About: the world this week, 24 December to 31 December 2023; War & No Peace; Argentina; Zombie Deer Disease; a Captain departs; and celebrating Kwanzaa.

Everywhere

War & No Peace

This week, Egypt floated an ambitious plan to end the Israel-Hamas war. The plan called for a phased release of the hostages held by Hamas and the formation of a Palestinian ‘Government of Experts’ to administer the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Egypt and Qatar would work with all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, to agree on the establishment of such a government. And this government would rule Gaza and the West Bank for a transitional period, while the Palestinian factions work towards holding presidential and parliamentary elections.

Israel and Hamas gave cool public receptions to the proposal. But stopped short of rejecting the plan altogether, raising the possibility of a new round of diplomacy.

The Egyptian proposal does not measure up to Israel’s declared goal of crushing Hamas to the bone. It also appears to be at odds with Israel’s insistence on maintaining military control over Gaza for an extended period, after the war. The rising death toll of Israeli soldiers during the ground operation also threatens to undermine public support for the war. More than 160 Israeli soldiers have been killed thus far.

Meanwhile, the terrorist Hamas continued with what it does best: launching a barrage of rockets, this time into the southern city of Ashkelon, Israel. Most of them were intercepted by Israel’s rocket defence system. Israel, on its part, expanded ground operations to the central part of Gaza. And almost every day kept discovering massive tunnel networks beneath Hospitals and Schools, used by Hamas to carry out terror activities against Israel. Most of them were promptly destroyed.

The other war, the Russia-Ukraine War, is only getting older, with no end in sight. There were some mumblings by Russia about leaning towards holding talks for a cease-fire. But it did not gain traction.

This week, Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship, Novocherkassk, in Crimea, with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person, and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast. Russia admitted that the large landing ship was extensively damaged. Satellite pictures showed the ship partially submerged alongside its pier. Then, in a revenge act, Russia launched its biggest air-attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, using about 158 drones and missiles to strike targets in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

If only these two wars would come to an end, the World would ‘appear’ more peaceful!

Argentina Rises

Argentina’s newly inaugurated President Javier Milei, is going great guns flashing his deadly uncombed hair-locks. He has brought-in sensible laws in what promises to be a shock & awe presidency. He had prohibited governmental institutions from using the word ‘free’ to promote any state service. Milei considers the use of the word ‘free’ a lie and feels citizens should not be lied to, since the service is always paid by someone, typically tax-payer money.

Then he has proposed a new law, that Argentina presently does not have, which affirms a right to self-defence. This would apply when someone tries to cause bodily harm to another person or where they try to invade his property. It also affirms that if the attacker dies in the process, their relatives cannot sue over the fact of defending oneself.

Oh Deer!

Since the Covid-19 saga, we are not done with the list of possible outbreaks of new diseases: the spillover from animals to humans. Joining this ever-growing list is ‘Chronic Wasting Disease’ (CWD), sometimes referred to as ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ which mainly affects free-ranging deer, elk, and moose. The affected deer is often called ‘Zombie Deer’ due to the neurological signs of the disease, which are, weight loss, lack of coordination, listlessness, and drooling. Although there have been no infections in humans, scientists are warning that the disease is a ‘slow-moving disaster’ for humans. And it is more transmissible to humans from animals – say Deer – than was previously thought.

CWD can have an incubation period of over a year, and signs of the disease may develop slowly. Scientists believe the disease spreads through contact with contaminated body fluids and tissue, or through the environment, including drinking water, and food.

Recall, ‘The Mad Cow Disease’ outbreak in Britain provided an example of how, overnight, things can get crazy when a spillover event happens from livestock to people.

Beware of Deer crossings!

A Captain Departs

This week, on 28th December, Tamil Actor and Politician, Vijayakanth passed away at age 71 due to pneumonia and Covid-19 complications. Over the past 4 years, he has been in and out of hospital on prolonged illness. In 2017, he had undergone an organ transplant. In June 2022, his toes were amputated following prolonged diabetes. In recent times, he had difficulty in walking and speaking, and if at all, his speech was often incoherent due to a liver ailment and a paralytic stroke. He is said to have a drinking problem. In early November of this year, he was admitted to a Hospital in Chennai and then again in December, finally succumbing to Covid-19.

Vijayakanth who started his film career as a ‘poor man’s Rajinikant’, was popularly known as ‘Captain’, ‘Karuppu MGR’ (dark MGR- because of his dark complexion) Puratchi Kalaignar (revolutionary artist).

Vijayakanth is one of very few Tamil actors to have stuck himself only to Tamil films – 154 of them – throughout a career spanning over three decades. Most of his films revolved around corruption, honesty, and honouring promises; playing the role of a patriotic, village do-gooder, and dual-role acting. He has played the highest number of roles by an actor-20 times-as a Police Officer.

He was best known for low-budget films that showcased gravity-defying stunts in which he would single-handedly beat his enemies to pulp. And he had a trademark ‘evil back-kick’, which he used to disastrous effects on villains. In the song & dance sequences, typical of Tamil films, his dance moves and gestures were a mimic’s delight.

Vijayakanth was the President of the South Indian Film Artistes’ Association between 2000 and 2006 during which time he achieved the remarkable feat of clearing all debts of the Association, by organising Celebrity Shows abroad. Until then, the Association was completely in the red.

Vijayakanth is known to have a heart of gold, always ready to answer a cry for help, with a natural philanthropic bend of mind. He was regarded as one of the most diligent actors of his era, even doing three shifts a day and working on multiple projects simultaneously to make sure none of his projects got canceled and his Producers did not lose sleep. He would claim his salary only after the success of his movies and often agreed to take a pay-cut if the movies didn’t perform well at the Box Office. Vijayakanth never charged for cameo appearances or supporting roles in some of his friends’ movies.

Some of his biggest movie hits were, Vaidehi Kaathirundal, in 1984; Amman Koil Kizhakkaale, in 1986; Pulan Visaaranai, and Chatriyan, in 1990; Chinna Gounder, in 1991; Sendhoorapandi, in 1993; Ramana, in 2002.

Then in the year 2005, he decided to kick himself out of cinema before the movie-goers did. And in September that year he founded a political party called the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in Madurai, as an alternative to the two Dravidian parties of, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), who between them, ruled the State for decades. He worked as the DMDK’s founder President until the time of his death. He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) twice from Virudhachalam, and Rishivandiyam.

Vijayakanth aimed to become Chief Minister one day, but the closest he could get was, Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, within six years of launching his party: the only actor-turned-Politician in Tamil Nadu to have achieved such a feat!

The DMDK made its electoral debut in the 2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections. The party contested independently and managed to win a significant number of seats, establishing itself as a force to reckon with. In the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections, the DMDK scripted history, winning more seats than the DMK and emerged as the principal Opposition Party that year. He had formed an alliance with the AIADMK contesting in 41 constituencies. His party saw stunning success, winning 29 seats. Vijayakanth himself became a MLA for the second time.

Vijayakanth did not have the cinematic charisma of MGR, or even, for that matter, of his own contemporary Rajinikanth, who has flirted with politics over the years, without ever joining a particular party and gave-up on the brink of starting one. Nevertheless, the DMDK debuted in the 2006 assembly election with an impressive vote share of around 8% and followed it up with a 10% share in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Both results made observers sit up and take notice. But it has been a downslide since then.

Vijayakanth was born, Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami, on 25 August 1952 Madurai, Tamilnadu. He and was one among four children of K N Alagarswami and Aandal. When he was an year old, his mother Andal passed away. With many children to take-care of, his Father was forced to re-marry, and thereafter had seven more children from his second wife. That’s a count of 10 siblings. And sibling rivalry was not heard of in the Captain’s family.

Vijayakanth studied up to Class 11 after which he quit School to look after his father’s rice-mill business. During this time he collaborated with a friend to take-up Film Distribution, which probably spawned a desire to become an Actor. He refused to heed to his father’s advice to continue running the family’s rice mill, and instead packed-up to sail to Chennai to try his hand in tinsel world.

After initial rejections and a struggle, mainly because of his poor dialogue delivery, in the year 1979, he was booked in his first film ‘Inikkum Ilamai’ (sweet youth), where he debuted as a villain. It failed at the box-office. After this, he acted in three other films, which did not bring noteworthy success. Then in 1981, he got a breakthrough hit in the film ‘Sattam Oru Iruttarai’ (the law is a dark room), which became a blockbuster success. It was later made in Hindi with his ‘richer version’, Rajinikant playing his role and Amitabh Bachchan doing a cameo, along with Hema Malini. This propelled him to fabulous movie hits, and the offers came in a flood.

Vijayakanth’s 100th film, in the year 1991, earned him the sobriquet ‘Captain’ after he portrayed an upright Indian Forest Officer sent on a mission to nab an elusive forest brigand complicit with a corrupt administration. After the yesteryear Tamil filmdom stalwarts of M G Ramachandran (MGR), Sivaji Ganesan, and Jayalalithaa, he was the only actor to have achieved a silver jubilee hit in his 100th film.

Meanwhile in the world of Politics, Vijayakanth’s public conduct has not left him with a very flattering image. Talks about a drinking problem have surfaced repeatedly and he was extensively criticised for getting drunk during public meetings. His wife has denied the drinking problem and even threw a challenge for tests to be done on him. His explosive and unclear speeches and ‘red eyes’ were hard to decipher causing confusion. He has also gotten into squabbles and brawls with his own party members and the media, many of which have been caught on video and circulated widely online. Apart from this, he was irregular in his attendance of legislative assembly proceedings in the decade or so that he was in politics. Increasingly, over the years, he was seen as a comic figure rather than a serious political player. Maybe he squandered an opportunity to captain Tamil Nadu?

He leaves behind his wife Premalatha, who he married in 1990, and two sons Shanmuga Pandian and Vijaya Prabhakar Alagarswami. A week ago Premalatha was made the General Secretary of the Party, maybe foretelling the Captain’s end was near. She, along with her brother, L K Sudheesh, have been steering the DMDK during the illness of the Captain. The ‘Captain Group’ runs TV Channels in the name, owns an Engineering College, among other businesses.

Whatever, Vijayakanth leaves behind a rich, colourful legacy, and perhaps there will be none like him.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is an African American-Pan-African holiday created in 1966 by Africana Studies Professor Maulana Ron Karenga. His goal was to give Black people an alternative to the existing holidays; give them the opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practices of the dominant society.

All the concepts of the holiday are traditionally expressed in Swahili, which is where the meaning of ‘Kwanzaa’ is derived from: ‘matunda ya kwanza’ which means first fruits. President Bill Clinton was the first US President to recognise it as a holiday.

Kwanzaa follows seven principles. When you see the table set in a Kwanzaa-celebrating home, you’ll notice a Kinara – a candle holder carrying three red candles on the left, one black candle in the middle, and three green candles on the right. Those candles are lit one by one, starting with the black one, as the seven days of Kwanzaa progress and each of them represent the seven principles of the holiday: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith).

Families do a number of things to celebrate the holiday, from creating art, donning African garments, attending festivals, or giving gifts. However, the biggest component to Kwanzaa festivities is the food. You can always count on a special meal being made while incorporating the flavours of Southern Caribbean, South American, and African dishes.

No person of any specific religion chooses to celebrate Kwanzaa. It’s not about religion. It’s more about Black people embracing one another, the rich culture they’ve created and the roots from which it comes from, as well as uplifting one another to learn and grow into the best ‘black-beauty’ version of themselves.

One more reason to celebrate. Strive to create a new and better version of yourself. Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year 2024.

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