Get into the groove
Having conquered the world with his charisma, when US president Barack Obama came here for a short visit, he immediately struck a chord with the young generation.
When the president was seen dancing with kids in Mumbai at a Diwali celebration, it hit headlines the very next day. Probably what shocked us more than anything else was the informal persona of a President, which is a rare sight in our country. Although we often see our leaders “trying” to connect with the youth, what restrains them from making a friendly gesture in public?
“In India, everything politicians do or say is questioned. Every word they utter is scrutinised. How do we expect them to be friendly with us, when we’re questioning their acts all the time? I feel the media has to play a more responsible role here. For instance, if you see Rahul Gandhi cracking a joke in public, the next question would be why he wasn’t talking about the many serious problems our country is facing,” says Sukhmani Uppal, a media professional.
Musician Stefan Kaye seconds this. He adds, “I don’t think politicians like to be ‘frivolous’ and on the rare occasion they do try and step out of their official role, it is usually for photo opportunities. Indian leaders do not want the public to see them having fun, politics is serious business you see.”
Some mock the concept of politicians shaking a leg in public as they feel they’re too old to do so. Richa Gupta, a PR says, “Most of our politicians are old. We need more young faces to connect with the youth. We can’t really expect the older ones to dance when they are surrounded by their supporters or fans. Also, I feel that they never bother to connect with people except when they hold rallies or at ribbon cutting functions, but all these are extremely formal functions.”
Corruption and endless scams have also bracketed our leaders and given them a certain image where not many would be keen on even making a friendly overture. “We look down upon our leaders due to corruption and scams they are involved in, so such an act by our own politicos won’t be appreciated here,” says Meru, a student preparing for her IAS exams.
Some shun it by calling it just an over-hyped piece of news. “He’s the US president and that’s where the difference lies. Who really cares if a Rahul Gandhi or even Manmohan Singh shakes a leg with the underprivileged or schoolkids. Maybe they do, but it never makes it to the top headlines in newspapers here. But if they do the same it in some other country, the international media would see it the same way as we saw Obama’s gesture towards kids, who seemed to be having a blast,” says Monika Rawal, a media professional. But Indian politicians still have a long way to go in this area, but we are waiting for some fun, aren’t we?
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