It rained that evening, September 18, 1949, at RobinsonPark, Royapuram, Chennai, where the public meetingto announce the founding of the Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (DMK) was held. People never fail tomention the rain whenever the legendary first publicmeeting is remembered. The rain has many valences ina narrative; it is primarily a cathartic device thatepitomizes the emotional surge of a moment. It ishard to imagine a greater moment of a mix of intenseemotions for the people gathered there than thatevening. They were sad, bitter, despondent, angry,hopeful, euphoric, and happy all at the same time.They had parted company with the father figure, theinimitable Periyar E. V. Ramasamy (1879–1973), whohad adamantly refused to listen to their plea fornegotiation over the future of the organization, thefive-year-old Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), molded in 1944from the fragments of the Justice Party, also knownas the South Indian Liberal Federation (founded in1917), and the vibrant group of activists gatheredin the Self-Respect Movement nurtured by Periyar(since 1925).

The public meeting at Robinson Park was the culminationof the deliberations held on September 17 and 18 inseveral rounds. The decision to launch a new partywas first taken by a smaller group of those who wereholding offices in the DK closeted in a room and wasannounced to all those gathered outside. The name ofthe party and a provisional design of the party flagwere decided (the provisional design of thetwo-color flag, black strip on top and red strip atbottom, was later confirmed as the party flag). Thegeneral council, with 133 members, with severalsubcommittees were formed and office bearers wereselected on the 17th. The modus operandi of the newparty was discussed. Following these discussions,the public meeting was held on the 18th in theevening (Tirunāvukkaracu 2017, 325–332).