Dear Sir,
I eagerly watched your video released yesterday on YouTube, where you discussed the complete lack of participation by Tamil Nadu’s wealthy upper classes in any intellectual or cultural movement connected with the broader Tamil society. You fittingly compare Tamil Nadu’s situation with that of our neighbouring states and especially Bengal, citing Tagore’s example to demonstrate what intense and dedicated involvement of the upper classes in the common intellectual sphere of a society can achieve.
Your comments comparing Tamil Nadu with Bengal made me reflect more carefully upon the recent economic and cultural histories of these two regions. Firstly, looking at the points of commonality. Historically, the elites in both states mainly consisted of two types of people: (i) landlords and (ii) overseas traders. Tagore’s family was unique in being involved in both activities. At most points in time, landlords numerically outnumbered traders in both regions.
Examining the landlords more specifically, I see two fundamental differences that likely shaped the upper classes’ differing trajectories in Tamil Nadu and Bengal regarding their participation in the world of high intellectualism. The first difference is geography. Bengal is a fertile land washed by perennial rivers. The monsoon is almost incidental to the agricultural prospects of Bengal. This is not true in Tamil Nadu. Most agricultural land, including in the fertile Kaveri Delta, is dependent upon a good monsoon. This constant uncertainty is likely to leave an imprint on the mind of the people, including the upper classes. I would argue that this uncertainty is responsible for the risk-averse behaviour of many upper class people in Tamil Nadu (or for that matter, Tamils abroad). They will always choose activities that provide steady income and avoid engaging actively in unremunerative activities. The upper classes of Bengal never faced such constant insecurity, and could therefore devote their time more easily to the finer aspects of life.
There is a second, related reason which has further created this ‘scarcity mindset’ amongst the Tamil upper classes as opposed to what I will call the `abundance mindset’ of the Bengali upper classes. This relates to the historical differences in revenue assessment practices between Tamil Nadu and Bengal. In Bengal, the Permanent Settlement meant there was comparatively less pressure on landlords to remit large amounts of land revenue for about 200 years, which coincided with the Bengali intellectual renaissance. In Tamil Nadu, there was no Permanent Settlement of land revenue, and one bad harvest could completely wreck even a wealthy family’s estate due to the high, fixed tax demands.
I feel that both geography and institutions have created a certain inter-generational trauma in the psyche of the Tamil upper classes. They are extremely conservative despite their wealth, cannot envision themselves as independent thought leaders, and generally lack intellectual ambition.
I would love to know what you think about this assessment. If you agree, what do you think can be done to redeem the Tamil upper classes from this inter-generational trauma?
Thank you.
Warm regards,
Karthik
Dear Sir,
