Coming to Tamilnadu
by C.K.Gariyali

July 1972

    My romance with Tamil Nadu started when , at the age of seven or eight, I saw  my first Bharat Natyam performance in Delhi.  I was fascinated.  I hadn't seen anything like that before.  The dancer saw my eagerness and invited me to join her dance class.  My mother came from a very traditional Kashmir home which had been under tremendous Islamic influence and music and dance for girls were taboo.  In the social milieu from which my mother came from, the dancing girls were looked down upon.

    All my persuasion fell on her deaf ears and she did not allow me to learn Bharat Natyam and it was a great disappointment to me.  My wish was fulfilled when my daughter went on to learn Bharat Natyam from dr. Padma Subramaniam and also completed her arangetram.

    As a teenagar I used to put eye makeup like a dancer, adorn my hair with flowers and plait them with a kunjalam.  I adored south India and was fascinated with everything from Kanniakumari to Rameshwaram, from wood carvings to bronze icons, from sandal wood soap to turmeric powder and from Kancheepuram Sarees to south Indian temple jewellery.

    Even my dreams used to be South India.  Though I never dreamt of marrying a South India, when the first man from Madras came my way and proposed to me I promptly said 'Yes.' I instinctively knew that is where I have to go.  MY parents were not surprised and gladly gave their consent to a trans-Indian marriage, which was very rare those days.

    Meanwhile I had got selected to IAS.  Allotment of the officers to the states is done at random and I was not at all confident about being posted to Madras, where both me and my fiance wanted to settle.  I gave a representation to the then Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi telling her how much I loved Tamil Nadu and how I wanted to settle there willingly and voluntarily and how I wanted to marry this dedicated doctor who wanted to serve only at his alma mater 'Madras Medical College'.  Even though all the bureaucracy of India was against it, somehow Mrs.  Gandhi fell for my argument and ordered my allotment to Tamil Nadu.

    By the time the news reached the National academy I was already a heroine.  I was going from Kashmir to Kanniakumari (even after being in Tamil Nadu for 35 Years this slogan is still repeated in every public function I attend). I was following my true love to Tamil Nadu.  I was a joyful volunteer to serve the people of Tamil Nadu and not an unwilling bonded laborer.

    There was maximum excitement among the Tamil officers who saw it as a great tribute to the Tamil Thai (mother).  everybody became my self appointed teacher in Tamil art, culture and language.  AT the head of this mob was my dear batch mate Ravi Arumugham, a police officer who thought no end of me and felt I was a big catch for a small town like Madras (at the time) and left no stone unturned in grooming me in the great Tamil culture..

    He had actually prepared a training module for me which consisted mimicking Shivaji Ganeshan on one day Gemini Ganeshan another day and revered Anna Durai day after.  Every night after dinner songs like 'Rajavin Paarvai Raniyin Pakkam' and 'O Nila Nila' were played, for my benefit, in the lounge of the National Academy to the chagrin of everybody else sitting there.

    He coached me in the language at every available moment starting with 'Vanakkam' and tutored me on Tamil politics on the dining table with every meal.  He enriched me with the stories of Kannagi  and Kovalan and Avvayar.  while leaving for National Police academy he presented me with a copy of Thirukkural as a parting gift and warned me to not to enter Tamil Nadu without by-hearting one dozen Kurals which he had marked with a red pen.

    It was because of people like Ravi Arumugham that I felt so much at home in Tamil Nadu.  He made me feel as if I was needed there, I was wanted there and I was welcome there.  He saw to it that when I land up in Coimbatore I should have local friends and guardians.  Ever since then I have been one with the people of Tamil Nadu and have enjoyed tremendous love and affection from them.

    Because of Ravi I could appreciate the true hospitality and the greatness of the Tamil culture much more than an average Tamilian does.   I have done my bit in promoting.  I do believe that Tamil Nadu is a repository of whatever remains of Indian culture.  I brought out two publications on the State -one called 'splendors of Tamil Nadu' by the Marge Publication and the other once called 'Tamil Nadu the Splendor of India' by the tourism department.  I also made more than fifteen films and sports films about Tamil Nadu and its fairs and festivals.  I helped in developing Dance festivals in Chidambaram and Mahabalipuram. I know more needs to be done but I am sure some one will pickup from where I have left.