“An ad with Brahmins and Vedas” – Titan did the unthinkable and then deleted it. Reason – Liberal outrage

Famous Indian watch company- Titan is caught in a soup for advertising its exclusive watch series- “Namma Tamil Nadu”. In it, Titan uses a beautiful conglomeration of visuals representing Tamil culture. 

Darasuram, Brihadeeswara and Kailasanathar Temples, Kanchi silk, flowers and other indicators of the Tamil-Hindu culture are featured prominently. This has irked the Periyarites and DMK loyalists, who have been for years seeking a separate identity for themselves, bereft of any Hindu and specifically ‘brahminical’ connotations. 

It is a known fact that Tamil Nadu politics has largely been based on the premise of ‘Dravidianism’. Believers of this singular identity want to dissociate from the collective culture shared by India. Drawing inspiration from Periyar, known as the father of the Dravidian movement, scores of people have been brainwashed into believing that Tamil culture must be dead opposed to the ‘Aryan’ counterpart. Although successive research studies have debunked the Aryan Invasion/Migration Theory, many in Tamil Nadu continue to believe that they were pushed down south due to the onslaught of an Aryan attack. The DMK is currently riding on this wave, as was evident from the fact that many who were triggered by the advertisement were DMK loyalists.

#BoycottTitanWatches was seen trending on December 8th as people called for the boycott of Titan for promoting a Brahminical version of Tamil culture. It was a field day for Hindu baiters as they yet again got a chance to pounce on a corporate company for promoting Hindutva since that is what everything trickles down to these days. 

https://twitter.com/JohnyBravoDMK/status/1203636372105416705?s=20

https://twitter.com/DravidanTalkies/status/1203617342225141760?s=20

These were among the flurry of outraged Tamilians tweeting furiously against the advertisement. They all latched on to Brahminism as a mainstay for their misplaced outrage. Further, they also raked up some statistics, most probably of the Brahmin population in the state, which is approximately 3%. They commented that 97% of Tamilians did not subscribe to this version of culture which was being portrayed. If not an outright attack against Tamilian Brahmins, what else should we term this as? 

The point of contention, according to many, was some specific sections of the advertisement though. The advertisement shows a newspaper printing facility printing pages with the headlines “Rajini will crush Stalin.” Another throwaway shot has a bookshelf that includes a book titled, ‘Dravida Maayai‘ (“Dravidianism is an illusion”). These markers were more than enough to trigger the sensitivities of Periyarites, who felt threatened by a mere advertisement.

While there was growing opposition to the advertisement, there were also many who supported Titan in its endeavour to highlight the Hindu roots of Tamilian culture. 

https://twitter.com/HindolSengupta/status/1203726557933490176?s=20

https://twitter.com/FreedomfrmMedia/status/1203642275244302338?s=20

While it is true that Titan has done a daring job by showcasing the Hindu culture of Tamil Nadu, it is also necessary to mention that the company succumbed to the outrage very soon. Rather than deleting the advertisement, Titan should have stood its ground. That would have been even more admirable of the company whose watches are worn by Lakhs across India.