Monday, July 29, 2013

What if NaMo pulls it off ???

I am still under Michelangelo's spell....
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This appeared in Asian Age...
                            What if  NaMo pulls it off ??
 Really! What if  NaMo does pull it off? NaMo phobia/ mania has gripped India big time. It’s almost as if there is no other topic and not  a single individual worth discussing or dissecting left in this vast country of ours.With even TIME magazine jumping on the bandwagon and all but declaring Modi the next prime minister of India in a syrupy cover story, Modi’s juggernaut seems unstoppable. Each and every utterance of Gujarat’s Chief Minister goes instantly under a scanner as we look for hidden meanings, taunts, rants, insults, double entendres. We are being entirely ridiculous, and it’s about time we gave ourselves -  and him -  a break from this nonsense. Take the case of the idiotic ‘Puppy’ reference.It became a national issue when it was nothing more than careless linguistic usage. We jumped down his throat and gave that particular quote far more importance than it warranted. At best, it was a dumb analogy. At worst, a gauche remark. But that’s not how it was played. I am not a NaMo supporter… if anything I have been a consistent critic. But I have been observing with some degree of alarm that it is NaMo’s worst critics who have actually been doing the guy a favour by inadvertently creating a superhero out of him. Had virulently anti-Modi commentators ignored the ‘puppy’ incident, NaMo would not have dominated news channels and hogged as many headlines at a time when there were several other national issues at stake. That’s the thing about creating a bogeyman – at some point, the bogeyman comes back to bite.
Just a few months ago, nobody could have imagined that drawing room conversations across India would be dominated by a man called Narendra Modi. And look where he has reached purely in terms of name recognition and recall. How has this happened? And why? What has Modi done in this short period of time to get to this hallowed position? Is there a single milestone that can be highlighted?An exceptional feat? Some earth shaking development? Nope. If anything, he has gone from one gaffe to another ( rushing to Uttarakhand to rescue Gujarati pilgrims, being the most embarrassing act of derring do). And yet, he is the one a majority of people believe will make it as the next Prime Minister. Shocking as this sounds, it is no longer in the realm of mere speculation, or even blatant propaganda put out by his many supporters.  It is time to concede only person who can beat Narendra Modi today, is Narendra Modi himself.
Confidence is one thing. Over confidence, something else. Leaders who don’t understand the difference clearly don’t understand good leadership. Narendra Modi has been talking way too much. He sticks both his feet in his mouth  each time he opens it. Supporters lap up each faux pas and rush to defend their leader. Which is fine.That’s what supporters are there for. Modi has the best media management machinery in place, going by the record number of vicious  trolls on the loose. So, why on earth is he making so many ridiculous statements in the first place? Either he knows something about the electorate that experts don’t. Or, he is just being himself. There is the third explanation and that may just be the right one – semantics. Modi does fine when he sticks to Gujarati, his mother tongue. It is when he ambitiously ventures into making bhashans, or gives interviews in Hinglish, that his carefully constructed image goes for a toss. Let’s face it, his Hindi sucks. And frankly, he doesn’t need to speak English – in today’s times, regional languages work  best. And this is the key message his overzealous minders should pass on to their leader – speak Gujju, think Gujju, act Gujju.That’s the Modi brand. That’s Modi’s USP. A great orator sticks to the one language he has mastery over in order to make the maximum impact.

As the Modi campaign picks up momentum, there is going to be far greater scrutiny and debate each time he addresses a rally. The smart thing for his opponents to do is ignore him.  His only real rival is a phantom. India is still waiting for the official announcement on Rahul Gandhi ( which, of course, won’t be made). Rahul Baba’s  stony silence and frequent disappearing acts hardly help matters. Nobody seems to know what the hell Rahul stands for or if he is even interested in the top job. Since there are no other obvious candidates in the picture right now, it’s a solo run for Modi. A dream run. In Bollywood parlance, it’s like a hero suddenly discovering his movie is the only one to release during Eid or Diwali. When a theatre actor presents a one man show, it is assumed he is either blindingly brilliant or depressingly delusional. It’s always the audience that has the last word.Right now, Modi is that actor, and India, his stage.It’s advantage Modi.  Sure,he’s talking big– that’s his prerogative. But it’s those bechara Congresswallas  routinely falling for the bait and hitting back in posh English, who should instantly back off! Modi provokes them – and they obediently react ( or rather, over react). He describes himself in grandiose terms, and everybody rushes to pull him down. This is plain silly. History has thrown up worse bigots, megalomaniacs, show offs and braggarts. History has also discarded them with ease. NaMo is on a roll right now. Sooner or later he is going to miss a step, trip and shoot himself in the foot. The smart thing for his opponents to do is really do nothing at all, but watch from the side lines. And wait for NaMo to self -destruct. It’s entirely possible.

10 comments:

TaNuja said...

haha.. I so agree with you.. even me who rarely talks on politics seems to be talking about NaMo :D :P

Unknown said...

brilliant analysis. Ignore. dont give him undue publicity. this fellow is not fit to be prime minister of India. With his vicious trolls.

The Guy Next Door said...

Even Congress supporters (like me) do not want Rahul to be PM candidate. It is my view that Congress will not announce anyone and if they are in a position to form a government, they will put forward someone like Manmohan Singh (P Chidambaram or Kapil Sibal) There are more deserving candidates out there than Rahul in the Congress

Ambika said...

Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Can't we have more names in the PM race? I don't care for Modi and Rahul Gandhi. First one is pompous goat and another is lost kid. We deserve someone better.

Anonymous said...

Shobhaa!

You wrote after a little more than a week.

The piece under review was worth every moment's wait.

Here are my reasons:

1. The British top political honchos met NaMo ... trotting out some silly excuse.

2. The EU did the same.

3. Some group from the US of A visited NaMo. A lot of reports said NaMo had paid for the visit. But some of those who came to India to meet NaMo were genuine medium level decision makers.

4. I believe representatives from Australasia have already extended an olive branch.

5. The Congress is actually playing into NaMo's hands by depicting him as a Hindu hardliner. The more the Congress does this sort of thing, the more Hindus would end up voting for NaMo.

6. Many Muslims have been quoted as saying from Gujarat in politically equidistant channels that they have decided to 'move on' from the riots of over a decade ago.

7. Straw polls have shown that NaMo is some four times more popular than Rahul Gandhi whose looks betray his immaturity. Rahul seems like a playboy in search of a female version of Mad Hatter in the realm full of money crazy, hungry gangs of of sycophants in the political Blunderland called India.

8. Gujarat has no power-cuts. Very little bribery. Roads are good. No reports of molestation of women. Most of the channels that accept money from UPA constituents attempt to drill rapes, acid flings and murders of little girls in many states ... many of them non-Congress states. But, Gujarat is conspicuous by its absence.

9. Effectively, by their machinations, the smart Alec idiots in the UPA have dealt themselves five aces in a single deck of cards and revealed their own foul play and effectively removed all those who could snag Modi's progress from within - example - Nitish.

10. Effectively, due to all this, your observations, should be coming through with a error quotient of .5%. Perhaps, in your next public appearance you could joke that NaMo could send a cheque to the Congress chaps ... for being good publicity kids!

Cheers!

TSV Hari

Anil Kumar said...

Any intellectual with National interests in mind will not search for possible reasons to derail Modi's march. The DEEP SHIT congress is in and its rotten leadership can only take this country backward.

Modi should rule this country for next 5 years and should be closely monitored. If he deviates or tries to become a dictator - no time should be wasted to beat the shit out of him. That's at the national level.

At Delhi state level - Arwind Kejriwal deserves the chance to setup a benchmark to move this country forward. Same treatment should be given to him also if he falters.

If the intellectuals and masses can't differentiate the national interests and their personal ego's are more important then just wait for China's prediction to become a reality that country like India should be broken into 36 countries.

Wake up million and millions of IDIOTS who can't think beyond their self interests.

Anonymous said...

awesome analysis mam!!!!

Ravi Patel said...

profound apologies for an error in the last sentence of my previous comment. It should read, Now that is blasphemously sadistic and not "sadist". Dementia in young age is a horrible affliction as even that other deluded aspirant to the PM chair, the one from the badlands of UP is painfully discovering!

Nalamara said...

Mam...!!! One doubt? I didn't get what is Shooting in foot... Perhaps that's what you did yesterday!!!?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Article
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