kalai vanan

Liberal ; belong to the Dravidian stock

[kalai vanan @_kalaivanan]

#SilluKarupatti
Felt the warmth throughout the movie.Rarely do we see such humanised characterisations @halithashameem👏🏻 BGM nd humming in the kakakadi portion melts me down @pradeepvijay👏🏻Even the smallest of characters have acted so naturally(nurse,mugilan's friend,van driver)

[Leena Manimekalai @LeenaManimekali]

My stream of thoughts on the electoral results, Tamilnadu Assembly 2026.

“What disturbs me is the possibility that people are gradually being detached from reason itself seduced instead into a kind of mass hysteria packaged as revolution. The language of “change” is deployed everywhere, but stripped of ideological depth, historical understanding, or structural analysis. The performance of disruption is replacing the hard labour of transformation.

And so one cannot help but ask: is this truly change, or merely the simulation of change? A manufactured rupture designed to preserve the very structures it claims to oppose? When politics becomes inseparable from image management and mass emotional engineering, democracy risks becoming less an exercise of collective reasoning and more a theatre of manipulation.

Perhaps the greatest danger is not authoritarianism announcing itself openly, but its arrival disguised as hope, entertainment, and public enthusiasm”

Link in the comments

[kalai vanan @_kalaivanan]

Vadakkans sirikranga pa ena paathu 😭

#tamilnadulegislativeassemblyelection2026

[Masoud Pezeshkian @drpezeshkian]

To the people of the United States of America

[The Wire @thewire_in]

A Day in the Life of Der Leader [English] | #memefest

*Nothing in this bears any resemblance to anyone dead or alive

[Tamil Nadu Infra @TamilNaduInfra]

There has been a lot of discussion of late about who gets the credit for the iconic #Kathipara Grade Separator in Chennai.

It’s good to see political parties in TN try to outrun each other in taking credit for infrastructure development rather than fighting over petty issues.

We tried to dig in to find the actual history of the Kathipara interchange, but very little information is available on the internet, and it took some time to find the following details:

👉 Kathipara is India’s first grade separator and a fully centre-funded project executed by NHAI.

👉 Land acquisition for the Kathipara interchange was done predominantly (though not entirely) by the ADMK government under J. Jayalalithaa, including the handover of SIDCO Industrial Estate land.

👉 The Kathipara grade separator project was initiated by the UPA government under Manmohan Singh as PM, in which DMK was a key coalition member, holding important portfolios including the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) under T.R. Baalu.

👉 Land acquisition for the project was not fully completed until 2007, when DMK was in power in TN.

👉 The foundation stone for the Kathipara grade separator (along with flyovers at Maduravoyal, Padi, and Koyambedu) was laid by DMK leader M. Karunanidhi on January 30 and February 1, 2005. Notably, he was not the CM at the time (J. Jayalalithaa was the CM and was not part of the event). The foundation stone was laid on behalf of the Union Government and Union MoRTH Minister T.R. Baalu.

👉 The progress of the Kathipara grade separator was closely and periodically reviewed by Union MoRTH Minister T.R. Baalu, and the fully completed interchange was inaugurated by then TN CM M. Karunanidhi on October 26, 2008. Kathipara is undoubtedly a brainchild of the DMK, with its role in the UPA being a primary factor in making it the country’s first grade separator.

👉 The Chennai Metro Phase I project was initiated by the UPA government in collaboration with the then TN government led by DMK, in a 50:50 partnership between the Centre and State in 2007. The two metro lines above Kathipara, as part of the Phase I network, were planned, sanctioned, and had execution begun during the DMK term with the groundbreaking done by then Deputy CM MK Stalin on June 2009. Significant progress in Phase I Metro occurred after the ADMK came to power in 2011 (despite attempts by CM Jayalalithaa to stall the project). The Phase I network was eventually completed and inaugurated in phased manner fully during the ADMK regime.

👉 The space below the Kathipara grade separator, now known as Kathipara Urban Square, was initiated by the ADMK regime in 2018, but slowed down due to COVID. The project was completed and inaugurated by CM M.K. Stalin in December 2021.

👉 The under-construction, super-tall 108-ft-high Metro Corridor 5 across the Kathipara grade separator—over and above the Phase I Metro lines—was approved and initiated during the ADMK regime with BJP at the Centre (Foundation stone for Phase II was laid by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Nov 2020, with much of its execution happening under the current DMK government, including securing approvals and funding support from the BJP-led Union Government.

DMK, INC, ADMK, and BJP have all contributed significantly at various stages to make Kathipara what it is today. However, it remains undisputed that DMK was the prime mover in turning the iconic Kathipara into a reality.

Hope successive governments in TN strive to outdo each other in infrastructure development in the state, rather than limiting themselves to competing over taking credit for it.

References:

https://t.co/ms17ZfeDqH

https://t.co/AtfxPAc1eR

https://t.co/zzTvUPEkIY

https://t.co/mOvKfmMm9v

https://t.co/XvnWJvpQYo

https://t.co/T0jkgorxpP

https://t.co/1aCb4SCkKH

Video credits:
https://t.co/A12zF7hdUg

[Mr. வெட்டி @iam_Vetti]

*கத்திப்பாரா மேம்பாலத்தைக் கட்டி எழுப்பியது ஜெயலலிதா என்று ‘ஸ்டிக்கர்’ ஒட்ட வந்திருக்கிறது அதிமுக!*

ஜெயலலிதா முதலமைச்சராக இருந்த 2001-2006 காலகட்டத்தில் தொடங்கப்பட்டதால் இந்த ஸ்டிக்கர் ஒட்டப்படுகிறது.

ஒருவேளை இது ஜெயலலிதாவின் திட்டமாக இருந்தால், கலைஞரால் அடிக்கல் நாட்டியிருக்க முடியுமா?

கடந்த 2005, ஜனவரி 30 ஆம் தேதி கத்திப்பாரா உள்ளிட்ட 4 பாலங்களுக்கு அடிக்கல் நாட்டுவிழா நடந்தது. அடிக்கல் நாட்டியவர் ’திமுக தலைவர்’ கலைஞர். (அன்று வெளியான செய்தி இணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது)

ஒன்றியத்தில் நெடுஞ்சாலைகள் துறையின் அமைச்சராக டி.ஆர்.பாலு இருந்ததால்தான் இந்தப் பாலம் கட்டப்பட்டது.

இந்தப் பாலத்தைக் கட்டவிடாமல் தடுக்க, திட்டத்தைத் தள்ளிப்போட பல இடைஞ்சல்களைக் கொடுத்தது ஜெயலலிதாவின் அரசு.

ஜனவரி மாதமே கலைஞரால் அடிக்கல் நாட்டப்பட்ட பாலத்திற்குத் தேவையான சில இடங்கள் தமிழ்நாடு வீட்டுவசதி வாரியம், சிட்கோ போன்றவற்றிற்கு சொந்தமானதாக இருந்தது. அதைத் தராமல் இழுத்தடித்ததார் ஜெயலலிதா. (இது தொடர்பான நெடுஞ்சாலைகள் துறை அமைச்சர் டி.ஆர்.பாலுவின் அறிக்கையும் இணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது)

சரியான நேரத்துக்கு இடம் கிடைக்காமல் பல மாதங்கள் பணிகளே நடக்காமல் இருந்தது. 2006 இல் கலைஞர் ஆட்சிக்கு வந்த பிறகுதான் கத்திப்பாரா பாலப் பணிகள் விரைந்து முடிக்கப்பட்டன. கலைஞரால் திறந்துவைக்கப்பட்டது.

இத்தனை ஆவணங்கள் வெளிப்படையாக இருக்கும்போதே ‘ஜெயலலிதாவின் ஸ்டிக்கர்’ ஒட்டுகிறார்கள் என்றால்…

[Fuad 🫆 @FuadCadani]

“Networking” is really just glorified asslicking for social climbers, be good at whatever it is you do to the point it can’t be ignored. The best relationships are always built organically.

[Rakesh Kumar @Rakeshhkumaar]

“I have learned that a woman can be a fighter, a freedom fighter, a political activist, and still fall in love and be loved. She can be married, have children, be a mother. Revolution must mean life in all its forms.”

-Leila Khaled, Palestinian liberation fighter

[Aaditya Narayan @AadityaN_28]

That Arshdeep throw towards Mitchell was absolutely on btw, IMO. Mitchell was not in his crease. An apology on the spot probably a miss from Arshdeep, but people acting like Arshdeep threw that intentionally to hurt Mitchell have all lost the plot completely.

[Siddarth K.M. (சித்தார்த் கோ.மு.) @Sidzepp]

Seeing this post being subjected to trolling. Kamal Haasan being a Rajya Sabha MP and founder of a political party aside.

Can we name five actors of his calibre and generation who publicly champion respect for sovereignty and call out imperialism in today's India?

[Raghava Krishna | రాఘవ కృష్ణ @Anviksiki]

Such an endearing post match conference by Sanju Samson.

He spoke of the inner struggle that everyone has to go through to overcome fear of failure, but few speak of without pretense.

Also the humility to say it could have gone the other way and why faith is important.

There is the Hardik way to double down and not let doubt creep in - looks spectacular when it comes off, ridiculous when it doesn't.

There is the Samson way to wrestle with self doubt, persevere but know yourself well enough to not put on a mask. Feels authentic but can be self limiting.

There is the Virat way - to channel aggression into maniacal discipline and bend the world to write your history.

There is the Sachin way - Master the terrain but remain the servant of the Game to be the GOAT.

Sports is the reminder of the best possibility in us.

There is no one way for all - Only the way to channel your Svabhava towards its potential but realize the larger game is to give it all but not give in or give up but also be content at the end of the day.

[Cyrus Janssen @thecyrusjanssen]

An Iranian man left this comment on my YouTube channel. This is without a doubt the single best explanation of the reality facing Iranian people today👇

"As an Iranian, I can tell you the situation is no longer just political—it's existential. We are trapped between two collapsing structures: one internal, one external. On one hand, we face a deeply dysfunctional government, led by the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Republic’s unelected institutions.

Decades of economic mismanagement, suppression of dissent, and brutal ideological control have alienated multiple generations. No one believes in reform anymore—because every attempt has either been co-opted or crushed. But here's the paradox: We are also terrified of regime collapse—because we've watched the aftermath of Western intervention in countries like Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan. Each was promised freedom; each descended into chaos, civil war, or foreign occupation.

So no, we don't trust the U.S. or Israel. Not because we support our regime—but because we know how imperial powers treat ‘liberated’ nations in the Middle East.

Freedom, in their language, often means vacuum, fire, and permanent instability. Right now, many Iranians live with three truths at once: The Islamic Republic is morally and politically bankrupt. The alternatives offered by foreign actors are not liberation—they’re collapse.

A bad government is survivable. No government is not. We are not silent because we agree. We are cautious because we’ve learned—too well—what happens when superpowers decide to "help." In a sentence: Iran is a nation held hostage by its own regime, but haunted by the fate of its neighbors. We are stuck in a house we hate, surrounded by fires we fear more."

[Mr.Bai🍉 @Mr_Bai007]

You speak Hindi; because, you know Hindi.

I speak Hindi; because, you know ONLY Hindi.!!

@ptrmadurai 🫡

[Siddharth @DearthOfSid]

Kerala is India’s best-performing state in public health as per NITI Aayog. It ranks the best in infant mortality, maternal mortality & life expectancy. Its COVID & Nipah responses earned global praise.

The only RW cope left: “why does the CM go to the US?”

Let’s unpack this 🧵

[MooknayakDr @sathisshzdoc]

7 mins of pure masterclass from shaanavas 🔥🔥🔥

[RAHUL @RahulSeeker]

Twenty-Three years ago, she stripped bare the EVIL of the world called the Great Imperial America - Arundhuti Roy. Use 🎧Watch 🎥Share.
#Venezuela

[Siddarth K.M. (சித்தார்த் கோ.மு.) @Sidzepp]

This particular scene is problematic for multiple reasons:

1. It implies women have only surface-level understanding of ideologies, 2. it portrays women who follow leaders like Periyar and Ambedkar to be stupid, 3. it lets a man define what 'feminism' is.

1/5