As Narendra Modi cranks up the frequent
flier miles on the campaign trail, his ecstatic fans are already sounding the
victory bugle all over the internet. That they are doing it in their
characteristic abrasive style is also the cause of much lamentation among the
people who usually get to write newspaper columns. Thanks to some of Mr Modi’s
more enthusiastic supporters, his campaign has got shots of (unintentional?)
humour – much needed in these serious times.
Here are five examples of ‘fan-art’ from
his supporters, gleaned from the wondrous, cavernous folds of the Internet.
Needless to say, it can be convincingly argued that some of them may have actually been created by Mr Modi’s
detractors. I – myself – believe that these are indeed made by his die-hard fans,
probably because I see sincerity instead of cynicism in all of them. But hey,
it could be just me!
NaMo + Momo = National Intergration
To take on AAP and their cavalier treatment
of Ugandan women and to highlight the death of a Mizo student in Delhi while
AAP was in power, Narendra Modi met up with students from North East. And his
PR cell promptly reduced the meeting into a popular Bollywood-style stereotype.
“Momo bechne walon ke saath NaMo hai...”
was the rousing line with the message ended – banishing the articulate,
erudite, good-looking population of North East to the roadside momo stall in
one fell swoop.
Oh – they also added Sushma Swaraj’s ‘flat-nose-sharp-nose’
sauce, just in case you thought the momo was too bland!
Tit For Tattoo
What you want written on the soul, you tattoo
– Old Jungle Saying.
And so you have this young girl who has
tattooed a gigantic face of Mr Modi on her entire back and his PR machinery
clearly sees this as an example of her ‘deewangi’. I am hoping for the girl’s
sake that this is Photoshopped. Can you imagine the plight of her fellow
dandiya dancers if she is wearing a backless choli and Namo peeps out in ‘Big
Brother is watching you’ style? And of course, slightly imaginative positions
during coitus are a strict no-no!
Am I the only one who thinks NaMo looks a
bit like Osama in the tattoo, especially with the white t-shirt looking like an
Afghan turban on him?
Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom
Meghna Patel threw caution (and her
clothes) to the wind as she posed nude* (terms & conditions apply) on a
carpet of lotuses – only with a poster of Mr Modi for company. Ever since Ms Poonam
Pandey pioneered the concept of ‘stripping as reward’, several starlets have
followed her on the disrobed path. But this was something new.
‘Nude for NaMo’ was announced as an
incentive or reward. What was Ms Patel saying? Vote for NaMo and I will throw
away the lotuses? I don’t want a Hand to touch me? What?
Either way, she was reprimanded by a BJP
official for doing something that was – you guessed it – alien to Indian
culture.
[On his birthday, Mr Modi was wished by
Mallika Sherawat on national television through what was clearly the most
execrable performance of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song ever. I am not including that
in my list since it was a promotion of Ms Sherawat’s forthcoming TV show and
not a Modi campaign message. Masochists, click here.]
Monkey Shakti, Tan Ki Shakti
While monkeys are our ancestors in a
distant sort of way, we always refer to them in a negative way. All through my
childhood, the word “Bnador” – in Bengali – is always reserved for the
naughtiest kids and other cultures are no different. Therefore, the mind boggled
when his PR cell compared Mr Modi to a monkey. On closer inspection, one realised it was
Hanuman who he was being compared with. Surely, a visage of Ramanand Sagar’s
Hanuman would have been more apt?
But the sincerity, with which the message asks you to recount the similarities 'apne dil par haath rakh kar', is something else.
NaMo NaMo PM Go!
This is my personal favourite. Primarily because they rhyme 'tea vendor' with 'the last air-bender'. How cool is THAT?
Everything that NaMo does (or is going to do) finds place here. In three exciting minutes, this
video manages to summarise the main qualities* (terms & conditions apply)
of the PM candidate, that too in rhyme. Set to dance music. And with snazzy slide
transition effects? As Saif Ali Khan says, WOW!
If this is not worth 272 seats, I don’t
know what is?
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