The recent biography of C.N. Annadurai * , or Anna, one of the icons of Tamil Nadu, by R. Kannan, when read by a person interested in the history of Madras, throws a lot of light on various incidents in the life of Anna in which the city had an important role to play.

The cover of the book on C.N. Annadurai.

It was an irony that the man who propounded rationalism should have arrived into this world at Kanchipuram, a town known for its shrines and mutts. Born there on September 15, 1909 to Natarajan, a self-styled village scribe, and Bangaru, Anna was brought up by his maternal aunt Rajamani. His early schooling was at the Pachaiyappa’s School in Kanchipuram, named after the famed dubash of Madras whose bequests still support educational causes. In 1928, Anna moved to Madras, where he enrolled for the two-year intermediate course at Pachaiyappa’s College on China Bazaar (now NSC Bose) Road. The book says that he lived in a “small, inexpensive (rented) room, one of a row in a building occupied by low-income tenants with large families.” Regrettably, the location is not mentioned.

At Pachaiyappa’s College, Anna noted “the history of ancient Greece and the price of goods being sold outside... at the same time.” He was to be greatly influenced by Prof. Varadarajan who taught English even while studying Law at the Madras Law College. Anna described this mentor as “holding the force of a storm against authoritarianism but being as gentle as a breeze with the students.” Varadarajan lived in a one-room tenement in Mannady and this was where Anna was politically baptised. At Pachaiyappa’s College, he was also to be influenced by Prof. Venkatasamy who introduced him to the concept of social justice. Tamil professors Mosur Kandasamy Mudaliar and Mani Tirunavukkarasu Mudaliar opened Anna’s eyes to the beauties of the Tamil language, which was to become another lasting love in his life.

In 1931, having topped the intermediate exam, Anna was able to join the BA Honours programme, thanks to the intervention of Principal Chinnathambi Pillai, who ensured that a scholarship was made available to the indigent youth. Pillai was to famously remark to a colleague that “a bright future awaits this youngster; he is going to savour the lusty cheers of lakhs of people, he will change the motherland into a happy place.”

In college, Anna shone as a keen debater and writer and acquired a steady fan-following. He became the general-secretary of the college Students Union in 1931 and, two years later, President of the college’s Economics Association. During his college years, he married Rani, the bride his family selected for him. After graduation, Anna worked briefly as a Tamil tutor at the Govindappa Naicker Middle School which functioned in the same building as the college. He left it, attracted by the possibility of effecting social reforms through an active role in politics.

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The South Indian Liberal Federation, or the Justice Party as it was better known, was then in the throes of decline. While in the 1920s it had formed governments, in the 1930s it could do so only when the Congress boycotted polls and, in 1934, it suffered a complete rout at the hustings. On Prof. Varadarajan’s recommendation, Anna became assistant editor of a daily brought out by the Rajah of Bobbili who was Premier of Madras between 1932 and 1934. He also became friends with P. Balasubramaniam, who was bringing out the Sunday Observer, another publication that represented Justice interests. Through these channels, Anna became close to the powers-that-be of the party. In an effort to stem the rot, the party had then embraced E.V. Ramaswami Naicker (EVR)’s Self-Respect movement and this attracted Anna above everything else. He was to be a regular speaker at the Self-Respect Movement’s Youth Association premises in Mannady. EVR and Anna were, in Anna’s biographer’s words, to become “political father and son.”

In 1935, at the instance of M.A. Muthiah Chettiar, Anna was given the Peddunaickenpet ward ticket by the Justice Party in the elections to the Madras Corporation. During a vigorous campaign, Anna was to ridicule the use of ornamental lights in temples when slums were in darkness. This was used by his Congress rival M. Balasubramaniam to his advantage, claiming that if Anna was elected he would remove lights from the temples. Anna lost, but in the process of canvassing made several friends in North Madras. In 1937, Anna was once again in the limelight, this time for the anti-Hindi agitation. The C. Rajagopalachari- led Congress government had made Hindi mandatory in schools from class VI to class VIII. Periyar EVR, who had always questioned the status of Hindi and believed that among South Indians it was only Brahmins who learned the language to further their employment opportunities, launched a province-wide agitation. The Hindu High School in Mint Street was one of the many places where picketing was done by way of protest, a method that to Rajaji smacked strongly of a parody of Satyagraha. In 1938, arrests of those protesting against Hindi began and Anna was interned on 21st September 1938 at Saidapet. He was released along with others following the resignation of the Congress government owing to the declaration of the Second World War. The Governor of Madras withdrew the decision to make Hindi compulsory and peace was restored.

The end of the anti-Hindi agitation saw EVR becoming the leader of the Justice Party and he floated the concept of a Dravida Nadu, a “separate, sovereign and federal republic made up of the four Dravidian language areas.” Anna, the faithful follower, espoused the cause and it was to find another and rather unlikely supporter in Mohammed Ali Jinnah who, while addressing the All India Muslim Conference in Madras in April 1941, said, “I have every sympathy and shall do all to help…establish Dravidistan where the 7% Muslim population will stretch out its hands of friendship and live with you on the lines of security, justice and fair play.” Anna later also wrote that “Muslims are but Dravidians on an Islamic path.” Jinnah for his part also told the Governor of Madras that India needed to be divided into Dravidistan, Hindustan, Bengalistan and Pakistan. It was left to Sir Stafford Cripps leading his eponymous mission to pour cold water on the Dravidistan idea. He simply refused to countenance it and Jinnah, despite EVR writing to him for help, distanced himself from the idea. But to EVR and Anna, the concept of Dravida Nadu had come to stay and could not be so easily given up.

In the years leading to independence, Anna and EVR extended their reformist zeal to spirited attacks on the Kamba Ramayanam and Sekkizhar’s Periya Puranam. It was EVR’s opinion that these were works glorifying Aryan supremacy. On 9th February 1943, Anna debated with Sethu Pillai on both the works at the Law College, Madras. His oratorical skills carried the day.

During this period, while he was editing EVR’s publications, Kudiarasu and Viduthalai, Anna also launched on March 8, 1942 his own weekly, the Dravida Nadu, from Kanchipuram. He was at the time living in Karupanna Mudali Street, Madras. His unconventional writing style and his new thoughts were to attract several of the young and youths flocked to his home. His biographer notes that “after Anna returned from a meeting or play, the house would grow boisterous. An old gramophone would come alive with film songs. Against this backdrop would ensue a serious discussion on everything under the sun…” Sometimes the whole group would decide to go to Kanchipuram. Anna would lead the band to Kotwal Chawadi where they would simply hitch a ride on a truck going back after unloading produce. They would sit in the rear after spreading some hay. If the trucks had left, then they would proceed to Egmore to catch the 10.30 pm train to Chingleput. There they would spend the night on the platform before taking the first train in the morning to Kanchipuram.

Dravida Nadu needed money for its continued running and, so, Anna decided to script plays. He founded the Dravida Drama Troupe and performed roles himself. His maiden play was Chandrodayam, debuting formally in EVR’s presence in Erode. With its success, Anna was to find himself attracting actors left on a limb by the Congress after Satyamurthi’s death. Several names to be famous attached themselves to his bandwagon, sowing the seeds for the performing arts-politics connect that Tamil Nadu became famous for. EVR was not comfortable with artistes but tolerated them for Anna’s sake. In any case, he had other matters to think of.

In 1944, Periyar announced that the Justice Party would be named the Dravida Kazhagam. The old guard opposed this and the party split, with the rump being retained by Sir P.T. Rajan. EVR and Anna walked off with the majority. But the two were to soon fall out. To EVR, August 15, 1947 was a day of sorrow as it was a ‘British-Bania-Brahmin Contractual Day’ and his agenda of a Dravida Nadu was still as inchoate as ever. But Anna differed. To him August 15 was a day of joy and he wrote as much in his weekly. He debated within himself and with his friends at compatriot Era Sezhian’s home in Sembudoss Street, Madras, before voicing his dissenting view in public. The mentor and sishya came briefly together during the Anti Hindi Conference in Madras in 1948 to protest the compulsory introduction of Hindi in junior classes in schools. But after that they went their ways. The rift widened in 1949 with EVR’s decision to marry Maniyammai, his junior by several years, and his entrusting the party to her. That year, Anna and his followers met at a house in Muthialpet, and took the decision to float a new party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The party was launched on September 17th at a meeting in Robinson Park, North Madras. The office of the new party was in a member’s house on Coral Merchant Street. It later shifted to Mint Street and, finally, through funds raised from Anna’s plays, acquired its own property, Arivagam in North Madras. The same year, Anna also staged plays and collected Rs. 20,000 for Pachaiyappa’s College. The party grew in stature and in 1951, when it organised its first state-level conference at the Island Grounds, the space was filled with people. Anna began by addressing his men as ‘Kazhaga kanmanigal’. This was received with lusty cheers but the phrase has since become commonplace in today’s politics.

(To be concluded)

* Anna, the Life and Times of C.N. Annadurai, by R. Kannan. A Viking imprint from Penguin. (Click here to continue reading)