Come elections, and politicians become refined in their behaviour, and one witnesses a sea change in their attitude and approach towards fellow human beings. These arrogant and unapproachable characters exhibit their exemplary acting skills by turning into well-behaved persons. They smile even at strangers, and their hands frequently get folded to greet voters. Some even venture across the two-wheelers and four wheelers just to catch the glimpse of the “votaru mahasay”. A voter narrated an incident. “A candidate of a political party knocked at the door and greeted my wife and kids. I was sitting on a sofa and having breakfast. Having realised that he had caused a little discomfort, he ran towards me profusely seeking apology for his untimely intrusion.”
One has to wait and see how these politicians behave once he or she gets elected.
Intellectual bankruptcy
With the number of new political parties mushrooming, post-bifurcation, it appears that the parties not only lack an ideology but have also become intellectually bankrupt. A few days ago, former Congress MP from Rajahmundry, Vundavalli Arun Kumar, in a meet the press programme, likened a few persons in the Jai Samaikyandhra Party to freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh. Even when a reporter specifically asked who he was equating with, he realised his mistake and said: “It was just an example, since we also fought for Samaikyandhra as they did for India.”
Though it was understood by all present that he had equated himself and former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy with martyrs, there were no takers, and it became a big joke.
Children’s day out
Given the number of television news channels and newspapers, many voters seem to have got used to posing for lensmen at polling stations. But, at a polling station in Paritala village of Kanchikacherla mandal on Sunday, photographers and camerapersons, who went to cover MPTC and ZPTC elections, were in for a surprise.
Perhaps, observing the media, who were capturing the visuals of their parents and family members displaying the indelible ink after casting their votes, a group of children tried to imitate them.
Immediately, they too started displaying their fingers as a means to request the photographers to capture their images. This left many, including polling staff, in splits.
Traditional modernity
Ask hair stylists working at high-end salons in the city about their biggest challenge, and pat comes the reply: “Catering to the needs of a niche female clients who want this unfeasible balance between tradition and modernity.”
Sharing his predicament, a hair stylist at a prominent salon in the city said girls, often accompanied by their mothers, come for a ‘trendy’ hair cut. Even before the younger lady can speak about what she wants, the mother spells out a set of instructions. Almost all mothers have a common demand: “Give her a latest trendy hair-cut but don’t reduce the length of the hair.”
This ‘traditional modernity’ approach is impractical. They should either stick to their traditional look or opt for a contemporary style full throttle. The sooner the clients understand this, the better for them, he said.
Sadists in BJP?
Leading a party’s election campaign is not an easy job, particularly when the rivals don’t mind hitting below the belt. That’s what is happening to Daggubati Purandeswari. “I am a press-shy person. I rarely come before the media to put across my own points of view. There are some people who are ‘sadistically happy’, as I am forced to do exactly that with which I am not so comfortable. Nevertheless, I am thankful to the BJP’s leadership for giving me the onerous responsibility of taking its message to the people,” Ms. Purandeswari observed in a lighter vein. But, she articulated her party’s views on a variety of subjects in a meet-the-press session held in the city on Saturday with ease. She is, after all, the daughter of legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao, who proved his sceptics wrong by scripting his own illustrious role in State politics through sheer determination and hard-work amid heavy odds.
Birth or death anniversary?
Politicians leave no stone unturned to make their presence felt or to draw the attention of their target audience. Their antics are more glaring during election season, and at times, they land in trouble as well.
April 5 was the birth anniversary of Babu Jagjivan Ram. A political party organised a grand function to celebrate the occasion, and a senior politician was set to address the gathering. Even before he commenced his speech, he was in a dilemma whether it was birth anniversary or death anniversary. “It’s always confusing,” he said, apologetically. Thankfully, media persons came to his rescue and confirmed it was birth anniversary.
Marketing funda
Private companies are always on the lookout for occasions to advertise their products or services, and the forthcoming ‘Sri Ramanavami’ seems to aptly serving the purpose for many.
A few real estate companies are showering different offers to ‘lure’ people to buy plots, flats or agricultural lands. For the past few days, a real-estate firm is issuing advertisements in a vernacular news channel announcing special offers on account of the festival.
On the eve of the festival, the firm is offering 50 square yards land costing Rs. 99,000 for just Rs. 75,000. Well, call it a marketing funda, companies come up with different plans to influence buyers and this was the right occasion to cash in on.
(Contributed by: M. Srinivas; J.R. Shridharan; Sumit Bhattacharjee; S. Sandeep Kumar; P. Sujatha Varma; V. Raghavendra; G.V.R. Subba Rao)
