmk alliance and hence was sidelined.
B) was never a BJP man ideologically, was an opportunist, impatient and hence good riddance.
c) since BJP cannot play any shade of Dravidian game, it is better that annamalai be a silent b team of BJP.

2) Vijay has become a honorary family member and now mothers and aunties are worrying about his health, long working hours, and lack of good lunch!
They want him to eat better and go to office on alternate days.

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20 Comments

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Agni

1 month ago

A and B both from what I hear. The man has charisma no doubt. Plus with his IPS background and ear to the ground, makes for a pretty formidable foe. Its a pity the BJP didn’t go with him in their eagerness to make a dent in TN.

Last edited 1 month ago by Agni

Author

k jayas

1 month ago

Reply to Agni

1) The problem BJP faces is that many ambiguous /ambitious young cadres are signing up to annamalai from BJP.

2) Also if Vijay becomes a xerox copy of dmk, some more of his voters will join annamalai. Some of his gounder jati youngsters will follow.

3) prof. Vaidyanathan (iimb)was propagating a view that there was at least 30% floating Hindu votes which can be harnessed into a non RSS Hindu party. With annamalai ‘s success, this process will start.

4) similar to reform party which is destroying torries in UK.

Agni

1 month ago

Reply to k jayas

1 and 3 I’m in complete agreement with. 2 has a very high likelihood, so all in all its a plus for the state that Annamalai has branched out on his own.

Author

k jayas

1 month ago

Reply to Agni

Now Mohan guruswamy says that the tambrams I’m BJP who had adjustments with aiadmk forced annamalai out

Editor

Agni

1 month ago

Reply to k jayas

Was he referring to S Gurumurthy? But his stance has always been supportive of Annamalai ?

Author

k jayas

1 month ago

Reply to Agni

No, but a wild accusation

Agni

1 month ago

Reply to k jayas

Just saw this:

https://m.rediff.com/news/report/annamalais-political-movement-sees-10-lakh-registrations-in-10-hrs/20260606.htm

And this, a bit off topic but still something to celebrate:

https://www.news18.com/amp/sports/chess/r-praggnanandhaa-creates-history-becomes-the-first-indian-chess-player-to-ws-dl-10133227.html

Last edited 1 month ago by Agni

BombayBadshah

1 month ago

Reply to Agni

Seeing Anand’s effects a decade later.

I expect women’s cricket and track and field to also have a huge boost sometime in the mid 2030s.

Author

k jayas

1 month ago

Reply to Agni

Now rajanikant’s wife has started a “movement “. Sounds interesting

Editor

Agni

1 month ago

Reply to k jayas

Yes, the situation seems to be evolving in an interesting direction. I guess Vijay’s unexpected victory has given a fillip to others who have an equal or better chance at success.

Kabir

1 month ago

This was an interesting article:

“Extremist Rhetoric Violates the Soul of Indian Dance”

By Aranyani Bhargav

https://thewire.in/the-arts/extremist-rhetoric-violates-the-soul-of-indian-dance

The article is a response to an article and video accusing the prominent Pakistani dancer Sheema Kermani of “appropriating” Odissi.

At the very outset, the logic presented is deeply flawed. Framing India as having a 5,000-year-old “indigenous” past while reducing Pakistan to a mere 79-year-old nation makes no sense. Prior to 1947, India and Pakistan were one nation, sharing a history, culture and heritage. If Pakistan is only 79 years old, then the modern nation-state of India is also only 79 years old. The history before Partition belongs to both.

She also notes:

The author then accuses Pakistan of systematically erasing and suppressing Indian dance within its borders. While it is a well-known fact that practicing dance in Pakistan is a struggle fraught with backlash and criticism, Pakistani society, like all societies of the world, comes with its problems but is not a monolith. I can attest to this from personal experience: when I performed at the Faiz Festival in Lahore last year, mine and the numerous other dance performances, many of them ‘Indian classical dance’ forms, were received with more enthusiasm and appreciation than I have seen at many venues and festivals even within India.

Kabir

1 month ago

The Peshawar Review was mentioned in Scroll.in in this interview with Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

https://scroll.in/article/1093275/had-i-another-life-id-spend-more-time-translating-poet-arvind-krishna-mehrotra-on-turning-80

The discussion about Lahore surprisingly brought us to Vinod Kumar Shukla. On my notepad, one of the questions had been about the passing of Shukla and how Mehrotra, as a long-time translator and admirer of his work, responded to it. I was never able to ask the question but Shukla’s departure entered our conversation through Anjum Altaf, an author, translator, and professor from Lahore, who also runs The Peshawar Review.
Altaf often writes poems inspired by the work of other poets; for instance, his 2019 collection Transgressions is written after the work of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. When he was introduced to Shukla’s poems through Mehrotra’s translations in Treasurer of Piggy Banks, he was taken by Shukla’s idiom and decided to write a few poems in his style which he sent to Mehrotra after Shukla passed away in December last year.

Admin

X.T.M

1 month ago

Reply to Kabir

Very nice!!

Kabir

1 month ago

“Hundreds join protest led by India’s viral ‘Cockroach Party'”

https://www.dawn.com/news/2005616/hundreds-join-protest-led-by-indias-viral-cockroach-party

The group, which has amassed roughly 22 million Instagram followers since launching in mid-May, is the largest online expression of dissent against the Hindu nationalist Modi’s 12-year-old rule, fuelled by persistently high youth unemployment and recurring leaks of examination papers that threaten to derail the careers of millions of students.
Political analysts say the group’s popularity has begun to dent Modi’s image despite his party’s recent victories in key state elections, even as wider frustration grows over rising fuel prices and gas shortages brought by the Middle East war.

Author

k jayas

1 month ago

Reply to Kabir

It is said that were 700 supporters, 5000 police.
This time people are asking real questions and will not be fooled like AAP launch.

Editor

Agni

1 month ago

Reply to k jayas

I think this is just a flash in the pan. My conjecture is that it will die a natural death once the adrenaline fades.

Kabir

1 month ago

“Interview|Kashish Pride Film Festival Director on Choices, Government Permissions and More”

By Chintan Girish Modi

https://thewire.in/film/interview-kashish-pride-film-festival-director-on-choices-government-permissions-and-more

I have met Chintan. My dad invited him to LUMS in 2014 for the Kabir Festival.

Saim Sadiq’s Joyland, which was banned by the Government of Pakistan a week before its release in cinemas, got a warm reception from audiences at Kashish. The film was eventually released in most of Pakistan but the ban on public screenings in the Punjab province still remains, which is unfortunate for a film set in Lahore. This year, you are screening two Pakistani films – Jameela and Cats Can Teach You To Die Alone. How does it feel to give a platform to films from countries where homosexuality is still criminalised?
Yes, that is a really sad situation. Thankfully, we are sitting in India right now where we have far more rights than many countries, and this is because we have fought quite a bit to arrive at a place where we can now talk more openly about homosexuality and trans rights. But it has been a struggle, so we want to make sure that even if some filmmakers do not find opportunities to show films on LGBTQ+ themes in their own country, we can provide a platform at Kashish. As the biggest LGBTQ+ film festival in South Asia, we are proud to show films from across the region – not only from India and Pakistan but also from Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Kabir

1 month ago

“Nepal’s New Regime and India Should Not Ignore the Core Bilateral Issues that Need Resolution Through Dialogue”

By Kanak Mani Dixit

https://thewire.in/diplomacy/new-regime-in-nepal-rsp-chairman-visit-india-bilateral-issues

I met Kanak when he came to Lahore last year

Kabir

1 month ago

“History: The King Sindh Never Forgot”

By Masood Lohar

https://www.dawn.com/news/2005742/history-the-king-sindh-never-forgot

The age of Jam Nizamuddin Samo, therefore, should be seen as one of Sindh’s great civilisational moments. It was not the mud-fort isolation that colonial accounts often imagined for Sindh. It was a deltaic kingdom with a capital at Thatta, a port at Lahari Bandar, cotton routes from the upper Indus, sea routes to Hormuz, artistic links with Gujarat and spiritual legitimacy anchored in Makli.

Kabir

1 month ago

“Does Abhijeet Dipke’s popularity signal a new age of Dalit leaders?|Cockroach Janta Party|”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VoarOLcpgg