Who is this Thillaiyaadi Valliyammaa?

If you prefer to read it in Tamil, go here.

Kuruvi (Sparrow) – Though the script had scope in showing the plight of the couriers who take things from India to Malaysia and other South East Asian countries and the pitiful state of the bonded labourers in the stone quarries, this was a movie which was loyal in displaying Actor Vijay’s daredevil stunts which even his fans began to ridicule. This is not a review of the movie. In a society where the real Sparrows are near extinct and Bharathi’s Sparrows as the embodiment of freedom have been forgotten, the only Kuruvi that we are left with might be this one. Sadly, though.

The movie has a song ‘Mozha Mozhannu Yammaa Yammaa’. They are non lexicals. So don’t bother about the translation.

The lines at around 00:40 are

'Thillaiyaadi Valliyammaa             Thillaiyaadi Valliyammaa 
Dhill irundhaa nilladimmaa           Stop if you have the guts 
Thillaalangadi aaduvomaa            Shall we dance to the shenanigans? 
Thiruttuthanam pannuvomaa’       Shall we do some mischief?

Intrigued and wanting to know what this Thillaiyaadi Valliyamma had actually done to be honoured with a line in actor Vijay’s song, I did some research.

Munusamy-Janaki was a weaver couple living in Thillaiyaadi which is in today’s Nagappattinam district, Tamil Nadu. The textile industry had crash landed and they moved to South Africa in search of labour through agents. Munusamy opened a small eatery in Johannesburg. Valliyammaa was born on February 28, 1898. Indians were treated very badly in South Africa then. They were bonded labourers; they could not raise their finger against any injustice meted out to them; they could not switch masters; they were humiliated everywhere; they had no voting rights; they could not travel together with the whites; they were not treated as humans irrespective of their educational qualification. They lived in slums. On 14-3-1913 a law was passed stating that ‘any marriage not according to the Church would be declared null and void.’ This meant legal Hindu marriages would be nullified and the wife would lose her status and be relegated to a concubine.

M.K. Gandhi protested against this and the women gathered behind Kasturi Bai. Valliyammaa and her mother Janaki joined the protests. On 29-10-1913 the women started their march from Johannesburg. When they were about to enter Natal, they were arrested at Volksrust on 22-12-1913 and were sentenced to three months of rigorous imprisonment. Valliyammaa was 15. She refused to pay the bail amount and languished in prison. As her health deteriorated, she was released on 11-2-1914 before completing her full sentence. She was only bones when she was out of prison and had to be covered in a rug and carried home. She died 11 days later on 22-2-1914.

She heard someone tell, “Why don’t you people register and become South Africans instead? Indians! India doesn’t even have a flag! What are you really fighting for?”

 

She replied, “If having a flag is what would give form to India, then here it is”, she said, tearing off her sari and waved it triumphantly, “MY FLAG! MY MOTHERLAND!” It is said that the sari that she tore was saffron-white-green colored and hence most of the flags of the Indian Independence movement were based on these three colors. And the trend applies to the Indian National Flag too.

Once during the protests when a white soldier aimed his gun at Gandhi, Valliyammaa came in the middle and dared the soldier to shoot.

Gandhi met her and asked, “Do you not regret having been to jail? Look at you!”

“If going back to jail again would add to the cause, I would do it again”, she replied.

Gandhi wrote in ‘Indian Opinion’, “We have lost one of the true daughters of India. She did her duty without any questions. She was the embodiment of a true woman’s qualities like patience and self respect. Her sacrifice will not go in vain. The loss of Valliammai would perhaps affect me more than that of my elder brother Lakshmidass. It is said when Gandhi later visited Thillaiyaadi, he touched the soil of the village and sought blessings.

A girl. Not even a lady. A 15 year old girl. Though she had never visited her homeland, she fought for it. We were complaining about our class X exams being tough when we were 15. She was in prison when she was 15. When we were fighting with adolescence, she was fighting against oppression.

This girl’s name has been used in the most derogatory manner by the Tamil cine industry.  But then it is stupid to expect something better from an industry which has used the words “Puratchi” (Revolution) and “Thalapathy (Leader/General) with utmost contempt.

‘Viththaga Kavignar’ Pa. Vijay (Viththaga Kavignar = Artistic Poet) penned the lyrics for this song. What kind of stupid art is this? For a lame reason that he wanted a line which started as ‘thi’ and ended as ‘maa’ he has used ‘Thillaiyaadi Valliyammaa’. It seems fair to infer that since he used her name, he should have had some basic knowledge about who Valliyammaa was.

Not even an ounce of thought that she was a 15 year old.

No respect for the life she lived.

No second thoughts about the context of the song in which her name is used.

Can anyone’s named be used if Vijay wants ‘to do some mischief’ with Trisha? Though the poet writes only for money, if a writer is irresponsible then will the society stay sane?

The censor board is a nincompoop, as it is always in such cases. The line has been changed to “Thillumullu Valliyammaa” (Thillumullu = Deceptive in the song’s context). Though it is heartening to see that it has been censored, it becomes useless as the song is released atleast 2 months before the movie. So the original lyrics will stay in the minds and the change might even go unnoticed. Here it is Thillaiyaadi Valliyammaa and here it is Thillumullu Valliyammaa.

At a time when we are satisfied that we have honoured our nation’s heroes with changing our Facebook profile pictures, updating, sharing, liking and sharing statuses, this is an utter shame to us. Think.