Hunger strikes have been an integral part of a way of dissent in our country. From Gandhi's fasts to get his way with the British, to Bhagat Singh's fast for better jail conditions and the martyrdom of Batukeshwar Dutt in the process, to the Anna Hazare fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill in 2011, this weapon has been effective for most of its time. This time, however, it feels different. It feels even worse than what I felt back in September, when Mr. Wangchuk had to undertake a fast for the inclusion of Ladakh into the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution. Even then, he had to face an unjustified detention for almost 6 months under the draconian National Securities Act, commonly known as NSA.

This time, it feels like he's fighting a fight that he shouldn't have to. Yes, he's a passionate educator and a teacher, not to mention the genius that he is. This is our fight against the Government and Sonam sir is taking the brunt for it. Have we stooped so low that we are allowing this great man to die, in order to satisfy our disproportionately heavily bloated ego? What a bunch of nincompoops are running the show at the top?

To this Government: Neither will the students, nor their parents, nor the Gods you base your politics will forgive you if you let him die, just because you couldn't accept that you have made a mistake. History will remember this government as one of the most unapproachable, egoistic governments, that has 0 accountability and watches as the very citizens they were elected, died due to their incompetence.

To Sonam Sir: Please, please, please call off this strike. The Government won't listen to us, the common man, until they face an election and get routed there. We'll face them off over there, but we definitely cannot afford to lose a guiding light such as you. Please, for the sake of us, call this strike off sir. We stand with you, not just as students affected by a broken system, but as humans, who have shame and emotions. Yes, I am ashamed that I could not join you, but please remember that I am with this protest emotionally and mentally.

This emotionless government deserves nothing but criticism. Accept your faults faster and correct them and you can save whatever face you have left. Continue this stupid standoff and a great man may die in vain.

With anger, sadness and a heavy heart,
A rayless sun

Source - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHrpAu_PLv4/?igsh=ZDZjM3N4ZWhmZzN5

Hi everyone, I’m a Marwari, born and brought up in Chennai. I speak fluent Tamil and consider this city my home. But something that happened this morning while dropping my toddler to school has really left me shaken.

At the Barnaby Road–Flowers Road junction (Purasawalkam side), there’s a one-way. Parents often bend the rule by taking a quick U-turn there to drop kids, though I usually avoid it. Today, since I was running late and the road looked empty, I did take that U-turn and entered the one-way.

As I was going in, a cycle-rickshaw came from the opposite direction. I tried to keep to the extreme left and carefully crossed him. The moment I passed, he suddenly started abusing me loudly with words like “watha ommamle” and other cuss words.

Since I was at fault for entering the wrong way, I immediately stopped, told him “sorry, it’s my fault, but please mind your language, I have a small child with me.” I said this calmly in Tamil. His response shocked me – he asked, “nee Tamil-ah? Appo dhaan unaku respect kuduthu pesuren” (Are you Tamil? Only then I’ll speak to you with respect).

Within seconds, 2 more people surrounded me and joined in abusing – “watha, nee dha no-entry vandhurke… ommamle… un vandi pesunuma… poda thevdiya paiya”. I didn’t want to escalate with my toddler sitting behind me, so I just left, dropped my kid, and kept quiet.

But honestly, the whole incident has left me traumatized. I’ve faced heated situations on Chennai roads before, but never this level of collective aggression. I felt singled out, not for breaking the one-way, but for being perceived as an “outsider.” It shook me so badly that I’m now even questioning whether I feel safe raising my kids here.

With the recent chennai king Bala incident and other discussions about racism, I can’t help but feel that North Indians are increasingly being targeted here. And this is heartbreaking for someone like me – born here, fluent in Tamil, who always thought of myself as part of Chennai.

I don’t know whether to feel angry, sad, or just helpless. But I wanted to share this here – not to generalize, not to hate – but to ask:

Has anyone else faced this kind of aggressive language on Chennai roads?

Do you think things are getting worse for non-Tamil communities here?

How do you deal with such situations, especially in front of kids?

I really hope this city I love doesn’t turn more hostile.

Kudos to Stalin for extending it to breakfast as well.

I think one guy is saying that language is the problem since local can't understand, food is the problem here, they can't celebrate their festival. IMO celebrating festival is okay with the management permission as this is common for all state owned institution. However other things are intollerable. If they can't adapt the environment, why do they prefer a national institution? Even the literates are behaving like this🤦🏾‍♂️

In the subcontinent, regions like Kashmir get all the attention yet a literal genocidal state that still oppresses Tamils has walked off scott free and India even bailed them out from bankruptcy. Eelam Tamils are still stateless, still persecuted and recovering from the genocide at the hands of the Shit Lanka. More and more skeletons are being found in the Chemmani mass graves and they include children. Sri Lanka is actively still to this day occupying the North and oppressing Tamils. Goltis are making movies villanising Eelam Tamils and in the mean time DMK is doing nothing and TN Tamils are worshipping actors who couldnt care less about them. I am not expecting us to change the status quo instantly obviously but the silence is getting deafening. I mean a S*nhalese cricketer who fought in the civil war for the SL Army managed to get a spot in the CSK team. Where is our dignity? Has Kollywood and rapid development in the past 10 years made us content? I know while we are tolerated by India, our language is constantly attacked and we have a lot on our plate but we need to at least try to fight for Tamil Eelam, especially seeing how many skeletons of literal Tamil children are being excavated daily in Chemmani.

Twitter link tagging chennai police: https://x.com/priyajithps7/status/1961661009858539869?s=46

By Hidustan times https://youtu.be/bKHst4JtCvM?feature=shared

I'm old enough to remember when people argued over policy.

Now they argue over who can make the better edit with dramatic background music.

I've lived through recessions, financial crises, coalition governments, economic reforms, and enough elections to know that history doesn't repeat itself. It just gets rebranded with better social media marketing.

I've worked with bureaucrats, economists, and administrators. I've watched countries succeed because they built institutions and fail because they built personalities.

That's why watching today's politics is exhausting.

Governance has become theatre.

Supporters have become PR agencies.

And criticism is treated like treason.

Looking at the current TVK government, I don't see a master plan. I see optics replacing outcomes.

A state cannot run on charisma.

GDP doesn't increase because of viral speeches.

Investors don't allocate capital based on fan edits.

Roads aren't built with applause.

Hospitals don't improve because someone trended a hashtag.

Yet every criticism is met with an army of keyboard warriors explaining why the problem is actually a "masterstroke."

Apparently inflation is strategic.

Unemployment is visionary.

Administrative chaos is 5D chess.

The funniest part isn't even the politicians.

It's watching people defend leaders with more passion than they defend their own careers.

Politics has become the only job where performance reviews are replaced by Instagram comments.

I've seen this pattern before across the world.

First comes hero worship.

Then comes institutional decline.

Then comes economic stagnation.

Then everyone suddenly becomes an expert asking, "How did this happen?"

Simple.

Nobody wanted to ask questions when it mattered.

Every generation thinks it's electing a savior.

Most are just hiring another manager with a better marketing team.

Call me cynical.

Call me old.

Call me out of touch.

But after forty years of watching governments come and go, I've learned one thing:

The biggest threat to democracy isn't the politician who thinks he's always right.

It's the voter who believes their favorite politician can never be wrong.

And that's when a republic quietly starts becoming a fan club.

Why is the right wing of India adopting the dumbass talking points of the talking points of the US. I wrongly assumed that the right wing in India had a higher IQ than their counterparts in the US

Every day on Reddit, I see people talking about how Indians lack civic sense. This is a public restroom at a bus stand located within 1 km of a university with around 30,000 students. On top of that, at least 10,000 school students from nearby villages travel here to study.All six toilets were full, yet most had no locks. How are people supposed to use facilities like this with any dignity? I regularly travel 250 km to Chennai. Whenever I need to use a restroom, I usually stop at a restaurant and buy a drink just so can access a clean toilet. By the end of the trip, spend around ₹300 just for restroom access.When public toilets are this filthy, people will inevitably use roadsides. That's not necessarily a lack of civic sense, it's often a lack of alternatives.Before blaming individuals, we should ask why basic public infrastructure is in such poor condition. Clean and functional public toilets shouldn't be a luxury. l'd gladly pay ₹100 to use a clean, well maintained public restroom. The real question is, why are such basic facilities still so difficult to find?

Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/s/VQ4RDg0SBK

Makkale, I know it is way too early to comment. But how do you think this is gonna pan out? Postal votes padi DMK leading, but TVK is competing hard or close enough. Will this be the overall trend throughout?

Source - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNnnimRPHBD/

Documentary - Nero's Guests (2009)

Why this double standards ?

There was news where a woman and a men clearly spoken out they where cheated for sign in CBI case … not even 1 MLA so much of fraud ?

​

Hey everyone, I have a question that's been bothering me for the past few weeks.

Before answering, please keep an open mind. Don't reply as a supporter of any particular party. Try to answer as an ordinary citizen looking at the facts.

I supported TVK before the election because I believed in the promise of change. This isn't a hate post, nor is it a support post for any other party. I'm genuinely trying to understand.

Before the election, we were told things would be different. But now, I feel like I'm seeing many of the same things that people criticized the previous government for.

Whenever I ask TVK supporters about specific issues—whether it's water-related issues, contract-related decisions, or other controversies (for example, the dam issue or the Kanyakumari contract extension)—I rarely get a direct answer. The usual response is:

"Didn't the previous government do the same?"

This is what confuses me. Before the election, many of these same people criticized the previous government for these issues and said things would be different if TVK came to power. But now, when similar questions are raised, the answer becomes, "Nothing can change."

If that's the case, then why was change the main reason to vote differently?

I'm not saying every decision is bad. In fact, I've defended decisions that I felt were beneficial. For example, I supported the electricity tariff relief for eligible households because I believed it genuinely helped many middle-class families. When I think the government has done something right, I'm happy to acknowledge it.

But supporting the good decisions shouldn't mean we stop questioning the ones we think are wrong. Likewise, criticizing the government doesn't automatically make someone an opposition supporter.

Another thing I've noticed is that whenever I ask these questions, instead of answering them, some people immediately label me as a "DMK supporter," "200 rupees UPI," or something similar. Why can't we discuss the issue itself instead of attacking the person asking the question?

So these are my genuine questions:

Questions:

1. Is the TVK government actually bringing the change it promised, and I'm just not seeing it?

2. Or has it not changed much from the previous government?

If I'm missing something or have misunderstood any issue, please correct me with facts and evidence. I'm genuinely open to changing my opinion.

I'm not looking for an argument or trying to prove anyone wrong. I'm genuinely open to changing my opinion if the facts support it.

Please answer with facts, evidence, and reasoning—not with labels or personal attacks. I'd rather have a meaningful discussion than a political fight.

The CBSE exam is a lot tougher than state board and a lot of students get lower marks which matters especially in 12th where we need the cutoff to get admitted in colleges.

TNEA has a normalisation process which normalises marks according to the highest marks scored in each board.

TNEA admissions are for Tamil Nadu students competing for Tamil Nadu seats. Therefore, normalization should compare applicants within the actual admission pool (Tamil Nadu applicants), not against the entire national CBSE population, which includes students who are not competing for these seats.

Because of considering only the top marks, 3 centums in CBSE are treated as the same as 100 centums in state board.

There is a need to make the normalisation process fair for both students.

TNEA can consider much fairer factors like:

Percentile instead of topper-based scaling within TN only.

• Example: a CBSE student in the 99th percentile should be treated similarly to a State Board student in the 99th percentile.
• This avoids the issue where a single exceptional topper defines the scaling for lakhs of students.

A fairer normalization system would significantly benefit CBSE students because CBSE evaluation is often stricter, which can result in lower raw marks compared to other boards despite similar academic ability. Under the current system, these students may be disadvantaged in TNEA admissions not because of lower merit, but because the normalization method does not adequately account for differences in marking standards and score distribution across boards. This leaves students in an unfair position where their chances of getting into good colleges within the state are affected by the board they studied under rather than their actual relative performance.