The new scenario in Thanjavur:
Landlords no longer rule the roost
Thanjavur mirasidars have lost their holdings, their fiefdom has shrunk
and their political clout has severely diminished. Thus with their past
erased and prospects in the political arena ruined, they are keeping their
fingers crossed, looking at the heavens (not for rain this time) but for
the final call from the Creator.
I feel we need to highlight the totally changed and different scenario in
the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district, once considered the granary of
south India, where the landlords who wielded tremendous power controlling
politics and economy of the state, are groping in the dark for their
identity and future. The district once boasted of a number of land lords
with huge holdings, employing cheap labour, minting money when the rain
god blessed them like anything and the river water was available in
plenty. They lived in the district farm houses, with families, mostly
undivided ones, taking care of the property and commanding respect in the
nascent Indian democracy. The peasant revolution pushed them into the
nether world. The rulers too have learnt how to rubbish the blackmail of
the land owners.
Due to the advent of Communism in pockets of the East Thanjavur as it was
called then, and the increasing awareness among farmers that they are
just being exploited and paid lowly wages, and the change at the helm of
affairs in the Chennai Secretariat after the general elections now and
then, the landlords began to see their downfall and many fell like by the
roadside in no time.
Today, we see only a handful of them, but their holdings have got largely
decimated and their focus is dissipated _ and they have lost interest in
the agrarian business in which they once flourished. They have realised
that paddy or sugarcane cannot bring them prosperity and the labour will
not be at their beck and call any more, ready to accept the meagre wages
and toil on the land for endless hours day or night. The fragmented
holdings do not permit a feasible practice of modern farming methods.The
net profit has also become negligible.
We can send a team of journos to the district and visit the landlords in
person, talk to them about their claims of glorious past, the listless
present and the hopeless future they face. The old generation is living in
distant memories, the dwindling present group is in despair and confusion,
trying to identity itself with this party or that party and tries to make
hay while the political sun shines. That is how we see election-time
defections, skirmishes and enormous liquidation of property to fund the
process of getting elected at some level to represent the people and pick
up money from even the shit and stand to be counted or mentioned in
vernacular paper's news briefs.
Then we see the vast expanse of agricultural lands giving way to
engineering colleges and medical institutions where politicians see scope
for making easy money and engage their benamis. The education wind mills
are tirelessly working in several TN districts, and Thanjavur is no
exception.No solution has been brought to the Cauvery imbroglio and thus
irrigation can no longer come to their aid.
A few bright brilliant people who are descendents of the old landlords,
who used to be called mittadars and mirasidars, have moved out of their
villages to big cities and towns, and have even settled in overseas
countries trying to squeeze money out of their paper degrees earned in
Indian colleges/ universities.
They sometimes try to see their ancient moorings, unable to forget their
love for the land their ancestors owned or the grand village festivals
which they gave them some importance in the local history of their
villages and bloated their ego. Try to send some money to the remaining
elders in the villages . But the truth is the land has become barren due
to neglect and repeated failure of monsoons, tremendous shortage of power
and hefty increase in wages and total change of attitude among workers to
time and work. We never know when the remaining handful of mirasidars will
be gone and the history of the state will be totally forgotten, and
rewritten for posterity with little or no trace of the fertility of soil
or brains that once stood for Tamil culture and civilisation.
Swaminathan R
Date: Thu, April 22, 2010 6:59 pm
Landlords no longer rule the roost
Thanjavur mirasidars have lost their holdings, their fiefdom has shrunk
and their political clout has severely diminished. Thus with their past
erased and prospects in the political arena ruined, they are keeping their
fingers crossed, looking at the heavens (not for rain this time) but for
the final call from the Creator.
I feel we need to highlight the totally changed and different scenario in
the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district, once considered the granary of
south India, where the landlords who wielded tremendous power controlling
politics and economy of the state, are groping in the dark for their
identity and future. The district once boasted of a number of land lords
with huge holdings, employing cheap labour, minting money when the rain
god blessed them like anything and the river water was available in
plenty. They lived in the district farm houses, with families, mostly
undivided ones, taking care of the property and commanding respect in the
nascent Indian democracy. The peasant revolution pushed them into the
nether world. The rulers too have learnt how to rubbish the blackmail of
the land owners.
Due to the advent of Communism in pockets of the East Thanjavur as it was
called then, and the increasing awareness among farmers that they are
just being exploited and paid lowly wages, and the change at the helm of
affairs in the Chennai Secretariat after the general elections now and
then, the landlords began to see their downfall and many fell like by the
roadside in no time.
Today, we see only a handful of them, but their holdings have got largely
decimated and their focus is dissipated _ and they have lost interest in
the agrarian business in which they once flourished. They have realised
that paddy or sugarcane cannot bring them prosperity and the labour will
not be at their beck and call any more, ready to accept the meagre wages
and toil on the land for endless hours day or night. The fragmented
holdings do not permit a feasible practice of modern farming methods.The
net profit has also become negligible.
We can send a team of journos to the district and visit the landlords in
person, talk to them about their claims of glorious past, the listless
present and the hopeless future they face. The old generation is living in
distant memories, the dwindling present group is in despair and confusion,
trying to identity itself with this party or that party and tries to make
hay while the political sun shines. That is how we see election-time
defections, skirmishes and enormous liquidation of property to fund the
process of getting elected at some level to represent the people and pick
up money from even the shit and stand to be counted or mentioned in
vernacular paper's news briefs.
Then we see the vast expanse of agricultural lands giving way to
engineering colleges and medical institutions where politicians see scope
for making easy money and engage their benamis. The education wind mills
are tirelessly working in several TN districts, and Thanjavur is no
exception.No solution has been brought to the Cauvery imbroglio and thus
irrigation can no longer come to their aid.
A few bright brilliant people who are descendents of the old landlords,
who used to be called mittadars and mirasidars, have moved out of their
villages to big cities and towns, and have even settled in overseas
countries trying to squeeze money out of their paper degrees earned in
Indian colleges/ universities.
They sometimes try to see their ancient moorings, unable to forget their
love for the land their ancestors owned or the grand village festivals
which they gave them some importance in the local history of their
villages and bloated their ego. Try to send some money to the remaining
elders in the villages . But the truth is the land has become barren due
to neglect and repeated failure of monsoons, tremendous shortage of power
and hefty increase in wages and total change of attitude among workers to
time and work. We never know when the remaining handful of mirasidars will
be gone and the history of the state will be totally forgotten, and
rewritten for posterity with little or no trace of the fertility of soil
or brains that once stood for Tamil culture and civilisation.
Swaminathan R
Date: Thu, April 22, 2010 6:59 pm
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