aJCfreak - Dan's Blog

“Jallikattu protests  - All roads lead to Marina” screamed a headline. Truly, on Saturday evening, as we made our way to the famous Marina beach, we could see almost every third vehicle on the road was headed there. There were men and women dressed in black. There were bikers stopping by the roadside to hold up placards and signs. Some even held up phones displaying pro-Jallikattu messages. When we reached the signal on Mount Road just before the Chepauk stadium, we made a quick decision – we decided to head straight. We had heard that vehicles weren’t allowed till the Marina, so I figured that we could start much higher North and ride down the road adjacent to the beach. There was nary a vehicle on Flag Staff road, and my wife and I wondered at the completely deserted road. When we turned the last curve of the road to join the ‘beach road’, there she stood. The Indian flag. Waving boldly in the breeze. As if to say that Indian-ity reigned supreme – come what may.
 My...

Tamil Brahmi inscription in jambaimalai, from Commons When the Mullaperiyar dam issue 'outed' in the press more than a year ago, my Facebook news feed was filled with comments from both sides of the border (I have plenty of friends from Kerala and Tamil Nadu). I read up as much as I could about the dam, the arguments from the two states and decided - I didn't care about the whole issue much. It's a dam. It affects the economics and public sentiments of two states of our nation. So be it. And I am a Tamilian. For several years now, I've been hearing of renowned actors, politicians and other public figures in Tamil Nadu 'speaking out against' the atrocities committed against the Tamils in Sri Lanka. When I first heard of such things, I used to wonder why those people were resorting to extreme measures to have their voices heard - when the issue they were protesting wasn't even in our country. Only later did I realise that these people felt a bond of ...