Don't say it, show it!

The Deccan Chronicle, the largest English daily in Andhra Pradesh, yesterday published this headline in the bottom half of their front page –

Balayya Slaps Thigh at his Sister

As a fairly conservative editor and even moreso a cosmopolitan bigot, I find it amusing that this went to the press as a front page headline, especially if one takes seriously the editorial rule of comprehensibility for the greatest number. If that wasn’t enough, the article begins with,

Cine hero Balakrishna, the TD star campaigner, on Tuesday faced off with his sister and Congress Union minister, Ms D. Purandareswari.

Balakrishna set up a meeting right in front of her house at Karamchedu, twirled his moustache and slapped his thigh.

For the uninitiated, the moustache twirl accompanied by a thunderous thigh slap has been the visual epitome of valiant manliness in macho Tollywood since time immemorial. Balakrishna, a popular Tollywood hero who’s now making his mark in AP politics, can’t help but resort to time-tested methods for generating mass hysteria amongst his fans/ potential voters.

Ultimately, we are a nation that thrives on overstatement. We don’t just make a point, we often create an elaborate styrofoam set, weave a quick song and dance number and invoke our mothers on it. And maybe Tollywood actors, who are the uncontested stalwarts of histrionic display and also the emerging face of Indian politics, are a natural outcome in a country that now needs its ‘heroes’ more than ever before.

I however, find those traits more interesting which are so ingrained in us that we’re not even aware of them. Indians have an entire gamut of culture-specific mannerisms that goes to prove we are inherently a very expressive bunch of people. Some even allow us a certain ambiguity that can be useful in sticky situations. Give me a sideway head bob if you agree with me… or not… who’s to tell?

For more on the Tollywoodization of AP politics, read this.