As the writer of this piece, I belong to the exact same demographic that I’m ridiculing.



I’m as clueless about what motivates people in villages to flock in droves to listen to their favourite politician and unerringly vote for him or her all the time.

I poke fun at the cinematic drama that is TN politics while shaking my head at a media outlet that fails to grasp that the people who worship Jayalalithaa as a god very likely owe their lives and livelihoods to the generous (albeit corrupt) welfare state that the Dravidian parties have built over the years.

Forget people from out of the state, urban, English-speaking Tamil people don’t realise that Jayalalithaa’s conviction by the Supreme Court will not tarnish her image among her base because many of them believe she amassed wealth but did good with it.

In India, there isn’t even a common or shared understanding of good and bad.