“Iss thappad ki gunj ki gunj tumhe sunaaee degi, Rana” (You’ll repent for the reverberations of this slap, Rana)
The wicked Dr. Dang warns this to Rana Vishwa Pratap Singh when Rana slaps the bad man on his face. The slap followed by that famous dialog was an instant hit which made Anupam Kher’s acting career take a giant leap in the mainstream cinema in a 1986 blockbuster - Karma.
The slap effect seems to be eternal. It still not out of fashion. But here it comes to real life. Some publicity hungry people take that step and the TRP hungry TV channels show it again and again in slow motions with frozen frames and highlighting the areas which they think we should watch.
Again it happened and again the same series of events surfaced.
Rounds of discussions took place. While some gave a perfectly balanced reactions, some lost their controls. Some reacted childishly and some opportunistically. Everyone wants to be famous and talk of the nation.
But can you imagine a slap doing a damage control exercise and actually help image building of a victim(?) ?. Looking at the surprising acts of the current politicians, sometimes I really doubt that Lord Krishna must have travelled in the future then and lived in this era to understand politics and strategies. Then he might have got back to tell Bhagwat Gita. These leaders don’t take anyone’s side. They don’t blame. They don’t give a firm statement.
Getting back to the slap. It an outrageous reaction by some impatient youth from old Delhi to inflation and corruption. He chose the person who is a Union Minster of the biggest democracy of the world. He looked upon the minister as one of the representatives of the system. But he couldn’t even imagine what the smartest politician can gain out of it.
Till then, the news channels somehow were managing their show with the Anna effect, Sachin’s 100th century or Bhavari Devi where the regional Marathi channels were happy with the upcoming municipal elections, winter’s arrival or some filmy gossips. Along with that, the routine Raj-Uddhav-Ajitdada-Uddhav-Ajitdada-Raj-Aaba spit spats were enough to entertain the Marathi Manus. The recent by-election results showed the receding popularity of the ruling party. But then the slap flap happened.
Although the party supremos appealed to their supporters to maintain peace, they had a long awaited chance to show their loyalties towards their high command. So, they came out on the streets and blocked the roads. They forced the shopkeepers bring their shutters down and even shattered the wind shields of the public buses. This was not enough when Anna’s spontaneous reaction fueled the rage and the whole Maharashtra almost stood still the next day. Still, the leaders kept saying that nothing has happened and this outrage of the supporters is a way to express their love towards their leader. In those 2 days, the party could judge and display their strong foothold across the state at this most crucial stage. The party gained humongous sympathy and publicity out of this sudden attack and became the talk of the nation overnight.
There are few things money can’t buy.. but a thappad (slap) can.
