Big-ticket stake: Tamil Nadu's Thiagarajan sets out to fix state finances

From banking in the US to politics in India, Thiagarajan's journey has been eventful.

It starts out as a 30-odd-minute chat, but goes on for over an hour. My tea has turned into thick tannin. His coffee must have gone cold, too. I see his grimace as he sips it from a porcelain cup printed lavishly with what look like large purple iris motifs (no brass dawra tumbler here). Candid and frank, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan, or PTR as he’s called, is an easy guy to talk to.
 
That his coffee’s gone cold or whether it’s with or without milk or sugar doesn’t particularly bother him. “What I’m particular about is