When I last checked, “Ayyo sami ne unakku vegam” had over 10 million views on Youtube. That was within a month of its upload. For a music video of Sri Lankan origin over 10 million Youtube views is a significant achievement. Even Yohani De Silva with “Menike mage hithe” fame, who’s hit had 200 million views, has only one other song that falls into that category. (Shiddat’s title track, a song that has previously attracted millions of Bollywood filmgoers.)
Ayyo Sami’s popularity wasn’t surprising. Created by two young artists Windy Goonatillake and Sanuka Wickramasinghe, the song was aimed at the Tamil audience across the Palk Strait. Not that Tamil speakers here were uninterested. But they are just 3 million in Sri Lanka compared to 70 million in the Indian subcontinent. With so many cover versions already out and Tamil TV channels to Chennai restaurants already playing it, its only a matter of time before half the Tamil speakers have heard the tune.
The entertainment soft power flow has always been from the Big Brother to little one, since the British occupation. Many Tamil songs were recomposed for Sinhala audiences. Early Sinhala cinema copied Tamil cinema, with some Tamil movies being dubbed in Sinhala. Perhaps this was the first time Sri Lankan artists attempted to capture the big-brother’s entertainment market.
Entry into the Tamil music industry as outsiders itself is an immoderate achievement. Unlike those of Sinhalese, evolved relatively recently, the Tamil music tradition and history goes back a millennium. Music has always been an important aspect of marriage and festivals of Tamil people. Pann, the classical music form of Southern India, which later was described as Carnatic music, is undoubtedly one of the world’s oldest and richest musical traditions. In more recent times Tamil cinema became well known for its talented composers including, Ilaiyaraaja and A R Rahman – household names across India and outside. Chennai annually hosts a large cultural event, Madras Music Season, which embraces performances by hundreds of artists. So, two foreign artists, completely unknown in India before, making a dent there is unprecedented.
The next challenge is to make a Sri Lankan mark in Tamil cinema. The Sri Lankan movie industry is small. We can’t produce anything in the league of Ponniyin Selvan: I, which grossed over 5 billion Indian rupees ($63 million), with more than $41 million from India and $28 million from Tamil Nadu alone, in terms of investment and resources. The only possibility is collaboration; even PS:1 had at least one Sri Lankan actor. Perhaps Sri Lanka could be a resource base for the Tamil cinema industry which records an annual income topping half a billion dollars?
Sadly, Sri Lanka’s economy is not geared to capture such opportunities. Continuing the political traditions from the past we have long ignored the growing economic powerhouse on the other side of a narrow and shallow sea gap. That attitude has hurt the local economy and we can no longer afford it. We can no longer disregard what happens in the backyard.
Why Tamil Nadu (TN) the backyard, and not the front garden? It has historically been an Indian state famous for its poverty and poor living conditions. Its corrupt politicians and poor governance also lent it notoriety. MGR, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, leaders of the state for the most part of its 74 years were no Lee Kuan Yews. They were populist, short-sighted politicians India (and Sri Lanka, of course!) were familiar with in the past. Recently however the equation has changed. TN has transformed.
Today TN is the second richest and the most industrialized state in India, with 8.4% contribution to national GDP. More than 60% of the state is now urban, and accounts for over 10% of the country’s urban population, though it is only home to 6% of India’s total population. The GDP has risen to $310 billion, more than four times that of Sri Lanka’s, with a record 15% growth rate in the year 2021-22. While it may be far behind Sri Lanka on some of the human development indicators (like 80% literacy rate) some of the recent developments are amazing. It is also the only state in India with 4 international airports. The largest among them, Chennai Airport handles over 20 million passengers annually. BIA Katunayake, in a good year, handles around half that.
TN is also the textile hub of India. Coimbatore is often referred to as the ‘Manchester of South India’ for its cotton production and textile industries, which constitute 4% of India’s GDP. The state is also known for electronics manufacturing, with companies like Flextronics, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Foxconn, Samsung, Cisco and Dell choosing Chennai as their South Asian manufacturing hub. A chain of over 500 engineering colleges supplies human resources for industry. TN also accounts for 60% of the leather tanning capacity in India. Chennai is known as the ‘Hospital Capital of South Asia’, with a sizable proportion of its over 100 million domestic and foreign tourists visiting for medical treatment.
The web has hundreds of photographs showing the stark differences along the sides of the US-Mexican border. Skip the 30 km sea border and the picture maybe similar between TN and Sri Lanka. Developed and a developing economy side by side, with political boundaries halting the fruits of development flowing from one side to the other.
Now, why should we recommit to such policies? What created such a gap between these states?
The two states distanced themselves after they rid themselves of the British. Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister D S Senanayake was scared of the possibility of the powerful Madras state claiming the Tamil speaking areas of the island to form a larger Tamil Nation. This made him cut most links with TN. Bandaranaike antagonized Tamils with his ‘Sinhala Only’ policy. The civil unrest commenced in the ’80s and the ‘Black July’ sealed all possibilities. Even the ferry service between Talaimannar and Rameswaram ceased operation. TN let in tens of thousands of Sri Lankan war-refugees. During the Jayawardena period, TN was a training ground for rebels. In such circumstances, there could not be any hopes for economic ties.
Three decades later there are fewer reasons for either party to view each other as political adversaries. Demands for an independent Tamil state in India have faded. Now everyone accepts TN is very much a part of India. Sri Lanka too no loger has a separatist war. Sri Lanka has no issues with Delhi and Delhi has no issue with TN. A perfect environment for a fruitful economic partnership.
TN also has a more reliable government. Chief Minister M K Stalin, though a typical South Asian politician modernised Chennai when he was mayor during 1996- 2002. He implemented integrated development projects and eased the traffic congestion by building flyovers. As Chief Minister, Stalin has launched the ‘CM Dashboard Monitoring System’ at his office, which enables him to track all welfare schemes, including the status of their implementation, fund allocation and the number of beneficiaries. He is backed by capable ministers like Palanivel Thiagarajan, (a PhD from University of Buffalo and MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management) who heads finance and K Ponmudy (a PhD and an MPA from Annamalai University) who heads Higher Education, Electronics and Science and Technology. These are the people one could talk with. There shouldn’t be any reason why Sri Lanka cannot open up a meaningful dialog with TN.
What specific goods and services can the two states possibly trade? The list is long. From electricity and higher education opportunities to tomatoes and furniture. From healthcare and manufacturing services, to religious tourism, sarees and jewelry. In fact, in some of these areas there is significant trade already. It is just a question of two states offering preferential treatment to each other. Deepening and broadening the scope of the India Sri Lanka FTA to include services will have the greatest impact on trade with TN. Contrary to belief, evidence suggests that the FTA across the Palk Strait works. Sri Lanka has lost a massive opportunity due to irrational rivalry. We hope policy makers take note.