The famed Marina beach
winds its way alongside the beautiful Bay of Bengal – starting a kilo meter or
so away from Fort St George, it has Madras University, Ezhilagam, PWD, Presidency College, Vivekananda
memorial, Lady Willington school, Queen
Marys College, IG of Police Office, dotting the beach road now named Kamarajar
salai. .. . it also has samadhi of 4
past CMs. .. .. and there are so many statues dotting on each side of the road.
The culture of statues has
a long history and is not new to Tamilnadu alone – and there have been some
clashes arising out of issues involving statues, it is another colonial
vestige. At important road junctions, at
landmark buildings – we have statues of leaders and others lying uncared for in
a state of neglect. There are statues in
a row in the Marina. In the northern
State, one CM went berserk installing statues of party symbol and self and the
opposition leader appealed to the Centre not to release funds to State fearing
that they would create more statues. Originally,
statues were installed to propagate the memory of great leaders, poets and
visionaries of the Society and even in a place where rationalists question
religion, there arose very many statues to leaders of importance. It was to
instill in upcoming generations some knowledge and recalling of the glorious
acts of the erstwhile leaders.
On the Marina beach front
– there are statues of Poets : Kambar,
Ilango, Avvaiyar, Thiruvalluvar, Bharathiyar, Barathidasan standing amidst Kannagi, Gandhiji, Kamarajar, Nethaji
Subash Chandrabose, Annie Besant, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, Robert
Caldwell, GU Pope, Tamil thatha SaminathaIyer
as also the one of ‘triumph of Labour’ – and now there is a latest
addition, a bronze statue at that !
Ms Jayalalithaa [1948 –
2016] served six times as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen
years between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989, she was the general
secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a phenomenal rise from tinseldom – as a tiny
dot in 1961 Kannada film ‘Sri Shaila Mahathme’
directed by Aroor Pattabhi and produced by Neerlahalli Thalikerappa. The
film starred Rajkumar, Dikki Madhavarao, Balakrishna and Hanumanthachar in the
lead roles, along with Jayalalithaa and her mother Sandhya in small roles. She was to make her debut with a lead role
in Vennira Aadai (1965), directed by C. V.
Sridhar. She made her debut in Telugu
films as lead actress in Manushulu Mamathalu opposite Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
Hailed as Puratchi
Thalaivi of Tamil Nadu - revolutionary leader - and the Amma of AIADMK, late
chief minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram was laid to rest in Chennai's Marina Beach
amidst a sea of humanity in 2016. History
would perhaps remember Jayalalithaa as
the Amma of the welfare wagon. Her lasting legacy will no doubt include her
pioneering initiative, the Amma Unavagam, or the Amma Canteen which continues
to sell a plate of idlis at Rs 1. From
its launch in 2013, the Amma Canteen has grown into a chain of low-cost
eateries across the state. Its success had not only ensured electoral victory
for the AIADMK supremo, but also got Chief Ministers from Delhi, Gujarat and
Andhra Pradesh among others taking notes to replicate the Amma Unavagam in
their respective states.
Recently, Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister Mr.Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated a grand memorial built for
AIADMK supremo and former CM J Jayalalithaa. Spread over 50,000 square feet,
the structure is built at a cost of Rs 79.75 crore alongside the Marina Beach
in Chennai. Deputy Chief Minister O Pannerselvam, Tamil Nadu cabinet ministers,
Speaker P Dhanapal, MLAs, MPS, and other dignitaries took part in the mega
event. Tens of thousands of AIADMK cadres thronged the venue – and a day later
the Higher Education campus nearer Vivekanandar illam / Lady Wellingdon was
named ‘Dr J Jayalalithaa Campus’ and had an imposing 9 ft bronze statue of the former Chief
Minister installed.
This statue stands on a
broad pedestal – looks imposing and good.
One unnecessarily thinks of the earlier one installed at the party
office, which critics wrote thus -
a woman stands, cast in
shimmering metal, before the headquarters of the AIADMK, and holds up her index
and middle fingers to evoke the two leaves of her party's symbol. She beams, her
smile queenly and confident, reminiscent of a leader who contemplated delirious
crowds from a thousand podiums and stages. MG Ramachandran flanks her, aureate
and triumphant, unmoved by the melee of cameras and reporters jostling for
space. .. .. seeing the visage, some
criticized that it did not properly represent Ms Jayalalithaa – and some
questioned whether it was : Excess of
artistic licence? Deficit of talent? Hurried execution? Whatever caused the
error, it did not go unnoticed.
This statue of
the former Chief Minister does look good and imposing.
18.2.2021.
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