Tea drinkers found, much to their disappointment, that the unexpected entertainment at their regular tea stall at Anna Salai was short-lived. The day after The Hindu published a report on ‘Chai pe charcha with NaMo,’ about the BJP’s new campaign strategy at a tea shop on Anna Salai, the entire paraphernalia was gone, and only the usual tea drinkers lingered there. “It was only for a day, Madam. They left with the television screens. We still have some posters that were left behind,” the tea-stall owner and his wife say. “They have probably gone to another tea stall,” the woman ventures, as an afterthought. Quite right, that. According to BJP party sources, the idea is to have a ‘chai pe charcha’ promoting their leader at a different tea shop every day.
Angry outburst
As with most public hearings of the sort, a recent one conducted by Chennai River Restoration Trust at Chromepet began acrimoniously. The confusion began when a social activist, who spoke at length about problems in a particular area, was asked to cut his speech short. Angered by the snubbing, the social activist threatened to walk out with his supporters. Claiming he had come on the invitation of the organisers, he told the official to ‘behave’ himself. And surprisingly enough, the official never opened his mouth during the rest of the event.
Food on the move
One hot afternoon, an MTC bus (12-G) screeched to a halt in the middle of Seventh Avenue in Ashok Nagar, where there was no scheduled stop. The bus conductor hastily alighted from the bus and disappeared into a building across the road. He returned in a jiffy with a food parcel. from a restaurant. Curious onlookers and passengers exchanged smiles in amusement as the driver started the bus with a content expression on his face.
(By Ramya Kannan, R. Srikanth and K. Lakshmi)
