M.Karunanidhi finally bows out. The 94-year-old Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu died in the intensive care unit of Kauvery Hospital, here, on Tuesday evening after a prolonged illness.

It seems this time around the indefatigable man of comebacks couldn’t fulfill the wish of his supporters who thronged the private hospital premises in Alwarpet expecting, one more come back, from the old warhorse. 

‘Dr.Kalaignar’ (artist or creator) to his supporters, Karunanidhi showed signs of declining health since he underwent Tracheostomy in December 2016 following difficulty in breathing caused by throat and lung infection.  

The patriarch held the reins of DMK for nearly six decades. He traversed from theatre to movie to politics; became chief minister of the state five times and completed 50 years as DMK president on July 27. 

His death marks the end of a long and eventful journey, dating back to the pre-independence era. It was interspersed with ups and downs. It took off from an obscure village called Thirukkuvalai tucked in the tail-end region of Cauvery.

Born Dakshinamurthy to Muthuvelar and Anjugam Ammaiyar, belonging to the Isai Vellalar (Temple musicians and dancers) caste, on June 3, 1924, the young Karunanidhi stole the limelight with his incisive pen; first in theatre and thereafter as a dialogue and scriptwriter in cinema. Films such as Parasakthi,  Poompuhar, Manthiri Kumari and  Marudhanaattu Ilavarasi carry the stamp of Karunanidhi, standing up to the acting prowess of Sivaji Ganesan and popular appeal of his political rival MG Ramachandran aka MGR.  Karunanidhi and MGR would, later, take on each other in the sphere of electoral politics.

Karunanidhi’s literary interests, unfortunately, stagnates with the classical period. 

He entered politics when he was a teenager influenced by an array of factors including the speeches of Alagiriswamy of the Justice Party. He went on to become CM after the death of C.N.Annadurai in 1969. His government was dismissed in 1976 by the federal government led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Karunanidhi returned to power after 13 years.

In 2011 his party was defeated in state elections by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, led by his arch-rival J. Jayalalithaa.

By the time the multi-crore 2G scam in which DMK leaders including his daughter Kanimozhi were implicated, the dynastic politics and family squabbles et al contributed to the decline of the party.

Karunanidhi was reviled by majority elites and right-wing supporters,  for, among other things, his unsparing criticism of Brahminism and his pro-reservation stand.

His reticence during the mass killing of Tamil people during the final phase of the civil war in Sri Lanka made him a foe of pro-Tamil outfits. 

But an autorickshaw driver in Chennai, Jayakumar vouches that all far-sighted projects that the state has seen were brought during the reign of Karunanidhi. 

"You can see for yourself that all major bridges, flyover (including Anna flyover)  were launched by Karunanidhi," he says.

No doubt, Karunanidhi's supporters will miss his raspy voice which warmly addressed them as `En uyirinum melana anbu udanpirapugale’ (My dear siblings more precious than my own life). They would miss the black spectacles and the yellow fabric worn over his shoulders  - all that which epitomized him.

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