At the peak of the last Lok Sabha campaign on April 27,2004,a huge evening crowd at Tirupur Town Hall heard Vaiko demolish Jayalalithaa. Since then a lot has changed in these parts,apart from Vaiko himself. Tirupur is a new municipal corporation,a new district and a new Lok Sabha constituency. All this you hear within the first half hour of your arrival. After the pleasantries,however,no one is getting down to business lost. Which as it turns out is no big poll issue in this export town. Strange,because at the best of times Tamil politicians need no lessons in amplifying distresslocal,global or across the Palk Strait. And there are sure signs of an election around. The candidates do acknowledge that there is a problem. Businessman-turned-Jaya loyalist Sivasamy has,however,worked out more solutions than the problem warrantsuninterrupted power supply,super fast commuter trains,labour hostels,model ESI hospitals,ample water for dyeing,a 250-km pipeline all the way to the coast to flush out waste water. The only way to stop him is to change the topic to Lankan Tamils. Amma alone can decide that and well follow. The pause long enough to bid him goodbye. The AIADMK rivals pause button is no secret to Congressman Karvendan. He cant get an audience with Jayalalithaa in 24 days while I can meet Dr Manmohan Singh in 24 hours. And who but an economist can handle this crisis? Also having raised a record number of parliamentary questions (all of 1177,the highest for a south Indian MP and the third highest nationally) this sitting MP from Palani can ask a few more if Tirupur sends him back to Parliament. To make that happen,a young Congress worker is desperately looking for his campaign office. He runs into the visiting journalist on the same pursuit. We finally locate the place atop a row of old shops,next to a new shopping complex,flying the good old Congress flag. The weather-beaten flag itself has slid down to half-mast. One doesnt have the heart to mention something so ominous to the sole occupant of the room,recently vacated by ally DMK. This district Congress functionary greets the Delhi presswallah with much cheer and unstoppable Hindi. Enough to support his MP wholl lobby with the High Command to bachao Tirupur. The rest of Tirupur isnt exactly looking up to Delhi or Mumbai beyond hoping that the RBI will pressure the banks to lend. This one gesture should lift the place which after a steady 10 to 15 per cent export growth has dipped by 10 per cent,says Sakthivel who heads the Tirupur Exporters Association. He has advised members to adjust shifts and retain workers. Also there is an overriding Tamil sentiment against cutting jobs and hurting families,says Devidattan,who runs an export unit. Many Tirupur employers,who have rapidly risen from the ranks,havent so quickly forgotten their beginnings. Even Sathiya,a 24-year-old management graduate who began at the top,values his workers,who in turn sound even more loyal than the AIADMK candidate. They refuse to utter a word till the boss arrives,only to affirm that he wont cut losses and run. Things should pick up,when I cant tell. Perhaps with a new government sans a first family that is more into money grabbing than money flow. It isnt difficult to guess where his vote is going. After such surfeit of grace under pressure,here is absolute grace welcoming you to a modest farmhouse just outside Tirupur town. Kulandaivelu,a textile unit owner,has no qualms about appearing in a soiled shirt and Bermuda. Nor about working with his wife on their six-acre farm growing brinjals that taste like chicken. Doesnt matter if my Rs 4-crore export turnover has halved. I make Rs 2,000 a day from the farm. Cant get more recession-proof than this. Is he politics-proof too? Ill vote. But for whom? He glances up at the Sun TV dish antenna on the low roof. Run by nephew Kalanithi Maran who has made up with Uncle Karunanidhi,its bouquet is as wide as your guessfrom Kalaignars channel to Jayalalithaas.
