Interviewing politicians can be tricky. Sometimes, they provide answers that help us understand their motivations, opinions on controversial issues, and future plans, but sometimes they can be abrasive, evasive, or maintain a stony silence. Interviewing them again and again helps to break the ice and establish a relationship. Conversations then tend to throw up facets of their personality that the public seldom gets to see. In the case of Tamil Nadu’s politicians, I realised that I had something in common with many of them: a love for dogs. And this would often figure in our conversations.
When Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) founder and actor Vijayakant, or ‘Captain’ as he is popularly called, died recently, I was reminded of this fact. Vijayakant was an animal lover. There are various breeds of dogs at the DMDK’s party headquarters. I recall seeing an Afghan Hound, a German Shepherd, a Dobermann, a Husky, and a Great Dane. They are all now maintained by his son, Vijay Prabhakaran, who inherited his love for dogs from his father.
Vijayakant was, in fact, so attached to his dogs that he once cancelled a meeting of party MLAs when Lucky, his bull mastiff, was not keeping well. Vijayakant was then the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Vijayakant took his dogs to the veterinarian Chockalingam. When I spoke to Chockalingam after the actor-turned-politician’s death, he told me that even when Vijayakant was not well, he would urge the vet to visit his calves and give them vaccination shots. He would always feed his cow a carrot in the morning before leaving home. And on returning home, he would first visit his dogs.
