It’s a curious malady that afflicts Tamil Nadu—a periodic impulse to cleave a separate path for itself, a need to split away from the larger, overbearing body politic of India and crown Tamil identity with statehood. Initially, it was demand for a separate Dravida Nadu and then a pan-Tamil nation. Presently, an exasperated wish for freedom from the clutches of New Delhi has again taken hold over the demand for the setting up of a Cauvery water management board.