That pose? Really?

See, I adore Shashi Tharoor just as much as the next guy. I mean, slight ideological differences apart, the guy is one of those few people make Indians feel happy about themselves, and thats saying something. I also think that he'd be a whiff of fresh air in our polity (despite his somewhat gung-ho attitude to globalisation and related Freidmanite tendencies) filled with the rabble rousing, hate mongering politicians of the previous generation and their proteges who have taken the baton from their tainted mentors.

In fact, our polity is so infested with so much rot and taint that its amazing how we have come to associate the traditional swadeshi Khadi apparel, once a mark of self sacrifice and nationalism with such suspicion. In fact, the traditional image of the quintessential opportunist 'netha' is rather easy to draw a caricature of once you get the white khadi kurta/mundu/veshti right.

If you don't believe me, take a look at this [courtesy: shashitharoor.in ]:
Now, just think about how our zeitgeist has changed over the past 60 years. Atleast as far as I am concerned, while there is nothing to suggest any cause for concern, just striking that pose makes him look a lot less the image of integrity that was the former UN Under-Secretary General.

I bet Shashi must have been exasperated trying to convince his Campaign Manager:

ST: Mundu and Veshti? You sure about this?
CM: Yes Saar. Veery soore.
ST: Don't you think I'd go down better in a suit?
CM: Saare, we vaant you to come up... not go down.
ST: Er... no. I meant, I'd look better in my traditional tweeds, won't you say?
CM: Say vaat saare? Vaat should I not(e) say?
ST: Oh, forget it! So what, you just take a close up?
CM: No saare. We take full bo(e)dy.
ST: Well, if you are going to put me on one of those imperial looking thrones and ask me to carry a mace or sword or something, you can forget it.
CM: Oh... but we had a veeerrry nice Simhasanam ready, saare.
ST: !
CM: Sir, you will look veerry good on the Simhasanam saar.
ST: There is no way I am gonna do that. Forget it. I am putting my foot down.
CM: Yes saare. No pro(e)blem. Foot on flo(e)r only. Sit on simhaasanam.

After all the haggling, when the campaign manager relented and asked him to strike just strike that pose, he must have done it in a jiffy, to escape the 'Simhaasanam' on the way. (For the non-malayalee readers, simhasanam is, well, "one of those imperial looking thrones".)

I bet Sashi left long before he heard what else his campaign manager had composed for him. You really wanna hear it even if you don't understand malayalam. Believe me!