Karunanidhi once said if it wasn’t for Periyar, he would have become a communist

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) head office has announced its plan to celebrate former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's centenary year. For the same reason, it has formed committees under the leadership of various ministers to talk about the department-wise contributions of Karunanidhi. Ahead of the centenary celebrations many are researching and analyzing his contributions.

We too talked to some people on the subject. We first approached A.S. Panneerselvan, who is the author of Karunanidhi's biography "Karunanidhi: A Life" published by Penguin publications. He made the book captivating by comparing Karunanidhi's political life with the historical incidents of the world.

Karunanidhi in Panneerselvan's words

The astonishing fact about Karunanidhi is that he had always been with people who were highly privileged as compared to him. For instance, all the early leaders of DMK were university graduates. Karunanidhi was never a university graduate. But this factor never created a divide between him and the other leaders. Nedunchezhian, Anbazhagan and even Annadurai -- all were MA graduates. Karunanidhi never did MA but this did not make him any lesser than his counterparts in knowledge base.

One such instance happened when he went to work in Salem. Ellis R. Dungan and Sundaram were in Salem Modern Theatres Ltd when Karunanidhi went there to work. They were regarded as renowned film technicians with knowledge from world tour experiences regarding film technology. On the other hand, Karunanidhi's travel experience comprised his travel from Thiruvarur to Puducherry and again from Puducherry to Salem. Inspite of this shortcoming, Karunanidhi displayed his exceptional skills in befitting manner.

"Karunanidhi is such a personality who fills the gap of privilege with hardwork and intelligence. To me, he is a fountain of hope," says Panneerselvan. Literary skills and pen were his only properties. With his most valued properties, he proved countless number of times that he is not inferior to anyone. "This admiration served as a stimuli for me to write his life history," says the writer.

Karunanidhi's prose got published for the first time in the form of 'secular' Tamil. Prior to this, prose lines of the author will easily reveal their caste background. But Karunanidhi created a general form of prose which doesn't have any background identification signs. The credit for creating simple and easily understandable prose goes to Karunanidhi and Annadurai. Prior to them Vallalar, Bharathiyar, Bharathidasan already created and utilised a general style of Tamil in their poems. This style contributed to the non-complex nature of their poems. Apparently, they did not use the style in prose. The credit for using the general style of Tamil goes to Karunanidhi and Annadurai. They presented prose in a democratic form without compromising the quality. "According to me, it is a major breakthrough," said Panneerselvan, who is also a journalist.

Next we spoke to writer Imayam. He is a great scholar and the recipient of prestigious awards like Sahitya Akademi award. Even though he is a writer, basically he is a DMK proponent.

Karunanidhi in Imayam's words

In today's scenario women are represented in all departments, be it local government or municipality or corporation. Women were given 33% reservation and property inheritance rights. The sole reason behind this is Karunanidhi. He transformed Tamil Nadu into a modern State and made it an example for India in many fields. All the bridges and flyovers from Chennai to Kanyakumari were built during his reign.

Even now most of the roads in Sriperumbudur and East-coast were the brainchild of Karunanidhi. He became the industrial face for Tamil Nadu. Without mentioning his name, one cannot list the welfare schemes of Tamil Nadu. "Karunanidhi had been the root for all developments in Tamil Nadu," said writer Imayam.

We then talked to Leftist writer Arunan. He shared with us the memories of Karunanidhi by quoting one of his life incidents.

Karunanidhi in Arunan's words

One of Arunan's books titled "Thamizhakathil Samooga Seerthirutham Iru Nootrandu Varalaru" was published by Karunanidhi in 1999 when he was the Chief Minister. "In the book, I expressed my opinions about the Dravidian movement, the self-respect movement and Justice Party, said the writer. During the book launch function, Karunanidhi told Arunan that he had read the book line by line. Karunanidhi once told Arunan that "if I hadn't met Periyar, probably I would have become a communist." His speech in the book launch function hogged the newspaper headlines. "It is an unforgettable life incident for me," said the writer.

Arunan also said that before the reign of Annadurai, Transport department was in private hands. Karunanidhi became the sole reason for the nationalization of buses, eradication of hand-pulled rickshaws and the establishment of Slum Clearance Board. "All these welfare measures reflect the communist principles only. This is a known fact for me as well as the people of Tamil Nadu," says the Leftist writer.