The other day i went to a political rally...that of Chiranjeevi's party- PrajaRajyam. I tagged along a colleague of mine...and boy was it fun..well, political reporting has its own charm i guess...though i am sure it can get monotonous after a while..But yea it was worth an experience..I have been to political rallies before...as a student of journalism in chennai..but unfortunately i could hardly follow half of what the speaker spoke thanks to my limited understanding of Tamil. But here, it was different..the meeting was being held at Dharna Chowk, near Indira Park.. 

 I was left wondering as to what motivated people to come to such meetings...i mean even after so many years of non-governance and corruption, how is it that political parties, new and old, and leaders continue to attract people in hordes? Something about the whole atmosphere was charged and i had a zillion questions running in my mind..the issue being discussed in this particular meeting was about the attacks on women..following the acid attacks (which i will discuss in my later posts)...this speaker went on and on blaming the government the police for the lack of safety...and i was wondering..oh so is the government responsible for the sexual violence that is perpetuated against women in their own homes..as ever..my mind was digressing and couldnt remain focused..i was too captivated by the whole atmosphere..of women listening to men and women on a pedestal...the words sounded hollow to me...a cynic that i am..but i saw the hope and admiration in the eyes of those gathered there and i was left pondering and wondering..what does it take to be a politician or a leader in this country?and then i wondered..if these women r so awestruck by a moderate speaker like who ever was on the stage (forgive my ignorance..i am bad with names more so those of politicians!) ...and i was thinking what a great speaker Hitler must truly have been...my thoughts were digressing in the same manner as they are now!! There was this man...a truly irritating one at it.....the meeting which was primarily a women centric meeting had this man openly bossing over the so-called women leaders.. it was an open show of male chauvinism.....but those gathered there didn think so. And that's when my thoughts shifted towards how ingrain some gender stereotypes are...how many women just seem to accept men 'crowning' over them..under the pretext of a 'safety umbrella' and so on and so forth......

Anyways all in all..the experience was a different one..a thought provoking one..inspite of the painful time my poor ears had thanks to the blaring loud speakers...which had me wondering about the effects of loud noises on people in the vicinity!!!! It will remain a wonder to me...how and what makes or pushes people to sit in front of politicians, daring heat (thankfully PRP had put up a tent)...it's quite an interesting study of human psychology....half the people sitting there are aware that most of the promises made will not be lived up to..yet they come...i guess its all about hoping against hope....like a fellow journalist from an urdu daily said today "if the king is a thorough businessman what more can u expect from those under him? "..he said this in response to another journalist's statement that all voters need is a packet of biryani and a bottle.....politics is indeed business..u elect me make me powerful...i will give u at least 1/4th of what was promised to u..just bring me to power to give me that 1/4th and every 4 years when u a different leader...atleast 1/4 of 4 of ur such wishes will come true..that's the funda.....Journalism is quite fun..i must say.....political, non political, science anything..a journalist...a true journalist like my grandfather says is a 'social scientist'.