At AIADMK’s Dindigul meet on Sunday, speeches stretched past noon until the unmistakable aroma of biryani drifted in from the dining hall. Party functionaries and booth agents, who had gathered since 11 am, rose in unison, not for applause but for plates, leaving former minister and AIADMK MLA ‘Natham’ R Viswanathan staring at rows of empty chairs from the dais. “Did you come for the meeting or the biryani?” he thundered, before resigning himself to the reality that politics often yields to the pull of food.
Saravanan MP
Wake-up call
At the famed Samayapuram temple in Tiruchy, the superintendent seems to have mistaken his office for a deluxe dormitory. For nearly two years, staff say, he has perfected the art of “superintending” from under his desk, eyes firmly shut. Instead of overseeing daily rituals, he allegedly offers a steady chorus of snores, leaving colleagues to wonder if he’s on a secret night shift somewhere else. When asked about his slumber, he responded with the silence of a saint in deep meditation. Senior officials suggested he may have a health issue — though some joke his only affliction is being well-rested. Frustrated staff are now demanding either a transfer or a medical check-up to jolt the temple back to life.
P Thiruselvam
Council of empty chairs
When Greater Chennai Corporation tabled a resolution on August 26 to spend `8.52 crore on a private consultant to monitor integrated waste management facilities, including the upcoming waste-to-energy plant at Kodungaiyur, many expected fireworks. CPI, CPM, VCK and Congress had long called the project toxic for north Chennai. But by the time the resolution came up, CPI and CPM had walked out earlier over sanitary workers’ arrests, VCK left after zero hour, and Congress councillor Dillibabu, from the very ward where the plant is set to rise, had also exited. Slipped in among 84 resolutions, the once fiercely opposed project was passed without a murmur. No protests, no slogans, just silence. Sometimes, absence speaks the truth more louder than dissent.
(Compiled by Adarsh TR and Dinesh Jefferson E)