Names that speak volumes – The Hindu

When it was in a nascent stage, the Dravidian movement was sure-footed. Its luminaries were full of fire and determined to upend the caste status quo.

Nearly every one of them came from humble backgrounds, says R. Kannan, biographer of C.N. Annadurai and M.G. Ramachandran (MGR). Barring a few, most of the leaders they took on in the Congress came from wealth and high status, he points out.

Therefore, these early leaders needed to amp up their profiles even if that meant resorting to exaggeration. Some changed their rather prosaic names to more exotic ones. By becoming Nedunchezhiyan, Narayanaswamy, who held an MA in Tamil literature, sought to do away with a Sanskrit name and acquired the aura of Sangam-era royalty — the original Nedunchezhiyan was a king of ancient history.

Besides new names, leaders of the Dravidian movement took on titles as well. For the putative No. 2 in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), K. Anbazhagan, the title Perasiriyar, which means professor or more literally grand teacher, added gravitas even though he was not quite a full professor in academia; he was a lecturer in a Chennai college. E.V. Ramaswamy was Periyar — the respected figure who shaped the movement.

Some titles were literary and sounded sweet. Periyar’s nephew, E.V.K. Sampath, was Sollin Selvan (the one with a wealth of words). Karunanidhi was Kalaignar (artiste).

Vaiko was sometimes Kazhagathin Por Vaal — the battle sword of the organisation — although the DMK, at its best, has been reformist and sometimes adversarial with the Centre for ideological reasons, but has rarely gone to battle.

MGR was Makkal Thilagam (darling of the masses). He was praised as Puratchi Nadigar (revolutionary actor) after he played a Robin Hood-type brigand in the film, Malaikallan. Later, when the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was launched, his lieutenant K. A. Krishnaswamy tweaked it to Puratchi Thalaivar (revolutionary leader). MGR’s successor, Jayalalithaa, took on the feminine form of the title and became Puratchi Thalaivi.

MGR’s followers would cite several “revolutionary” policy measures such as the school feeding programme that boosted enrolment and retention rates. By introducing quotas for women in local bodies and increasing it to 50% later, Jayalalithaa has changed the gender profile of grassroots politics which may well ascend to state-level positions.

But independent scholars look at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) as the more conservative version of Dravidianism. The two revolutionary leaders steered away from any movement-based strategies and were not insurrectionist.

When Edappadi Palaniswamy (EPS) became Chief Minister as a compromise candidate who could balance the competing interests within the AIADMK after the revolt by O. Panneerselvam, he decided to follow the Dravidian tradition of taking on a title. EPS was claiming the mantle of Jayalalithaa, a leader who towered over everyone else in the party and still does. He became Puratchi Tamizhan (Tamil everyman). By the time of EPS, however, taking on titles became a ritual. And Puratchi Tamizhan hasn’t quite stuck.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s son and successor — Deputy Chief Minister Udayanidhi — took on many titles. He was Makkal Anban (people’s friend) for some time and became Engalin Ethirkalam (our future) briefly when his succession wasn’t formal yet. Neither has endured.

Titles not only boosted the profile of Dravidian leaders of the past but were also a nod to the ancient culture of Tamils in which calling someone by name is disrespectful. On the other hand, communists — both leaders and cadre — called one another comrade to erase hierarchy. But they maintained respect through the use of initials such as AB and PR. Today, Tamils may well use a simple, respectful suffix to a leader’s name although the language doesn’t quite have the equivalent of the Hindi suffix, ji.

A frequent title is Thalapathy (commander). Mr. Stalin was commander for a long time before he became Thalaivar (leader) after his father’s death. The new star in the Tamil political horizon, Vijay, also carries the title Thalapathy. He has created a buzz, especially among the youth who have no memory of MGR and only faintly recall Jayalalithaa. The latest commander claims that the real fight in 2026 is between him and the DMK.