Even as a political slugfest continues between the DMK government and the opposition over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s handling of the recent heavy downpour in Chennai, social media was flooded with satirical memes, lampooning not only the netas and the system but the public as well.

Come rains, it is a field day for meme creators. Even the media is not spared. This time, even before the rains were to lash the city and its suburbs, memes have started pouring in. Some even prayed to the rain gods to be merciful and sympathetic to Chennaites.

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This is more so since the December 2015 deluge following a relentless heavy downpour coupled with the release of water from Chembarambakkam lake, one of the main sources of drinking water for Chennai, late in the night and the subsequent 2023 deluge. The previous one was during the Jayalalithaa regime and the later under the present DMK government led by Stalin.

Memories of the unforgettable past – the inadequacy of the administration, plight of the people, bias of the media and tipplers flocking liquor shops despite the floods – continue to provide the required stuff for the memes.

Sample this response of a person on being asked by a TV channel reporter to comment on the rains. “Wherever there is flood water, Jaya TV is there, Sun TV on the other hand is there where no water is there and I am standing at the TASMAC shop.” While Jaya TV is run by V K Sasikala, late Jayalalithaa’s confidant, and is opposed to the DMK, Sun TV is known to be pro-DMK. TASMAC is the state-owned liquor retailer.

In another one, a duo crossing a flooded toll gate in a boat and followed by others as well, fumes at being demanded the toll fee, “Hey, who is demanding toll fee for a boat?” On the authorities remaining in denial mode about inundation here is one: Struggling in hip-deep floods spots a person is taken aback when a man emerges from below and asks where he is from. To this, his response is; “Brother, never open your mouth and tell there is water stagnation.”

Another one: “No aggression Gopal, play soft”. Pleading with the rain gods to be considerate, this uses a comic scene from the popular yesteryears movie, ‘Thillana Mohanambal’ (1968), in which there is a contest wherein the hero, thespian Sivaji Ganesan plays the nathaswaram to which the female lead Padmini had to dance.

Fortunately, Chennai was spared this time as the depression in the Bay of Bengal had drifted westwards and made landfall in Andhra Pradesh coast and the red alert for the city and neighboring districts was withdrawn.

The wider receptivity to memes and their generation is an indication of the expansion of the liberal space, explains R Thirunavukkarasu, teaching sociology at the Central University, Hyderabad.

Explaining further, he says “Technology has helped expand the boundaries, providing the space for creativity. A very large number of meme creators are from rural or semi urban background and are either school or college dropouts, in search of an identity and their templates are often from Tamil film comedies.”