From: sri@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (a.natarajan)
Subject: JAYALALITHA SOLVES UNSTABILITY IN T. N. SOCIETY.
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 23:58:48 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Keywords: Optimal control, Inter-Varna Interference, Cognitive Dissonance,


Life is a constant  struggle.   Every  individual  "fights"  with
every  other  to improve one's standing in life.  In the process,
groups are formed and each group  tries  to  position  itself  in
society  to reap maximum gains.  The "brahmins" of Tamil Nadu are
no exception.  The minority "brahmin" community did enjoy a  good
status  in  society  and  every  effort  was  made,  covertly and
overtly,   to   perpetuate   their   higher   social    standing.
Interpretation  of religious scriptures, customs, norms and rules
of life were all well orchestrated and taken full advantage of to
keep the position of the "brahmins" as high as possible.  It must
be borne in mind that a majority of these "brahmins" were  really
not  brahmins in the vedic religious sense. Many of these did not
even  do  daily  rituals   (nithya   karmaanushtanam)   such   as
sandhyaavandanam  etc.  However, since it was beneficial for them
to belong to the "brahmin" community, they did inter-marry  among
themselves,  made  sure that non-brahmins were kept below them in
social hierarchy. (Women were  also  kept  below  in  the  social
hierarchy.)

Look at the layout  of  a  typical  South  Indian  village.   The
architecture of the village was such that the "brahmins" lived in
the center of the village (in  the  agrahaaram)  while  the  non-
brhamins  lived in the periphery of the village. The fifth varnas
("panchamas" were the untouchables) lived on the outskirts of the
village. Such systematic efforts to "order" the society created a
feeling of false superiority in the "brahmins"  and  a  sense  of
false  "inferiority"  in  the  minds  of  the  non-brahmins.  The
"panchama varna"s (untouchables)  over  a  period  of  time  were
systematically  led to believe that they were born to be inferior
and that it was all right for the "brahmin" to demand a  superior
status in society.

To correct this wrong two approaches were possible.

One method was to slowly educate  the  "brahmins"  and  the  non-
brahmins  (including  the "panchama varan"s) to accept each other
as equals.  This would have been a very  good  approach,  indeed!
Only  that  this  would  perhaps  take,  say,  a  thousand or two
thousand  years  before  the  various  groups  are  appropriately
educated  to  give  respect and recognition to each other so that
they share the powers and wealth of the society in  an  equitable
way!  This method is comparable to a negative feed-back system, a
very stable system that would take for ever to reach the required
response.

Sri E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker chose a different method  to  address
the problem.  What Naickerji did was to apply positive feed-back!
He did not want to wait for ever  to  realize  the  objective  of
removing  the inferiority complexes of the non-brahmins and erase
the   false   "superiority"   complex   of    the    so    called
"brahmins"(without  brahmininal  qualities).   He accelerated the
process  of  "education"  by  starting   the   "suya   mariyaadai
kazhagam",  i.e.,  "self-respect  society".   He  wanted the non-
brahmins to go to the root of the problem, "the non-acceptance of
the  self"! Unless one feels good about oneself, unless one feels
the need to be respected, one's position in society is not  going
to  improve!  Much like what Jesse Jackson was to do later in the
USA, NaickervaaL asserted to his non-brahmin brethren  that  they
were  "some  body"!   He did not want them to even remotely think
that the "brahmins" were somewhat more equal than they! He  urged
them  to  build  the  necessary  confidence  and  to  believe  in
themselves. To accelerate the process (positive feed back, if you
will),  he  attacked  the  very  symbols  that  gave power to the
brahmin  community,  namely  their  religious  scriptures,  their
religious  symbols  (pooNal,  kudumi etc.). As a result, even the
"panchama varna"s  started  asserting  themselves,  socially  and
politically.

We all know that a  positive  feed-back  system  is  an  unstable
system.  A  better  system would be to have a "positive-negative"
feed-back system, a "bang-bang" system, with a  switch  to  alter
the   mode  from  positive  to  negative  feed-back  mode  at  an
appropriate time.  A social system is an order of magnitude  more
complex than a simple physical system!  Also, we are dealing with
a different scale factor here.  So, one  must  anticipate  hatred
and  counter-hatred (over-shoot and under-shoot) among the groups
as the process of affirmative action is started.

It is my opinion that Sri Naicker's contribution  to  affirmative
action in Tamil society (made up of "brahmins", non-brahmins, and
the  panchama  varnins)  was  substantial.    The   once-arrogant
"brahmin" is becoming "vinaya sampannaha" and once again is after
"sama", "dama" and "saantha" (traits of a brahmin).

As regards whether Naicker was after  money  or  woman  or  power
etc., he was no different than a Kennedy or a Nehru!  (I agree he
was slightly less handsome than these men! But, Mani Ammai was no
Marilyn Monroe or Edwina Mountbatten either!)

I have heard that Naicker was a miser; he did maximize his wealth
like  any  prudent Harvard educated business person would do!  As
pointed out by Dr. Mahalingam Sankararaman of Purdue  University,
he  did  not  "discriminate" when it came to managing his assets!
He hired the best talent (his accountant being  a  "brahmin"  did
not  bother  him!),  rented  his  property  to the best customers
irrespective of whether they were "brahmins" or not.

I have read Naicker's writing published in a book form. For  some
one  who  cannot  understand  why he was attacking the symbols of
brahminical power, his writings would appear  rather  coarse  and
ribald!   (His  writings  were much mellower than some I have had
the "pleasure" to read in SCI!)

Thanks to Naicker, at least a few of today's Tamil Nadu  brahmins
are  able  to  look  at  Sankaraachaaryaal's "Maneesha Panchakam"
(wherein the equality  of  a  panchama  and  a  brahmin  is  well
posited) in a different perspective!

I am sorry I have to stop here.  My "dharma pathni"  just  called
me  for  the  seventh  time  to  remind me my brahminical duty to
perform my "saayam sandhyaa vandanam" in time!

"Bhajarae Naayakam Ee VAe Raa, bhavaabdhi tharaNam Jayalalithaa"

P.S.

For those of you who might wonder how I  knew  of  Ee  Vae  Raa's
methodology  to  solve  the TN problem, here is the inside story!
Dr. Periyaar E.  V.  Ramaswamy  Naicker  published  his  doctoral
thesis  at  the  Russian  Academy  of Social Sciences, titled:  

"Application of Time-optimal Control Theory to the Class of Social
Problems  that  demand  Inter-varna  Interference Suppression and
Instant Annihilation of  Intra-caste  Cognitive  Dissonance." 

I have the  Tamil  version  of this thesis, with all terminologies
translated in Tamil.
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