It was during the dark days of the Emergency that a differently-abled Salim, a teenager then, picked up a microphone for the first time.
That was for the publicity of Kathaprasangam Nalla Bhoomi by the late Sambasivan organised as a fund raiser at an Udayamperoor school in his neighbourhood.
Belying tension and speculation that the police may swoop down on the master storyteller, the performance went smoothly; as did Salim’s announcement.
That his announcement, in a rhythmic mode, had won him many fans among political parties became clear when they came knocking at his door during the election held immediately after the lifting of the Emergency.
Left immobile at the age of four after a disease sucked the life out of his limbs, being sought after was the perfect tonic the teenager needed.
But a dyed-in-the-wool communist by then, Salim turned back all except the Left comrades. Salim tasted defeat in his debut outing in the electoral cauldron, as the CPI(M) candidate, K.N. Raveendranath, lost to his Congress rival Henry Austin.
“Comrade Raveendranath came to know that the person seeking votes for him was differently-abled only when he invited me out at a stopover,” he said, recollecting an incident during that campaign.
Decades later, his tryst with the Left remains in tact with Christy Fernandez, the LDF-backed Independent candidate from Ernakulam in the last Parliament elections, being the last to receive his service.
One election he still feels for is the defeat of the Left-backed Independent P. Subramanian Potti in the 1989 Parliament elections when his passionate appeal to keep separatists at bay during the height of the Khalistan Movement went in vain as the Congress candidate K.V. Thomas emerged victorious.
Salim loves to announce even if it’s for hours together and is game for another gruelling campaign during this election season.
