DECLINE OF THE BRAHMINS FROM TAMILNADU

The Brahmins in Tamilnadu a state of India form hardly a small percentage in the overall population of the state. But their contribution in many fields, be it art,literature, cinema, music, medicine or technology had been immense which helped the state become numero uno among the states in the country during and immediately after independence.  The state produced some of the best administrators who passed out of the government schools and went onto become great administrators thanks to their sheer dent of hard work and discipline.

The changes in the political scenario during the second half the 1960s saw the parties professing pure dravidian outlook in policy and practice coming to power.  Though the parties that came to power on the plank of anti Hindi agitation and food scarcity, slowly started showing their true colours and their staunch anti brahmin attitude came to the fore.  The parent party of the ruling party in the state in the early 1970s, went about its business of defaming the brahmins in every opportunity and even went to the extent of holding a public procession ridiculing the Gods and garlanding the photos of the gods with chappals etc. The party in power did not take any action against such motivated show of anti brahminism which amounted to whipping up passions against a caste or community. This action alone would have justified banning the party and arresting the party leaders who arranged and participated in such a move. But sadly in Tamilnadu this was not to be.  This inaction by the state government gave a fillip to the other parties mushrooming in the next few decades to take anti brahmin sentiments a shade deeper and wider, though the current crop of brahmins since before the independence have nothing to do with the alleged atrocities against the dalits in the state.  The policies of the successive governments in the state were all designed with keeping the brahmins out of the jobs in the state government or in any state PSU.  

The emboldened anti brahmin groups had started attacking the hapless brahmins, in one case cutting of the tuft of an aged brahmin, in another cutting the sacred thread and in another case in a holy town attempting to desecrate the temple which was stoutly defended by the temple workers (brahmins) and in the melee the temple workers suffered heavily.  The police though came late took action against the temple workers for the injured few on the other side who were injured in the retaliation.  This action against the brahmins has been continuing ever since and the latest had been the act of a fringe party in celebrating adorning a piglet with the sacred thread.

However, this blog is not about the political atrocities or the sufferings of the brahmins in Tamilnadu in the hands of political parties.  The Tamil Brahmins (Tambrahm for short) had been producing exceptionally talented people in all walks of life,be it in fine arts, music, cinema, journalism, science, medicine, education, etc.  But of late a trend has set in that unless you do a course in IT or join a IT or ITES company, you are not a smart Tambrahm boy or girl.  The IT revolution has kindled such a frenzy among people in general and Tambrahms in particular that every one wants to do a course in IT or related field, or join a IT company. Of course, the returns of the labour is very good.  Sundar Pichai of Goodle is a hero to many Tambrahms both the parents and wards alike.  Every other Tambrahm parent want their ward to become another Sundar Pichai and in that dream develop their ability in a particular path of IT and related fields.

This has resulted in some serious impacts on the generally multi faceted Tambrahm community. In any social gathering if you happen to bump into any Tambrahm parent, the first question that comes out of them, would normally be like in which IT company your son/ daughter is working or something similar.  The number of Tambrahm children taking up anything other than IT and IT related subjects for their under graduate or graduate studies or jobs has been reducing in the last two decades.  If a child has pursued any other interest, the parent of the child is looked down upon by others as if their ward had done something unthinkable.  Even in marriage alliances, this has become an issue resulting in many boys and girls not marrying well late into their 30s.

In a few decades from now, it may not be surprising to see that there may not be any Tambrahm in the field of medicine or law or science or administration. Even now the number of Tambrahm children opting for administration work has come down sharply. Many of the children choose corporate career to government career.   The impact of the anti brahmin attitude of the successive governments in the state and the no job market in the state for qualified Tambrahm people had resulted in them moving out to greener pastures to other states in the early 1970s. This has become so acute that now many of them are settled abroad with a very poor chance of their return back to the country or the state.  The opening up of the IT sector in the country in early 1990s coupled with the broad basing of IT education to other universities and colleges,the children had started moving out of the country in droves.  Added to this the huge pay pockets offered in the campus recruitment by companies in India and MNCs for posting abroad,had opened the flood gates. The prospect of getting a good job with a better dollar pay abroad enticed many parents sending their wards abroad for a post graduate degree from a university in US.  Mostly these children were educated in the IT field and the H1B Visa from the US government or similar visas from other countries enabled these children taking up IT education and IT related jobs.  

The above practice of the Tambrahm going out of the state and the country in droves reduced the numbers further.  Given the present climate in the state, none of the people who migrated out of the state want to come back.  Their influence on the various fields in the state has tremendously reduced. The Tambrahms effectively has become a miniscule minority in a state which he made a powerhouse with his relentless work habits and discipline. A community which has produced some of the greats in every field has  now shrunk in size and slowly in a few decades may become a Dodo in Tamilnadu.