Miscreants damage patriots’ idols
Tension prevailed at Kandukullam village near Tirumangalam south of Madurai on April 10 morning after miscreants damaged the statues of Marudhu brothers, the warriors who had revolted against the British. The statues at the Kandukullam bus stop on Tirumangalam-Usilampatti highway were damaged by unidentified persons on April 9. It is said two persons who went on a bike damaged the statues and as it was dark they could not be identified. The Marudhu brothers were respected and worshipped by the villagers for many years now and their statues were renovated recently. Coming to know about the incident, the local residents gathered on the highways and staged a protest demanding to arrest of the culprits. Police tried to play it down saying the statue damage was a fallout of a problem between the two sects of a caste.
Church offerings include brooms
Bundles of broomsticks among other things were heaped at St Thomas Church in Thomaiyarpuram near Dindigul as offerings during a function recently. Salt, pepper, tamarind, etc., were the other offerings by devotees praying for relief from skin diseases, infertility, etc. A weird act of auctioning children was also witnessed in the festival. Parents put up their male children for Rs 500 and female children for Rs 300 at the auction and later they themselves did the bidding. Thus they took home their own children by paying Rs 500 or 300, in the hope of protecting their offspring from evil forces. The church claimed that 50,000 brooms were received at the festival which was sold at Rs 5 a piece, filling the coffers of the church.
Selfie with your poll booth
The Sivaganga district administration is banking on the popularity of selfies to attract more people to the polling booths. Into an overdrive to ensure 100 per cent polling, the officials have announced prizes for the best selfie. In case you are wondering what the eligibility criteria is, here’s the deal: Visit your respective booth before the polling; take a selfie with the booth in background; and post it on a social media account maintained by the district administration. Though the prizes are nothing flashy, but you might well end up as the face of further campaigns. While any person can participate in the ‘Selfie Contest’, the target audience is a large chunk of expatriate voters, especially in Karaikudi, where the chances of their returning to exercise their franchise is minimal. Those visiting the booths and taking the selfie can share the photos on the social media pages maintained by the district administration on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp etc. They can also mail the photos to ro.kkd16@gmail.com. To the prizes then. The winners will get a cap or a shirt. But more than the trinkets, it is the chance of becoming the face of subsequent campaigns that could prove to be the decisive factor.
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