Social and other media have been agog with news of the diatribe against TM Krishna by musicians who have found it offensive that he should be conferred the “prestigious” Sangeetha Kalanidhi award by The Music Academy, Chennai. These critics have grandly announced that they will not perform on the Academy stage in the forthcoming music season. While the matter of the award itself is not of significance to anyone except those who follow Carnatic music, and who view The Music Academy with awe and respect, the issue needs to be unpacked for what it tells us about the enduring bigotry of the entitled Tamil Brahmin community — and how, for well over a century and more, it has continued to read any and every criticism of its mores and ways as an attack on Hindu cultural and religious values.

A few individuals and institutions created by them might consider themselves progressive, being supporters of liberal-Left politics, and, at times, the Dravidian movement. But Tamil Brahmins, as a community, have been remarkably un-reflexive besides being prone to projecting themselves as wronged and misunderstood. To affirm their “victim” status, they have created a narrative whose details comprise the following: Their caste is attacked because they are successful and meritorious, and so criticisms are nothing but jealousy; their caste has been vilified and tormented for decades, thanks to the anti-Brahmin movement led by Periyar EV Ramasamy, who had called........

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