The return of Ghajini

Mufeed Mahdi Rizvi the writer finds an uncanny similarity between the Bollywood potboiler and desi politicians

The return of Ghajini

Mufeed Mahdi Rizvi the writer finds an uncanny similarity between the Bollywood potboiler and desi politicians

Bhool gaya sab kuch: Just like the protagonist of the movie, our politicians, too, are affected by short-term memory loss. Allies are forgotten. Friends become foes; foes become friends

For quite some time after I saw Ghajini, I couldn't forget it. It kept playing on my mind over and over again until it slowly faded away.

And now, with the general elections, Ghajini has returned. If we include Memento, Ghajini (Tamil) and Ghajini (Hindi), this will be its fourth entry.

You must be confused by now. Don't be. Let me explain.

Every five years (or whenever elections are held in India) our politicians, at their convenience, are affected by short-term memory loss.

Allies are forgotten. Friends become foes; foes become friends. All of them forget the years in between when they have sat in the government or in opposition. A new tone develops. Now, all issues come to the fore.

But strangely, at the same time of the year, their short-term memory loss seems to have been cured where their voters are concerned. Politicians recall and repeat every promise they had made five years ago. After the
elections, they once again start to suffer from long-term memory loss.

Recently, Janata Dal (United) denied a ticket to its former president, defence minister and five-time MP from Muzzaffarpur George Fernandes to contest the elections. The party cited memory loss as the reason for overlooking him this time around.

Fernandes says he is prepared to fight as an independent candidate.

According to certain sources, he carries photographs in his pocket with something scribbled on them.

I guess the photos are labelled my constituency, my voters, my personal assistant, my former party symbol, my car, my bungalow, my former boss (A B Vajpayee), my boss in the running (L K Advani) etcetera, etcetera.

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