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others.
    â€˜Your problem is that you stop at asking them. They are not obedient, they do not listen to you. They talk back to you, for you have pampered them. This cannot go on for long. You go back to them and deal with them in the manner in which they should be dealt with. Or you can join them, and I can deal with all of you.
    â€˜Look, tell me the name of the troublemakers. We willtake them one by one. Dead people do not speak or shout in public meetings. They are silent and well behaved, and they serve as a good example to others.’
    There is a long, drawn-out, dramatic silence. Ukkadai Muthukrishna Naidu, the other mirasdar in Kilvenmani, enthusiastically agrees, glad that Ganapati Nadar is taking the rap. The encouragement makes Gopalakrishna Naidu even more garrulous.
    â€˜Let the Communists know that we will never budge to their blackmail tactics. They take their processions through our streets, they hold meetings in our grounds. The threat of violence is out in the open: it is in their songs, it is in their slogans. Should we let ourselves be terrorized in this manner? Is it not our duty to tell the people about the true colours of the Communists? Because we have a few thigh-twitching, weak-kneed landlords in our midst does not mean that we will be bamboozled by these outcastes. It is not enough if we strike a deal with some of their leaders and sit back silently. It is our personal responsibility that none of us is held hostage by them. We will do whatever it takes, but we will not concede to the demands of these coolies, or their leaders. Today you have all come running to me because they asked for an extra half-measure of rice. If you give it today, they will ask for ten measures tomorrow. If you let them enter your home, they will want to sleep on your bed. Nothing we give them will be enough for them,
    so it is better that they are given nothing to begin with. Let them complain.’
    Now, he looks around the room, at the nodding heads, and calls them out as if it were an award function: ‘Kerosene Govinda, Balakrishna, Ramanuja, Murthy, Kittu – murder case. Kothandam, Porayar – rape case. Ramu Thevar – abduction and attempted murder case. Even Mudaliar ayya must have had complaints filed against him in his younger days. Vinayagam ayya is not here with us at the moment. He sent word that he shall come and visit me tomorrow. Can anybody even count the number of times he has been investigated? He was there in every movement, and now he is with the ruling party, he is, in fact, the biggest DMK politician in our area. He is a daring man, cases cannot shake him. One has to learn from him that a complaint against you means you are doing good work. A case means you are doing very good work.’
    Everyone appears relieved. Intoxicated by an audience that admires every word he utters, Gopalakrishna says, ‘Any case should not make us afraid. It is leadership quality. Today I have the highest number of complaints against me. Today, I scold Kerosene Govinda because he recklessly got into trouble. Tomorrow, I am the first man to help him. Why? Because I know about the Complaint Party. Police complaint, minister complaint, chief minister complaint.
    There is no limit.
    â€˜The Communists have sent sixteen petitions in the last three months. They have one department to write articles against the government, and they have another department to write memorandums to the government. I know that there are some full-timer thugs whose only job it is to write a police complaint on behalf of every Pallan and Paraiyan who walks into the party office. The English-educated lordships in our midst may fail to record the minutes of our meetings, but we should not forget that our moves are being faithfully filed away as complaints. Tomorrow, if they take away all our lands, make us beggars, throw us into prison, we cannot blame politics or policy. We have to blame our lack of paperwork.’
    Srinivasa