Karunanidhi - Our Chief Minister

The popular perception about politicians in India is only about their narrow mindedness or corruption or sychophancy or incompentency etc. There are a few exceptions of course. But, we don't know much about their interests / skills outside politics.

But, I am constantly amazed by Karunanidhi, our Tamilnadu Chief Minister. He as a politician is no different from others; but, his literary pursuits and some extraordinary skills are terrific. His sharp memory, meticulous preparation on any subject before any meeting or function and above all, his wonderful comments - I am a big fan of all these characteristics of Karunanidhi.


Yesterday, there was a function in Chennai organised by Kamal Haasan, the actor for the audio release of his next film. He had invited the hollywood actor Jackie Chan and bollywood hero Amitabh Bachchan for the function. It was presided over by Karunanidhi. To the amazement of everyone, he read out so many details about Jackie Chan that none of the other organisers even knew - for example, "Kamal and Jackie Chan were born in the same year, 1954.", "I admire Jackie Chan, because in spite of being a world popular action hero, he has once said that Fire Service personnel are the true heroes of our world" ! This preparation before coming for the function is the hallmark of Karunanidhi.

There was a press conference sometime back, when one of the senior leader called Jyothi from the rival party joined his DMK party. When the newsmen asked for his comments, "the opposition party leader has always been saying that there is power shortage in my government. Probably, that is why, she has sent Jyothi to my party !" (Jyothi means light or illumination in many Indian languages !) Just on the spot.



Then, recently there was a controversy over the Hogenekkal drinking water scheme announced by Tamilnadu. The neighbouring state of Karnataka objected to it saying that it is a Power Generation project. This is a time when Karnataka is facing elections.

When newsmen asked Karunanidhi's views about the objection, he said, "yes, this is for power generation". Everyone was surprised and they thought, it is a slip of tongue. But, he smiled and said, "Karnataka is going to have elections. So, the politicians there are saying this for their 'power generation' - to get to power ! But, for Tamilnadu, it is just a drinking water project."

Can you imagine, he is already 83 years old ? Three months ago, he recited the dialogues from a play he wrote more than 50 years ago - word by word from a public stage.

Amazing Person.