Falling in love forever

Glossary

1) Chapter - 1

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is a southern state in India with a population of 67.86 million (2012). The main spoken language is Tamil. It is one of the fastest growing states in India. Chennai is it's capital city. The city of Kollywood, Rajnikant, IT offices, state of the art hospitals and hard working people. Tamil Nadu is a welfare state with it's growth model being similar to Scandinavian model.

Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu is in the western belt of Tamil Nadu. It was earlier a seat of Chera kings. Archaeological evidence suggests the beginning of civilization in Kongu Nadu around 4th Century BCE.

Now it comprises of ten districts.

Coimbatore - Known as the 'Manchester of South India' because there are many small, medium and large scale industries in Coimbatore. Engineering Colleges in Coimbatore attracts students from all over India.

Nilgiris - Known for it's beautiful mountains

Thiruppur - Popular for it's thriving garment industries.

Namakkal - Famous for poultry farming as well as building automobile parts.

Erode - Known for Asia's largest market for turmeric. Stands as a leader in milk production and edible oils.

Salem - Known for steel factory and juicy mangoes.

Karur - TNPL, 2nd largest Paper producer in Asia, is in Karur. Karur is famous for it's home textiles line like Kitchen linen, Bed linen etc. Another thriving industry in Karur is 'Bus body building'.

Dharmapuri - Famous for it's juicy mangoes

Krishnagiri - Tops in the production of finger millets in Tamil Nadu.

Parts of Dindigul - Famous for it's scenic beauty in Kodaikanal.

Tamil Nadu's caste system

According to Tholkaapiyam (a literary work dating to 3rd century BCE to 3rd Century CE) in historic times people of Tamilzhagam (Tamil Land) were broadly divided under the following castes.

a)Anthanar - Priests of a temple or people whose main profession was preaching religion.

b)Arasar - King

c)Vanigar - Traders

d)Vellalar - People whose profession was agriculture.

Even though the people were divided among these castes in the historic times, they weren't discriminated for their caste. There weren't rigid rules for people to live in a particular caste. The division was based on their profession not birth. There was fluidity. There was no hierarchy. It is said that the chief Adviser of King Raja Raja Chozhan's (947 A.D to 1014) Ministry was Anbil Aniruddha Brahmarayar an Anthanar by caste and he fought in wars. A soldier's son can be a farmer. There were no qualms about it. Inter caste marriages were common in those days.

In the time of King Raja Raja Chozhan, Maravar (People who fought in the army) and Kammalar (People who worked with wood, iron etc) were highly respected.

It is only in the recent centuries, discrimination creeped in the caste system. People of particular castes were not allowed to work in a particular field, enter temples etc. To counter the social imbalance, Reservation in jobs and education was provided by the government. Accordingly the castes which had multiplied into hundreds were classified in the twentieth century as Forward Castes, Backward castes, Most Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes. In most places of India, the famous Mandal commission report on reservation policies was faced with stiff opposition and riots whereas in Tamil Nadu people were Pro Reservation.