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Kalaiselvi P, has been selling fruit at the same spot in T Nagar, Chennai’s most popular shopping area, for nearly 40 years. “Do you think it’s easy?” she said. “I’ve had to fight off other street vendors, police, these big shopkeepers, troublemakers, so many different types of people to keep my spot. I have had to work long and hard for this.”

Kalaiselvi, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, was drawing a comparison – between her job and a job in the state that will soon be under contest, that of chief minister. She believes that only someone who has shown a long commitment to politics deserves the chief minister’s post. “Vijay cannot just launch a party and become the chief minister on his first try,” she said. “He has to work at least for a few years.”

She was referring to the actor turned politician C Joseph Vijay, also fondly referred to as Thalapathi Vijay. Currently one of the biggest stars in the Tamil film industry, Vijay launched his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in 2024, and is fighting his first electoral battle in the upcoming assembly election, scheduled for April 23.

Valli, who was sitting on the same footpath, weaving white jasmine flowers...

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