In the Foreword, the author says "There are approximately a hundred billion stars in our local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in this Universe, there shines a star. But every one of those stars is a Sun". This comparison was very gripping and increased my curiosity.
The name Moon-Watcher sounded very much different. At the end of the first chapter, it's mentioned that of all the creatures who had yet walked on earth, the man-apes were the first to look steadfastly at the Moon and hence he has been christened as Moon-Watcher. He disposes off his dead father's body by leaving to the hyenas. I had never read about such things. Now, I could visualize how our ancestors would have lived.
After reading the lines,
"Yet the thousands of tons of succulent meat roaming over the savannah and through the bush was not only beyond their reach; it was beyond their imagination. In the midst of plenty they were slowly starving to death.
On the planet Earth the first crude knot had been tied. Moon-Watcher felt the first faint twinges of a new and potent emotion. Discontent had come into his soul, and he had taken one small step towards humanity."
makes us wonder how the author had gone into so much details.
"From time to time his hands clenched unconsciously in the patterns that would determine his new way of life." Without using our hands properly, we wouldn't have reached this level of intelligence. Now, I realize why the aliens instructed Moon-Watcher to pick a stone and hit the bull's eye. With this, hunting started and they weren't hungry again.
I seriously doubt why the ape-men didn't get the hunting instincts by seeing other wild animals.
I thought Moon-Watcher was the Protagonist. Only after reading the Section T.M.A - 1, I understood Moon-Watcher was just an introduction.
When I read articles about the dangers of AI, I couldn't understand the impact it would result in. The way HAL killed Poole and opened the airlock and killed the 3 Hibernators, one will definitely know why many feel AI might become a danger to humanity.
After reading the post 1 & post 2, I understood better.
3 million years back, when the New Rock (metal) made Moon-Watcher to think about something other than basic survival, another Monolith was implanted in Moon. And this large 1:4:9 Monolith is the Protagonist.
I was wondering why the year 2001 is mentioned in the book title. In the Chapter X, Dr. Floyd is welcomed by a large sign which read:
WELCOME TO CLAVIUS BASE
U.S. Astronautical Engineering Corps
1994
In Chapter XV: "If all went well, they would be back on Earth within seven years". So, I guessed, the travel time from Earth to Saturn is 7 years. They started from Earth in 1994 and will reach Saturn in 2001.
This book was written in 1968. On October 15, 1997, the spacecraft Cassini was sent to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. It took 7 years to reach Saturn. Its mission ended on September 15, 2017.
Now, you will be very curious to read the below sequels:
2010: Odyssey Two 2061: Odyssey Three 3001: The Final Odyssey
Many sites give credit to Reuters for the above photo. When I visited the 41st Chennai Book Fair, Nakkheeran Publications had a Stall and found the below photos. So, the actual credits should go to Nakkheeran Publications.
The quote in the Introduction was very much inspiring "It's like a football team. All eleven play, but one scores the goal". After finishing the book, I had mixed feelings and made me to do further research. This analysis raised a lot of questions and I doubted whether the goal was scored by fair means or the STF had given Veerappan to taste his own medicine. If you re-read the book, you will feel Veerappan deserved it, but his partners in crime have escaped.
In the Rise of a Brigand, it's mentioned that Veerappan had invited a rival gang for a meal. After the meal, his men opened fire immediately, thus wiping out the competition. But, Nakkheeran gives a different view in his Part 2 Interview.
In A Blow to Veerappan, if you recall the August 1992 incident, Naika pulled Harikrishna and Shakeel and their white Ambassador had multiple holes. It looks very much similar to Veerappan's death, in a white Tempo Traveller filled with bullet holes.
22 - charred bodies in the Good Friday Massacre will assure us that Veerappan got what he deserved.
Gopal Hosur, the STF SP (May 1993), who had 55 sutures in his neck after the ambush in MM Hills, shares his experience in the below TEDx event.
In The STF's First Casualty - Senthil, at the end of a day-long futile jungle search, Senthil would charge up a tall rock and scream at the top of his voice, "Veerappan! Where are you? I have come for you". During an operation at Sorgam Valley, a bullet tunnelled through his left eye and penetrated his brain. Veerappan too faced the same on his fateful day. "No mission haunts you more than the one from which you return carrying the stiffening body of a buddy, even if you are a commando". Veerappan's death will be the only answer for all those missions.
In the Unfriendly Fire, the line Dei suttuteiyada (You've shot me), will send shock waves.
Veerappan's 10 Commandments for releasing Rajkumar.
A few videos have been removed. Nakkheeran has officially released the below video with more details.
Earlier, I heard about Vachathi incident but didn't knew much about it. After reading the சோளகர் தொட்டி Book Review, I felt this was one of the major incidents but was not mentioned much in the book. I searched through the book for the word Vachathi and didn't find it. Then, I searched for STF and found Vaachatti mentioned on Page 130. The Justice for Vachathi article from FrontLine gives a detailed view of the Vachathi incident.
In The Last Victim, we don't have a confirmed answer for the former Karnataka minister H. Nagappa's death. In the below Nakkheeran's Part - 1 Interview (at 17:13), he explains that Nagappa's wife had come to meet Jayalalitha. But, Jayalalitha insisted to discuss anything other than Nagappa's release.
In the Contact, at Last, Red took out a lottery ticket and tore into half. He handed over one piece to Mr. X and had the other half. "This will serve as Anna's travel ticket. When your man meets ours, they should match the edges. Arrange for a vehicle to bring out four people". This reminds me of the movie Ayan where a similar strategy was used for smuggling.
The revealations from Veerappan's Astro chart is very interesting.
The Map in the last cover doesn't make any sense in the beginning. After reading the book fully, it gives a clear picture and the author deserves special appreciation for bringing out this. Adding a Timeline of activities and events, in the future editions will be easy for reference.
Below this grave lies not only Veerappan, but millions of secrets and truth.
Veerappan's Wife's Interview
The Journalists are questioning her so much and she handled it very well. Will they ever raise one question to Vijay Kumar?
Unanswered Questions
1. This book review motivated me to do more research on Veerappan and he too raised a lot of questions.
2. Page 89 - Veerappan's younger brother, Arjunan was arrested by the STF. The Karnataka Police demanded that he be handed over to them for interrogation. Arjunan and Veerappan's 2 aides were formally transferred into the custody of the Karnataka Police and were taken away in a police van. When the van moved about 40 Km, they heard strange sounds from the back. When the back of the van was opened, he found them to have taken Cyanide capsules and died instantaneously. Even a layman knows it's not possible to get Cyanide in Police custody.
3. Veerappan's sister Mariammal had committed suicide. So, he brutally beheaded Srinivas, the Karnataka forest official, blaming him for the suicide of his sister.
4. The death of former Karnataka minister H. Nagappa is not yet known.
5. Page 130 - "In 1992, it was alleged that STF personnel entered these two villages on the pretext of searching for smuggled sandalwood and Veerappan, and assaulted and raped some of the locals. The involvement of the STF in the Chinnampathi case was never proved. Ultimately, not a sinlge STF person was held guilty".
The article from TamilWeek raises a lot of Troubling questions about the killing of Veerappan. It clearly says that The Commission recommended among other things the immediate compensation of Indian Rs. 10,000 each to 19 women raped by STF personnel.
6. Page 223 - In The Longest Day, it's mentioned that "A stretcher was added and there were 3 portraits of deities. Lord Venkateswara in the middle had a camera fixed on his forehead, to pass on real-time information".
Page 232 - In The Shootout at Padi, "The Sweet Box was meant to block the path of the oncoming Cocoon. It also housed three tech experts, who would recieve signals from the surveillance camera concealed inside the ambulance. It was their job to confirm that the target was inside the vehicle before we intercepted it".
Page 235 - In the T minus 120 seconds, "The tech team has confirmed four people in the back of Cocoon. But the picture from the camera is blurred, can't make out their faces". If the footage from the Camera was released, then it would put an end to all the doubts and controversies.
7. Page 209 - In Planting a Mole, a new character Mr. X gets introduced. "According to Veerappan, Mr. X had links with certain Sri Lanka based Tamil radicals, and could use them to procure guns".
During the book launch (at 21:27), when the author was questioned about Mr. X, he gave a reply which can't be taken lightly.
8. In this very old interview, Walter Devaram has mentioned that it's impossible for Veerappan to have AK-47.
Devarams' Interview
Book Launch by Akshay Kumar
Interview in Behindwoods
Vellaithurai's Interview
When questioned about Veerappan's encounter, Vellaithurai says that everything is told in Vijay Kumar's book and that is the truth (15:02).
Interview in Thanthi TV
Interview in BBC Tamil
Movies & Serial on Veerappan Wanted வீரப்பன்
இலக்கு
வச்சாத்தி
வன யுத்தம்
வன யுத்தம்Press Meet
Vijay Kumar had said in an interview that this movie covers 50% of Veerappan's life.
வில்லாதி வில்லன் வீரப்பன்
Makkal TV - சந்தன காடு Serial (125 Episodes)
Muthulakshmi, the wife of Veerappan had filed a suit against Makkal TV from publishing, broadcasting, telecasting the serial either in the name of Maveeran Veerappan or Sandhana Kadu.
The suit had been laid on the basis that such telecast about her husband will spoil the identity of her husband and also will damage the present life and her children's studies in future.
Later, Makkal TV assured that they will not telecast about the personal life of her and her daughters while telecasting the serial. The serial will depict about Veerappan based on public records and field information.
Makkal TV had aired 125 episodes of the serial. Many Youtubers have uploaded it. Some videos have been removed stating Copyright violation.
There are lots of books on Veerappan. I wish to read them soon.
Note: The below section was added on 15-Mar-18.
In the Book Fair, I bought another book, பொய் வழக்கும் போராட்டமும் published by நக்கீரன்.
I have added the pictures of the last pages below (Save the image and zoom for clarity):
It's mentioned that நக்கீரன் is planning to release வீரப்பனின் வாழ்வும் - மரணமும் giving full details about the life and death of Veerappan.
The stall had displayed the Cover pictures related to Veerappan.
Note: The below section was added on 15-Feb-19.
Recently, Nakkheeran Publications had released this book.
Note: The below section was added on 14-Jan-20.
I bought the below book in the 43rd Chennai Book Fair.
I thought, being a very small book, it will be very much biased for MGR. But, there were many interesting news and some are below:
1. He used cinema as a tool to propagate his ideas, ideals, visions and his ambitions to the people. He played the roles of a taxi-driver, a rickshaw puller, a farmer, a peasant and a fisherman
2. In his films, MGR never made advances on his leading ladies. It was the women who chased him and dreamt about him. The ones who did not chase him were the stereotypical shrews, who were subsequently tamed by the hero.
3. Atheism and anti-Brahminism were the cornerstones of DMK Ideology. A holy priest was often made a negative character in many of MGR's movies. And the villains were often Brahmins!
4. MGR clad in a red and black shirt in Nam Naadu (1969) rallied the poor against the rich. Every frame in the film showcased a photograph of Annadurai (the founder of the DMK) in the background.
5. MGR's involvement in his films was extremely meticulous. Every word he spoke and sang onscreen, he went through with a toothcomb. He changed dialogues if they didn't fit in with his image and he insisted on going through all the lyrics of the songs in his films.
6. He acted with younger heroines to make sure he never 'aged' onscreen and appeared young and virile.
7. MGR was always photographed wearing a fur cap and dark glasses. Anandan of Film News says: "MGR was developing bags around his eyes and he wore glasses to hide the fact that he was getting old! The fur cap, was to camouflage his growing baldness."
8. He almost always choreographed fight sequences on his own. Cho Ramaswamy, veteran actor and editor of the political magazineTughlaq, says: "All the fights in his films were personally shot and edited by him."
9. MGR also took care to maintain his public stand of being an atheist. When a photographer clicked a picture of MGR - when he was bare to the waist and without his trademark fur cap and dark glasses - coming out of a temple, MGR's security staff got hold of the negative and exposed it.
10. As MGR was a major contributor to the party funds, he began questioning the party hierarchy about some unexplained expenditure. This did not go down very well with the higher ups and MGR was expelled from the DMK on 9th October 1972.
11. His eleven-year rule (1977-87) was undoubtedly one of the darkest periods in the contemporary history of the state. Under his dispensation, profiteers of different kinds - liquor barons, real estate magnates, and the ubiquitous ruling party politicians - greatly prospered while a stagnant, if not declining economy forced the poor, who constituted the mainstay of MGR's support, into unbearable misery.
12. And despite the Nutritious Food Scheme being a government-funded one, it was projected as MGR's own personal charity, reinforcing his political image as the Chief Minister who truly cared.
13. Stories of his generosity hit the headlines regularly. But when MGR wiped out any sign of dissent against him with the help of the police, banned films questioning his rule, cancelled licenses, ruined businesses - none of these stories ever made it to the front pages of any newspaper or the covers of magazines when he was the Chief Minister. Such was his incredible hold.
14. MGR actively looked for a successor to take over his party. MGR was extremely fond of actor Bhagyaraj and considered him to be a worthy political successor. But try as he might, MGR couldn't bear to pull Bhagyaraj away from his oncoming mega stardom in movies for an uncertain political career. Next on his wishlist was Ramaraj. But like Bhagyaraj, Ramaraj was also becoming popular and MGR didn't want to disturb his career either.
15. It is said that when MGR was admitted in 1987, P. C. Reddy of Apollo Hospitals insured the entire hospital as a precautionary measure in case full-scale riots broke out in the state and grief stricken fans destroyed his hospital in the event MGR passed away.
