Today is Bharathiyaar's birthday.

142 years have passed & nobody even comes close to his poetic prowess.

A selfless patriot & a peerless poet, his Dharmic poems rouse nationalism, bhakti & courage in everyone.

Here are 5 places you can visit today to pay your respects! (1/6) Pondicherry folks can pay a visit to this Mahakavi memorial house. Entry free.

He lived here for 10 years from 1908-18 and composed immortal poetry - Kannan Paatu and Kuyil Paatu here.

In 2022, only 500 people per month (~ 16 a day) visited here🥲

Map: maps.app.goo.gl/Y4ybJhKC2mEvdD…

You must have heard the word 'பன்னாடை' (Pannaadai) as a common insult.

This word is mentioned in 12th century Tamil grammar work 'Nannool' to illustrate the nature of a bad student.

The set of examples for top, mid & bottom tier of students has a life lesson for us all (1/6)
Bhavanandhi Munivar, writer of Nanool classifies students into 3 tiers.

The top tier students are like swan and cow.
The mid tier students are like mud and parrot.
The bottom tier students are like broken pot, goat, buffalo and Pannaadai.

What do these examples mean?

Shouldn't an army Major be remembered for his bravery rather than his caste?

Then, why are some RW handles being "casteist" in demanding an accurate portrayal of Major Mukund's roots in his excellently crafted biopic Amaran?

A thread that offers nuance on biopics (1/10) First off, members of our forces - be it Indian Army, or Navy, or Air Force, these brave warriors cannot be boxed to the confines of caste, creed or religion.

They are unanimously respected for what they do - their selfless service to the nation. Not for who they're born to.

How should Nandhan's plot have been, for Drav media to have celebrated it?

A hypothetical plot:
First of all, the film must've been titled Kamsan instead of Nandhan - notice the 'subtle' elements in the poster

(1/8) First off, start the film by thanking God Almighty with such an image.

Everybody knows who this ONLY ONE God Almighty is, but still, make things explicit to be double sure.

Media paints a rosy picture of "progressive" TN that doesn't even use comm based surnames.

But what's its use if ppl constantly carry c@ste in their mind?

Nandan film exposes this well, but "activists" don't support it, cuz it doesn't toe the D line at all.

An analysis (1/12) Koozhpaanai - an innocent hardworking man from the downtrodden comm, is happy to serve Koppulingam's family.

Koppulingam, who has won 2 Panchayat President elections without competition, is shocked to know his village is now reserved.

He wants a "dummy" to fill his chair.

Boat - a 1940s Dravidian propaganda stage play, masquerading as a Tamil feature film.

A thread that reviews this film with a clear agenda (1/9) On Oct 11, 1943, Japanese warplanes bombed the Madras presidency in a nighttime raid.

Fearing another attack, 9 random people get on a boat to secure themselves in mid ocean, with one univited British guest who joins them later, with a gun.

'Did they all survive?' is the plot

"Thalaivar", no longer.

A superstar fan's honest review of Vettaiyan (1/10) While Jailer was a fan service vehicle, Vettaiyan aspires to be a content-driven entertainer.

Manju Warrier (who was phenomenal in Asuran) exists primarily for the opening song.

Fighters exist solely for lining up before Thalaivar in height order and getting beaten up by his body double.

Superstar has lesser foot movement than Shivam Dube at the crease in all these fight scenes.

It is one thing to excel at one chosen field, but entirely another to rule the roost in six different fields - Law, Theatre, Cinema, Journalism, Writing and Political Strategy.

On his birthday, let us take a look at the CV of the multifaceted Cho Ramaswamy (1/10) Born in Chennai to Srinivasan and Rajammal on Oct 5, 1934, Cho did his SSLC in PS Higher Secondary, Mylapore in Tamil Medium.

He did Intermediate from Loyola, and got a B Sc in Geography in Vivekananda College - as it was the easiest to get admitted to (According to him😁).

One of the most misinterpreted story is "Scorpion and the Saint", where a saint keeps saving a scorpion from drowning, despite it stinging him every time.

This is our version of "If someone slaps your cheek, show them the other"

But this story has a better interpretation (1/8) When the saint saves the scorpion from drowning, despite it stinging him many times, somebody asks him why.

He says:
"It is the nature of the scorpion to sting, it is my nature to save;
When the scorpion isn't giving up on its nature, why should I give up on my Sva-Dharma?"

The best thing about Kumbakonam is its proximity to nearby Kshetrams and Heritage sites.

An itinerary to cover Kumbakonam+Thanjavur+Trichy in a single day, that can be a feast to both the eyes and the soul, with some hidden gems enroute.

A thread to read and Bookmark (1/15) After covering many DD and PPS temples in Day 1, its time to relish some of the living medieval Chola temples that are also UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Have a heavy breakfast and checkout from Kumbakonam. Just 4km from KMU is Dharasuram's Airavateeshwara Temple built by Rajaraja-2 in 12th century CE.

Both at the outer prakara, and at the entrance, Nandidev welcomes you.

If you have a one day travel plan in Kumbakonam, follow this personal itinerary to cover relatively unknown Divyadesams and Paadal Petra Sthalams on your route.

A temple thread (with Google Map Links) to read and bookmark: (1/10) If you reach KMU in the morning, freshen up and try to start by 8:30AM-9AM to cover max temples before noon.

We started off with a darshan of our Kuladheivam Swaminathaswami at Swamimalai.

Known as திருவேரகம் in our literary, this Arupadai Sthalam is quite popular. HRCE has recently kept mobile counters at Ground Floor - charging 5Rs per phone.

If you visit on Muhurtha days, wedding crowds will be there, and HRCE milks it by selling special darshan ticket for Rs.100 per person on these busy days.

Poet Kannadasan recounts an interesting incident on the long hand of Karma that he heard firsthand from a jail inmate due for capital punishment in his Arthamulla Hindu Madham.

A short thread (1/6) For his participation in the Dalmiapuram protests of 1953, Kannadasan was imprisoned for 18 months in Trichy jail, along with Anbil Dharmalingam.

The duo got special permission from the authorities to speak to 7 prisoners who were due for capital punishment the next day.

Is the theory of Karma and Rebirth 'gobbledygook'?
Is it an inhumane act of victim blaming?

Is it God's punishment?
Is it a passive fatalistic way of being?

Why is Tamil literature full of this theory?
Is RW really "defending" this guy who nobody knew before a week? (1/9)

Theory of Karma needs no introduction.
Everybody knows this aphorism:
What you sow, so shall you reap.

Its a belief in boomerangs - What goes around comes around.
Every thought, word and deed you send out, comes back to you - a Newtonian 3rd law of sorts.

If you don't like religion being taught at schools, then you shouldn't be including Thirukural in syllabus because Kural is a Hindu scripture composed by the Rishi Thiruvalluvar.

A thread with the list of Kurals where Rebirth and Karma are mentioned (1/10): Kural 38:

"The good things you do without wasting a single day of your life, is the rock that will block your passage on the path to rebirth."

How can Valluvar be secular/irreligious if he believes in rebirth - a concept alien to the Abrahamic worldview?

Kaala is the most brazen passion project of Ranjith where the ideology is both openly shown and hidden in subtext.

While the core plot is that of land rights for the urban poor living in Dharavi, the film is needlessly H-phobic throughout.

The hidden H-misia of Kaala (1/10) While batting for the land rights of slum dwellers of Dharavi is noble, what Ranjith does is, use this theme to spread his misguided H-ph0bic ideology & politics.

For instance, the film respects that p0rk is haram but normalizes eating beep. See the shop name just opposite to Kaala's house.

Kaala's wife openly states that she'd feed beep to Rajini, but looks down upon his son who is "vigitarian"

When things you don't want to happen, happens, how do you respond?

Do you fatalistically blame it on destiny and accept it, or take initiative to overcome it?

What is the guiding principle in the fate vs free will debate?

What did Sri Rama do in such circumstances? (1/11) In the epic's defining moment, Sri Rama who was about to be crowned as King, was instead sentenced to exile for 14 years.

Lakshmana was outraged by the injustice of this request, but Sri Rama calmly considered the exile as the will of destiny.

Kambar writes - "நதியின் பிழையன்று நறும்புனலின்மை; விதியின் பிழை"
"it is not the fault of river to dry up when rains fail. Similarly, Kaikeyi isn't at fault for fate's doing", says Sri Rama.

Today is Aadi 18, the day Vandhiyathevan commences his journey from Kanchi to Thanjavur, kicking off the proceedings of Ponniyin Selvan!

Come, let us travel along Vandhiyathevan to retrace the hero's journey in modern day Tamilnadu, with google map links and images! (A thread) Vandhiyathevan is on a mission - to deliver two secret messages from Kanchipuram to Thanjavur.

After 175km of travel, both the hero and his horse are tired.
That is when he sees the refreshing visuals of Veeranarayanapura lake. It was Aadi 18, and the Cholas were celebrating.

Book Review of Dushyanth Sridhar's much discussed recent book: 'Ramayanam Vol 1'

In this book review, we'll discuss it all: What was exceptional, what was good, what was okay, what can be improved, and yes, what was controversial. And if this book is recommended or not.
(1/10) This carefully planned volume has 108 chapters - and Dushyanth starts it off by paying obeisance to his Gurus.

The book doesn't start with Bala Kanda as usually narrated, but from a scene in Uttara Kanda & then ties back to Bala Kanda.
It ends with an underrated Pattabhisheka!

What does the strategist and writer Cho have to say about the recent Ramayana dating controversy?

Although Cho isn't alive today, he has shared his opinion on this topic in the preface to his immortal work 'Hindu Maha Samudhram'.

And he does take a clear side. A thread (1/8)

Cho starts his 6 volume compendium of Hindu Maha Samudhram with the traditional mantra for Sankalpa, & proceeds to explain the math behind Brahma's 1 day equaling 4.32 lakh human years.

He contrasts the western date 14/1/2005 with the Sankalpa date as per Sveta Varaha Kalpa.

Did Rama live in Treta Yuga lakhs of years ago, or in 5114 BCE?

Is there an element of truth in the astro-logical/nomical analysis that date Ramayana to our history?

Is there merit to this intellectual exercise of chronologizing an Itihasa or is it pointless?

A thread (1/8)

Every book must first know its audience and their intellectual context.

There's an Indic mind that's capable of visualizing one Brahma's day as 4.32 billion human years.

There's also a western educated skeptic mind that relies on scientific method to comprehend the world.

Might be hard to believe today, but once upon a time, in 1971, Tamilnadu was one of the two states within the country, to have total prohibition of alcohol in force. Along with Gujarat.

This is the story of who implemented Prohibition in TN and who lifted it, and why : (1/8) Again, it might be hard to believe today, but TN was once the bastion of Congress.

In the 1st Madras legislative assembly election in 1937, Congress won 159/215 seats - its most impressive electoral performance across all provinces.

Led by Satyamurthy and Kamaraj initially.