I had gone for the ARR Jai Ho concert in Chennai, and it took place in this never-heard-before part of Chennai. All of us who had gone there were awestruck by the sheer magnitude of advertisement that they had given to a particular company. Later we realised, the concert was sponsored by that particular company, at their new construction plot. Whilst my Tamil friends found it quite normal, me and another friend from Kerala were quite awestruck. Quite awestruck, because nobody, mind you, nobody, the government nor the local parties nor the workers nor the media nor the common people bothered about it. They in fact were happy about the company organising a concert, whatever be the reason. The construction plot was deserted and barren, but still was called "Swarnabhoomi". And us, the mallus, couldn't have been more surprised. But yes, we both agreed on one point, that it would soon turn to a swarnabhoomi, literally. And, that if, IF in case this was in our own beautiful state, a hartal or an opposition frm trade unions would have stalled the construction, let alone the concert. It would have been perceived as a cheap marketing tactic. Jai ho TamilNadu, Jai ho!
We left the concert wondering how longer it would take for our state to learn something from our neighbour.
