Scattered Fates by Ram Garikipati (ebook reader ink TXT) 📖

and continued to this day. The legacy of the anti-Brahmanism was taken over by his party, which included a demand for a separate nation. As it was contemplated, the new nation would consist of the regions where the people of Dravidian origin lived and spoke the Dravidian languages of Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the Sino-Indian War and the passage of the 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution that prohibited those who advocate separatism from running for public offices. Many other splinter groups continued to fight for it.

‘OK. So what can I do? Search for all students and force them to attend this meeting?’

‘Of course not, da. Ideas. I need ideas.’

‘Well, let’s see… all the students are crazy for MGR. Why not spread the word that he is coming here with Anna? You know MGR is a big DMK supporter. Once the students come, you can make some lame excuse.’

‘Genius. Excellent. Wonderful. I will call Senthil right away. Can I use your phone? The University offices are all closed?’

‘Sure. I am meeting some old friends for Chicken 65 at Mount Road Buhari, but Vijaylaxmi is at home, go ahead.’

‘Why Mount Road? There is Buhari very close by. Is the biryani different?’

‘No thalaivar, I want to go to Higginbotham’s and buy some books,’ he said, referring to the largest bookstore in the country, quite close to Aaram Buhari Restaurant.

Truth was, his caste dictated that he be a strict vegetarian. Even his wife Vijaylaxmi was unaware that he occasional pampered himself with non-veg dishes, having developed a taste, during his Masters in London.

He steadfastly avoided the restaurants near the university, lest someone familiar saw him. There was a lesser risk on Mount Road.

Subbaiah on his part wanted to try out the famous Buhari biryani since joining the university a year ago, but never got the chance. The original restaurant was on Mount Road, but with growing popularity they recently opened more branches, including one near the University, complete with a jukebox for students.

His wife Malathi was a vegetarian by choice, and he never picked up the courage to venture alone. Almost as if teasing him, only a month ago, they had started offering an extremely popular spicy deep fried dish - Chicken 65. His students told him that the flavor was heavenly. This would have been the perfect opportunity to try it, but that was the least of his worries now. Ganapathy had one of the only four working telephones on campus.

‘OK, thanks,’ Subbaiah said as he raced toward the residence quarters behind the University building.

#

Forty-five minutes later, Subbaiah was back on spot, walking in front of Senate Hall, sweating profusely. The crowd had swelled.

Not enough, maybe around three hundred.

He had explained to Senthil, Anna’s personal assistant, about using MGR as bait and had received full support. He was assured that the news would spread across all other colleges. It now appeared that it was difficult to spread rumors on a Sunday.

Sitting on the same wooden bench, he looked at the crowd and lowered his head in dejection. There was nothing more he could do. Anna would not be pleased.

All my dreams of a political career are finished. This was an excellent opportunity to impress Anna, and MGR blew it. Why wasn’t the movie released next week? I guess this is the end.’

‘Excuse me Professor Palli Palli,’ a low voice called out.

He looked up to notice the smiling face of the new exchange student from Corea, and a few others who seemed to be from the northeast. Assam? Nagaland? He could not tell.

‘Hello Moon, how are you? By the way I prefer to be called Professor Subbaiah. We do not encourage using the family name, as it identifies ones caste. In fact, we are trying hard to outlaw it,’ he replied. ‘Adjusting well? Weather and food?’

‘Weather is very hot sir, and the food is very different. I will adjust. We go to Parry’s Corner for noodle soup regularly,’ he said.

Subbaiah had heard about the restaurants near Parry’s Corner, close to the port. Burmese refugees who fled during the early sixties had opened a few shops, on land the government set aside to help them settle.

‘Do not expect genuine Corean food in Madras, but there are many restaurants on Mount Road run by the Chinese immigrants from Calcutta. I will let you know tomorrow,’ he said, adding, ‘Make many friends?’

‘Yes sir, I have a few in the hostel, but not anyone from my class.’

‘Give it a little more time. Maybe they are shy. You should wear a lungi, it will help you bear the heat and also meet local students,’ he said, well aware it was not true.

No local student ever became friends with exchange students, and dressing like a local would not change that. He had seen it happen all the time. Language was a big unifying factor, and all of them hung out only with fellow students who spoke the same tongue.

The exchange students had to form their own groups, but strangely, those from China, Japan and Corea never got along, though they separately seemed to enjoy a very good rapport with the Northeast students. Maybe it was their similar looks, or English was the common denominator.

‘We heard there is some kind of a meeting here, and came to look.’

‘Oh, yes, it is an important students meeting. Why don’t you tell all your friends to come,’ he said, hoping that Anna would not notice their different physical characteristics in the dark. A hundred more heads would certainly help. ‘These are my friends here,’ he said, pointing towards a dozen students, who looked similar to him, except with darker skin.

‘What about your Chinese and Japanese friends?’ he said unknowingly touching a raw nerve.

‘They can never be my friends,’ Moon said bitterly.

Taken aback, Subbaiah, decided to cross-examine later, and changed the topic.

‘Well, you heard of MGR, right? He is one of our leading superstars. He will be coming here soon. You can hang around and see him.’

‘Very well sir,’ Moon said, still unable to understand all this fuss about a movie star.

Suddenly a loud roar erupted from the crowd ahead, and Subbaiah instinctively stood up. He could not believe his eyes. Standing on the stage was MGR himself. His rumor had been transformed into reality.

‘Moon, there he is,’ Subbaiah shouted excitedly, as he raced towards the stage.

As he drew closer, he spotted an agitated Senthil, raising his fist at a few students. His heart still thumping, he shouted: ‘Senthil Saar!’

‘Hello professor, what is this nonsense?I got MGR here with great difficulty. He had to cancel a shooting. Where are all the students?’

‘They are on their way. All of them are at Shanthi Talkies. MGR movie you know.’

‘The real man is here. Go get everyone,’ Senthil said in a guttural tone, as he turned away annoyed.

Apparently, there was no need to. News of MGR’s appearance spread like wildfire and in less than 15 minutes, there were more than 2000 faces peering at the stage, hysterical and shouting slogans.

Subbaiah looked back and noticed that many more were on the way. The swelling crowd now consisted not just of students, but also shopkeepers and families who had come for a quite evening on Marina Beach.

Puratchi Nadigar!

Ponmana Chemmal! Makkal Thilakam!

Each slogan coined for the superstar made the crowd even more delirious, as they chanted in unison.

‘What are they calling him sir?’ Moon asked.

Surprised to find him still around, Subbaiah replied, ‘leader of actors, golden-hearted and darling of the masses. That is what everyone calls MGR. He is a gem of a man. One in a thousand.’

Suddenly, he saw Senthil run towards him. This time there was a huge grin, the white teeth radiated against his dark skin.

‘Professor. Great job. This place is too small for everyone. I will inform Anna to come directly to the Beach. Why don’t you tell MGR, and get all the students there?’ he said, pointing across the road, at the glittering sand in the moonlight. Earth’s natural satellite was waxing gibbous, and would be fully luminous two nights later.

‘Me? Talk to MGR?’ he stammered, not believing his ears. He was being told to talk to one of his idols face to face. It would be an honor. The Gods are really merciful.

My educational qualifications are no match for this uneducated darling of the masses.

‘Of course, I have no time, Anna should be here soon, and I have to wait for him at the traffic light,’ Senthil said, folding his white lungi and scampering away. Subbaiah turned around and looked at the stage. A few party workers had formed a cordon around the superstar who was raising his folded palms above the head. Moon was not to be seen anymore, neither were his friends.

He made his way towards the stage, with the help of a few students who cleared the way screaming: ‘Professor Subbaiah coming. Make way!’

Most of the crowd knew him, and it did not take long to reach the stage. He approached a party worker, and whispered into his ears.

‘Apdi aa?’ the party worker said, leading him up the stairs and into the inner circle.

Standing just a few feet away was the most handsome man Subbaiah had ever seen. Although he had a slight paunch, and was slightly balding, MGR was the personification of manhood. Even his skin was different from ordinary mortals like him. It glistened in the dark. Rumor had it that he mixed gold dust in his morning cup of milk. No one could match his persona, except of course NTR, the Telugu superstar, who was Subbaiahs original idol.

‘Wait here,’ the party worker said, as he went forward and mentioned something to MGR.

With his hair gently blowing in the breeze, a smiling MGR motioned him to come forward.

‘Puratchi Nadigar, it is a great honor to finally meet you,’ Subbaiah mumbled.

‘I heard you organized this crowd, and forced me to come here at this late hour.’

‘I am very sorry. Anna had something very important to tell the students and they are all watching your latest movie.’

‘Did you watch it? How is the new girl? Should I make more movies with her?’

‘Yes, of course, first day first show, the story and action scenes were superb. So were the songs. You should act in more movies with her. She is a very beautiful and good luck for you,’ he blurted, condensing his students’ reviews.

‘Well, a professor is never wrong. I will take your advice,’ MGR winked.‘Sir, the crowd is more than expected. Anna wants to move the venue to Beach.’

‘Is there a stage there?’

‘No, but we can manage something. Don’t worry about the crowd, we will protect you.’

‘I don’t need any protection from my fans. Let’s go,’ MGR replied.

#

Thirty minutes later, Senthil had managed to arrange for a makeshift stage, as the crowd swelled to over 6000. Anna, MGR and a few other DMK leaders were huddled in a corner engrossed in discussions, even as the crowd was growing restless.

Subbaiah could recognize two other people. One was the number two in the party, Leader Nedunchezhiyan, and the other was Kalaignar Karunandhi.

He did not know much about Nedunchezhiyan, but was well aware of Karunanidhi’s career as the screenwriter for Parasakthi, the movie that launched Shivaji Ganesan, another fine actor espousing the ideologies of the Dravidian movement.

Two other movies written by Karunanidhi that contained such messages were Panam and Thangarathnam, both movies he had appreciated. They contained themes such as widow remarriage, abolition of untouchability, self-respect marriages, abolition of zamindari and religious hypocrisy, something close to Subbaiah’s heart.

‘All the stars in one spot, I hope this appears in tomorrows newspaper,’ he thought, while cursing himself for having forgotten to inform the reporters.One paragraph in The Hindu would have made a huge impact for Anna’s announcement, whatever it was going to be.

The Hindu, was one of the most respected English newspapers in the country, although it’s circulation was more or less restricted to South India. If anything appeared in the paper, you could