ExpertDabbler

We have listened to people talking politics in tea kadais, clubs, buses, trains, etc. But ever heard of people talking politics at a crematorium?

A family friend’s grandma passed away on Sunday early morning in Coimbatore. Even when I saw her three weeks back, the 85 years old lady that she was, told she had no more desire to live and was waiting for her time though was doing alright then. She did not suffer much either. She was alive and present at 10 PM and gone by 12 mid night.

I was told the funeral would be around 3 PM on Sunday. So I took Kovai Express early in the morning and reach Coimbatore on time to catch a glimpse of her.

En route, I was told there was a change in plans and I was asked to come to the crematorium straight from the station. When I reached the crematorium, as suspected I was the first person to be there. Standing alone in a deserted crematorium in Chokkampudur, on a Sunday afternoon was not something anyone would relish. I was getting restless and kept calling friends I had not spoken to in the recent past – a way to kill time and also to keep in touch.

About ten minutes later, a fully loaded van came to the spot. A group of about 10 got down. This was not the group I was associated with. Most of them were middle-aged men and Coimbatore locals to boot. They had no body to cremate, guess they were here to get the asthi or something. The way they started in Kongu slang, I was more than eager to listen to that after all these years J. The topic, predictably turned to politics. One guy seemed to a die-hard DMK supporter, the other an Amma follower. Most of the junta were neutral (Sothu katchi).  The ADMK follower was making allegations about the frauds that is happening in the name of free color TV, gas stove, cycle, acres of free land schemes. His main charge was that people use this to their advantage and even those who get these from the government, promptly sell this to outsiders to make quick buck. He was quoting actual incidents. The DMK fanatic was vehemently denying all this and that idiots like the other person will never understand the heart of kalaignar. He said when Amma can give bicycle, why not kalaignar? He was also quick to point out that the Amma follower was a well to do person who does not need all this and that such people will never appreciate the plight of the poor blah blah.

When i think of it, talking like a politician is never easy.  First and foremost, it requires a special training to never answer to a question even while pretending to do precisely that. For eg. When someone says,” Ennaya unga thalaivaru, ipdi ellathayum free free na ellam makkal vari panam dhaney?” A person like me, would by default try to answer that question. Since I cannot counter that question with any valid facts I would quickly accept defeat. But a seasoned politican will never do that. Empty rhetoric is elevated to an art form in a politician’s tongue. All in all, they provided good entertainment for me till my friend came to the venue after 40 minutes. I have another aspect to write and discuss about which I’ll do later.

But before that, here’s one more airline to rely and travel in India - PARAMOUNT.

Please do not hesitate to take PARAMOUNT.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 10:58 pm and is filed under politics, Coimbatore, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.