Tribute to Cho Ramaswamy: No spite in his fearless satire

CHENNAI: A cartoon from a past issue of Thuglak magazine provided Prime minister Narendra Modi with a parallel to the situation he said he was facing. He recalled a cartoon by Cho "wherein people are targeting me with their guns and the common people are standing in front of me. Cho asks, who is the real target - me or the common people?"
"How apt is the cartoon in today's context?" wondered Modi, who has been facing criticism over demonetisation.
Calling Cho Ramaswamy multi-faceted, Modi said if someone were to write the political history of India, it couldn't be done without including Cho, founder editor of Thuglak who passed away recently, and his political commentary. Modi was speaking through teleconference at the "Tribute to Cho" event organized in Chennai on the day of Pongal. Among those who spoke before him were film star Rajinikanth, noted danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam and present Thuglak editor S Gurumurthy.
The occasion was the 47th anniversary of the magazine and every year Cho's address during the anniversary was much awaited for his political analysis and predictions. At several such events, Cho had marked out Modi as a potential future Prime Minister.
Recalling Cho's "incredible ability to mould conditions in his favour," PM Modi said the satirist once made people who were pelting him with eggs laugh by asking them to make an omelette for him instead. He called Thuglak "a platform for all", and said Ramaswamy "would carry views contrary, even hostile to him, and even abusive of him in his own magazine."
Rajinikanth recalled his association with Cho and praised his uncanny ability to foresee the future. He said Cho had predicted during the early days of IPL that it would become a big sporting event and had asked Rajini to buy the Chennai team, he said. "Then it was just a few lakhs. Now it is a few thousand crores," Rajini said.
Rajini also recalled Cho's fearless, humour-laced criticism of political leaders including of former CM MG Ramachandran who was a good friend. He recalled that in the period when Cho had just started Thuglak, MGR's 'Maattukara Velan' directed by Pa Neelakantan was a "super duper hit" running in the theatres then. Cho had penned a series of articles criticising MGR in Tughlak, which, Rajini said, MGR did not care about, but Neelakantan was very angry. In another shooting spot, where MGR and Cho were present, Neelakantan asked Cho about other "good quality" magazines - Cho said they were good magazines but the circulation was less than Tughlak. When Neelakantan wondered how the circulation of good magazines was less and Tughlak's was more, Cho quipped, "What is there to be surprised? Good films are not running. Maattukara Velan is running."
S Gurumurthy talked about how Cho's scholarship and writing was effortless. He also said Cho was an intellectual with a backbone who could stand up to threats and opposition without shying away from battles.