Karunanidhi: A Life in Politics

by Sandhya Ravishankar

Wearing his characteristic dark glasses and draped in a yellow shawl, M. Karunanidhi has been a pillar of Tamil and Indian politics for more than six decades. He has been the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam since 1969 and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times. With the death of J. Jayalalithaa, he is the undisputed tallest leader in the state even though his party is not in power and he is in poor health at the age of ninety-five. Karunanidhi's contributions to state and national life are many. He is known for pioneering several social justice and welfare schemes, as also for championing the causes of Dravidian identity and Tamil language and culture. The DMK under him was a crucial ally of the Congress and a constituent of the UPA. At the same time, he has also been embroiled in several controversies, including his party's alleged support for the LTTE, which assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and the involvement of ministers from his party in the 2G spectrum scam. A Life in Politics chronicles the trailblazing life of one of India's most important politicians for the first time in English.

Genres: Biography, Politics, Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

Published May 31, 2018

Reviews

[Umesh Kesavan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an introduction to the events in the leader's life. But mere reportage cannot amount to a biography and the book falls way short of calling it a biography. The author is unsure on how to approach the leader's life-thematically or chronologically. This dilemma ensures that the book is a confused mix of repetitive stuff.

For such a short book,Sudhagaran's marriage (which is peripheral to the life of Karunanidhi) is mentioned twice with full quotes from New York Times. The book does not dwell much on his cinema avatar as well. For a non-Tamil,this is the first biography of the veteran he/she will get to read and that way,the author has done injustice to the subject by writing the book the way it has been.

[Mridula Nambiar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is extremely interesting for the insider view it gives of the Tamil Nadu politics,but after a point the book just gets too repetitive.I couldn't finish it just because the matter felt too redundant.Good attempt though,hope the writer comes out with more books on Tamil politics.I for one will definitely want to read more on the subject.

[Rahul Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, kudos to the writer for crafting an engaging and easy-to-read narrative because books on politicians can be boring. The politics of Tamil Nadu has always intrigued me, especially as a Jayalalithaa admirer. The book begins on a strong note, providing an insightful overview of the Dravidian movement and Karunanidhi’s rise to prominence. I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes shared by various leaders about their interactions with Karunanidhi, which added a personal touch. Sandhya’s writing feels balanced, as she doesn’t shy away from addressing controversies like corruption and the LTTE connection of Karunanidhi.

What fell short for me? Certain events felt repetitive, and I would have appreciated more insights into Karunanidhi’s personal life. Additionally, some objective critique of Dravidian ideology would have added depth to the narrative.

[Prashanth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expected a lot more from the book . Wanted the book to talk about Karunanidhi , the person and his life in politics . The book was a chronological order of the political events involving DMK and the centre which we already know . There were some instances where the author was quoting Duraimurugan and Raja and Thenarasu which were interesting. Talking about events in the first section of the book and then quoting the same in the second half was a bore .. however , an interesting read for all the non tamils and for tamils who have just started following the Dravidian politics ! For others it is just refreshing your memory.

[Yash Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sandhya Ravishankar's book, Karunanidhi, A Life in Politics, is a readable biography of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and one of the tallest leaders of the DMK party, Muthuvel Karunanidhi. The latter started his political journey during his school days when he joined the Periyar's Self-Respect and Social Justice Movement, popularly known as the Dravidian Movement, and went on to become the fountainhead of Tamil Nadu's politics. This book is for those readers who want a glimpse of Karunandihi's life and times, especially those who are not familiar with the Dravidian politics; they can read this.

[Rama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too light to be able to derive enough political context out of MK's doings, too repetitive without enough editing and too much reliance on reports available elsewhere.

In an early page, Karunanidhi is mentioned as having been born in 1923; within the next few pages, the official June 3, 1924 birth rears its head.

Shoddy but very readable.

[Neelakantan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pithy reportage or a overview on Karunanidhi's life in politics. Though the events narrated in the book is familiar to whosoever is following contemporary Tamil Nadu politics, it offers few interesting anecdotes from Kalaignar's life. An easy read!

[Deepish · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book comes out as a cropper in narrating Karunanidhi's life. Most often the book relies heavily on facts available in the open and the author has not delved deep into the life and politics of the Dravidian ideologue.

[Ganesh Krishnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book talks about the major milestone in Kalaignar's life at a very elementary level. Many events have been mentioned repeatedly in the same context. Falls short of a biography by many miles. A repository of timeline maybe!

[Palwai]

Completed reading Biography on #Karunanidhi - 'A Life In Politics' by #SandhyaRavishankar.
It is a book to understand #TamilNadu Politics and to know how not to do Politics.
Concluding remarks -
'end of cult leaders will bring back Democracy into the State'
are best lines in the book

[తాటిపర్తి శ్రీనివాస్ రెడ్డి (Srinivas Reddy Thatiparthy ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a keen follower of Tamil politics and this felt to me very much incomplete and could have been more detailed .

[Raj Nagarajan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book on a long flight from India. I am familiar with the subject of the book, but not the author. The way the book is laid out is annoying. There seem to be several chronological biographies of the man going back and forth as you go through the chapters. This is a larger than life man who had very humble beginnings and played key role in Indian politics for half a century. His major flaw includes not developing next generation of leaders unlike his mentor who developed a good second level of leaders.