You may love it or hate it. But you can’t ignore it. Be it politics or economics, Tamil Nadu has always stood out in the national map. So much so, the Dravidian state has often managed to occupy a unique place in the minds of political thinkers and business analysts alike. With the State set to go for general elections, Tamil Nadu — with its often demonstrated propensity to stay different — has become the focus of all eyes yet again. Will it be any different this time around?

Historically, the State spoke differently and decisively in all elections. A repeat of the past is what all and sundry is grudgingly conceding to happen this time too in Tamil Nadu. But the national parties — be it the largely weakened Congress or a belligerent BJP — are stretching themselves fully to crack the Tamil Nadu conundrum.

Well, the State has, in very many ways, been a trendsetter. It is a pioneer not just in politics (the Dravidian culture is still deeply rooted here) but in the field of business as well. Much water has flowed down the river Cauvery since the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh led India into the liberalisation road in early 1990s under the adroit leadership of PV Narasimha Rao, who deftly navigated a minority Congress Government to a full-term after the tragic assassination of Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur, the birth place of Vaishnava acharya saint Ramanuja.

A trip down memory lane will indeed reveal a “thinking state” where “out-of-box” minds more often than not revel in venturing into uncharted courses. Not surprisingly, Tamil Nadu has often proved a first choice laboratory for the business enterprise as a whole to experiment their innovations — in terms of concepts and products.

Far from conservative

For all those uninitiated, the mindset of a businessman in Tamil Nadu is conservative. A general view is that a businessman in this part of the world is largely risk-averse. The converse is the truth, however. History is replete with instances where the so-called conservative industrialists of Tamil Nadu exhibited their risk-taking abilities, demonstrated their aggressive business instincts and revealed their propensity to think the “unthinkable”.

Many firsts, in fact, have originated in this land. The leasing concept had its roots in Tamil Nadu. AC Muthiah-promoted First Leasing Company was the pioneer in this field. The concept of corporate school, too, had its history traced to this State. A residential school, Triveni Academy at Oragadam near Chennai (which has now emerged as a new industrial hotspot around the city of Chennai) was promoted by Madras Motor Finance and Guarantee Ltd (MMFSL) Founded in the middle of 1987 by PV Sivan Nair, the original owner of MMFGL, the school changed hands in the 1990s when MMFGL was taken over by P Rajarathinam, who shot into national limelight when he acquired a series of stressed companies across the country in the 1990s.

Who will forget GV Films, promoted by late G Venkateshwaran. It was, perhaps, the first corporate film production company in the country. It wasn’t really a success story in terms of business for the chartered accountant Venkateshwaran. Maybe his idea proved a little premature at that point in time. So many pioneering concepts were brewed in Tamil Nadu. Sterling Holiday Resorts brought to the country the time-share concept for the first time.

Of all the experiments, there were a couple of outstanding ones from Tamil Nadu. The corporate hospital promoted by Pratap C Reddy of Apollo today stands tall in terms of utility and also as an iconic Indian brand. The introduction of shampoo in sachet by Velvet not only revolutionised the art of selling in India but also gave multinational Hindustan Lever a real run for its money.

Are industrialists in Tamil Nadu conservative? The hostile takeover of Wendt India by the Murugappa group in the 1990s would certainly have cleared the doubts. When everybody was hesitating, Suresh Krishna-led Sundram Fasteners was the first engineering company to set up a manufacturing base in China. None would have bet on a TVS company to do the daring act at that point of time.

Out-of-box thinking could sometimes force one out of business. In the case of Tamil Nadu, too, there were quite a number of failures. What is important, however, is that there is willingness to step out and move into an unexplored path. That makes the State unique. And, that is why perhaps it remains a significant fulcrum in national politics and business.

At the political level, what a Kamarajar (former chief minister) with little educational background did very many summers ago is still being applauded by global institutions. The mid-day meal scheme introduced by him to lure kids to come to school is still a decisive tool to provide education to all in a country where a sizeable section of the population is struggling to get one square meal a day.

A “thinking” Tamil Nadu often acts differently. The national parties are still figuring out ways and means of decoding the conundrum. The experimenting mindset doesn’t reveal itself for the not-so-discerning eyes. That gives a clue or two to the importance of Tamil Nadu in national business and politics. Ushering in a new normal in Tamil Nadu could be a challenging and fascinating task.

The writer is former Business Editor of The Hindu

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