The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Playing to the gallery

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Tuesday, Sep 30, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Playing to the gallery

The media persons, who came to cover the Chief Minister’s tour expected it, and Rajasekhara Reddy did not disappoint them. Dr. Reddy’s new penchant to mimic, much like a child, the sound of arrival of an ambulance at the public meetings he is addressing, is turning out to be a source of entertainment to the crowds. At the Rajiv Arogyasri mega health camp in the city and at an impromptu road show at Nunna, the Chief Minister had the crowds in raptures when he made the sound of kuin…kuin…kuin… to indicate how a ‘108’ ambulance would promptly arrive to attend to an emergency call.

It was to claim the prompt service of ‘108’ as an achievement of his government.

Comic it may be, but there is probably nothing that a politician would not do to attract the crowds, especially when elections are fast approaching.

A dangerous attempt indeed

While on politicians and their desperate attempts to woo people, the ‘Nuclear Treasure Hunt’ sponsored

by local MP Rajagopal

comes across as a striking example. Contrary to the organisers’ claim that it was aimed at “creating awareness of the benefits of nuclear deal” among the youth, the hunt made no such attempt. Instead, it turned out to be simply an event fraught with dangers, and also something that encouraged the youth with devil-may-care attitude to resort to some road rage. Now, the million dollar question is:

Would the police have allowed an event like this had it been planned by any other political party?

Graft charges

It seems that a politician has no right to talk about corruption, or at least can’t accuse another on this count. The leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are more or less experiencing this difficulty every time they try to corner the ruling Congress on the issue of corruption. It so happened that a TDP leader at a press conference recently made a scathing attack on the Chief Minister, listing out the various areas where “rampant corruption” is allegedly prevailing. Without wasting time, a scribe posed a question as to why the TDP leader was talking about corruption under the Congress regime when such charges were levelled against N. Chandrababu Naidu too during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

The TDP leader thought for a moment and came out with the convenient explanation that one should focus on the immediate problems rather than making baseless allegations about the past.

‘Surprise package’

G. Raja Gopal, Professor and Dean of the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, came across as a ‘surprise package’ to the audience at a national seminar on ‘Employability of English Language’, hosted recently by a local college. The Professor, who looked composed all through the inaugural speech, sprung a surprise by unfolding his humorous side while delivering the keynote address.

Interspersing his speech with hilarity that had the audience listening to him in rapt attention, he made funny faces and body gestures that generated peals of laughter.

By the time he concluded his speech, there remained not even an iota of doubt in the minds of the listeners about the employability of English language.

A well job done in the best possible way, one must say!

(K. Srimali, G. Ravikiran and P. Sujatha Varma)

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Andhra Pradesh