Barely a year into her first term as chief minister, Jayalalithaa had to tackle a student agitation against her decision to hike bus fares. As students across Chennai colleges went on strike and organized a rally, they were told that the chief minister was like a mother and she was advising them not to take to the streets. Partially rolling back the hike, the "motherly" Jayalalithaa asked the students to focus on their studies.
Jayalalithaa was in her early forties then, and it was likely the first time that the mother concept was invoked in reference to her. Brand Amma had been set in motion, it would seem.
Just around that time the cradle baby scheme was launched so poor parents could leave their newborn girls in the care of the government. For these parents in villages, a girl child was a burden. Female infanticide - even foeticide - was common. Many infant girls were saved from the clutches of death by the scheme and eventually given for adoption. This was among the earliest Amma initiatives of Jayalalithaa.
The idea of a motherly leader is novel in the state despite Tamil Nadu having a tradition of giving nicknames to leaders. E V Ramaswamy was Periyar, Annadurai was Anna, Karunanidhi became Kalaignar and M G Ramachandran became an abbreviation. Among the younger leaders, Stalin is Thalapathi and Anbumani is Chinnaiyya.While for the others the nicknames were titles that bestowed respect and identity or were simply terms of endearment, in the case of Amma, the purpose is much bigger. If one observes and follows the rise of Brand Amma, it would be evident that personal branding strategies have been carefully used over the years. Full story...
Related posts:
Jayalalithaa was in her early forties then, and it was likely the first time that the mother concept was invoked in reference to her. Brand Amma had been set in motion, it would seem.
Just around that time the cradle baby scheme was launched so poor parents could leave their newborn girls in the care of the government. For these parents in villages, a girl child was a burden. Female infanticide - even foeticide - was common. Many infant girls were saved from the clutches of death by the scheme and eventually given for adoption. This was among the earliest Amma initiatives of Jayalalithaa.
The idea of a motherly leader is novel in the state despite Tamil Nadu having a tradition of giving nicknames to leaders. E V Ramaswamy was Periyar, Annadurai was Anna, Karunanidhi became Kalaignar and M G Ramachandran became an abbreviation. Among the younger leaders, Stalin is Thalapathi and Anbumani is Chinnaiyya.While for the others the nicknames were titles that bestowed respect and identity or were simply terms of endearment, in the case of Amma, the purpose is much bigger. If one observes and follows the rise of Brand Amma, it would be evident that personal branding strategies have been carefully used over the years. Full story...
Related posts:
- India's Jayalalithaa to return as chief minister of Tamil Nadu...
- Jayalalithaa's arrest: 113 died of shock, 41 committed suicide...
- Tamil Nadu chief Jayalalithaa feeds goodwill with five-rupee meals...
- Tamil Nadu's Jayalalitha dishes out free rice, free gold after election triumph...
- After the big idli hit, Tamil Nadu's Jayalalithaa offers veggies, "Amma" mineral water...
No comments:
Post a Comment