கொளத்தூர் கொத்தடிமை

Leading a CBSE school for close to 10 years has shown me just how painful it can be to deal with the government machinery. There are days when you come very close to giving up; not because running a school is difficult, but because you're exhausted from constantly having to give. Even greed should have a ceiling. There has to be a point where they should just live & let live. Every approval (fire, safety, kitchen, hostel, or any other clearance) seems to come with an expectation of money. Every government meeting happening in the proximity of our school, we are not requested but demanded to provide money, school vans, staff, and other resources. An example: the FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022. We were instructed to provide a couple of our school vans for advertisement. Huge posters featuring our Chief Minister and the Chess Olympiad branding were put up on our SCHOOL vehicles. A month after the event, when we requested that they be removed, we were told either to leave them as they were or remove them at our own expense (which was not cheap). What disturbed me even more was hearing government officials openly say that corruption has always existed in TN, but under the current government, they no longer have to hide it or fear getting caught. Those words came from their own mouths. I'm neither for nor against any political party. But when you endure one blow after another for years, it's only natural to feel relieved, and even celebrate, when the wind changes direction & you finally sense the possibility of a fresh breeze.

The DMK ecosystem is attacking me that the school issue I reported was a lie I concocted to help the TVK government. Let me state the facts. We run two rural schools, both free NIOS schools under the Kalaivani Kalvi Maiyam umbrella, one in rural Tenkasi and the other in rural Theni. The Theni school was originally started and run by a retired IPS officer, a honest and upright man. He built very nice facilities but had to shut down his CBSE school because the state government demanded too much money to issue the NOC. He told me that as a honest retired officer he did not have the money to pay and they would not issue the NOC otherwise. He urged us to take over his trust so we could run our free NIOS school in the premises. That is how we started our NIOS school in Theni. Unlike in Tenkasi, where I live, the Theni school faced occasional harassment from the DMK government because we did not have a state government registration, so we tried getting state government approval again (this time for the state board) and that of course would also cost money. So it was in a limbo. Meanwhile in Tenkasi we wanted to build new school facilities (we were operating in make-shift facilities, the ones that came in frequent photos) and we applied for DTCP approval to construct the new buildings. Everyone who knows DTCP in our state knows what kind of corruption happened there under the DMK. We waited patiently for DTCP approval for the new school buildings but the approval never came as long as the DMK was in power. The approval came automatically once the government changed. It is this DTCP approval that I posted about in X. I want to once again appreciate the refreshing change. Not only did the approvals come, government people told us not to pay money to anyone for any approvals. I have to appreciate this in public, having endured what we had endured before. This is the "lie" that DMK wants to attack me on. I do not need their certificate on my character. They can examine their conscience and ask why a technology nerd like me who is mostly immersed in code would post these. If they think I would back down by their vile personal attacks because I am a Brahmin or TVK Stooge or Sanghi or whatever, I will tell them this: unlike you dynasts I grew up with nothing. I studied in Tamil medium schools. I know how to live on nothing. I have dedicated the remainder of my life to make Bharat self reliant in technology while reviving our rural areas, the soul of our eternal sanatana civilization. I will not be intimidated by their attacks. I am unafraid of death, why would I be afraid of the mere DMK? And if they had any conscience they can return the money they looted (they know there they keep it) and then they can attack my character. I will now go back to optimizing the code of our compiler!

Leading a CBSE school for close to 10 years has shown me just how painful it can be to deal with the government machinery. There are days when you come very close to giving up; not because running a school is difficult, but because you're exhausted from constantly having to give. Even greed should have a ceiling. There has to be a point where they should just live & let live. Every approval (fire, safety, kitchen, hostel, or any other clearance) seems to come with an expectation of money. Every government meeting happening in the proximity of our school, we are not requested but demanded to provide money, school vans, staff, and other resources. An example: the FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022. We were instructed to provide a couple of our school vans for advertisement. Huge posters featuring our Chief Minister and the Chess Olympiad branding were put up on our SCHOOL vehicles. A month after the event, when we requested that they be removed, we were told either to leave them as they were or remove them at our own expense (which was not cheap). What disturbed me even more was hearing government officials openly say that corruption has always existed in TN, but under the current government, they no longer have to hide it or fear getting caught. Those words came from their own mouths. I'm neither for nor against any political party. But when you endure one blow after another for years, it's only natural to feel relieved, and even celebrate, when the wind changes direction & you finally sense the possibility of a fresh breeze.