A few days back, I was reading an interesting book on
political satire called Unreal Elections – which digs into the Indian political
satire amidst the clamour of heated debates. Surprisingly, as I delved deeper
into this new genre of writings, I figured out that the internet is full of
such political sarcasms. Thanks to
technology, a barrage of political spoofs on the internet and TV ensures that
every Indian politician is cut down to size.
For a country where everyone takes politics very seriously
and in the rural areas where many aspire to be a politician, it is surprising
to find Indians laughing their way to the elections. Thanks to the new age
satirists, a generous dose of political humour doing rounds in every nook and
corner of the tech world using rhetorical campaigns.
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| Pic: Random |
The genre is not something new in India – it was always
there in diverse forms of cartoons in newspapers, it’s just the appetite has
increased.
No doubt, humour should be integrated in politics. For
example, there seems to be a lot more humour in the presidential elections of
the USA than you’ll find in India.
Indians have a tendency of taking things seriously. Sarcastic comments
by Narendra Modi often receive a very blistering response from political
opponents for using the term "Shahzada" for Rahul Gandhi frequently.
I find it quite funny and of course, a brilliant tactic. But instead of taking
it sportingly, opposition leaders have taken offence to it and responded in a
different tone altogether.
The moment you open any social networking sites, you’ll be
flooded with varied jokes and graphics based on Indian politicians and
politics. The current trend of such satires are inevitably based on the top
notch political parties and their supremoes like, Congress, AAP, BJP and who
can deny the constant jokes on our home-grown party, TMC.
As I browsed the internet, came across a very interesting
take on Indian politics by Irfan – the new breed of cartoonists who gained
popularity for his catchy graphics based on similar theme. If you think that it
needs acute finesse to capture the funny bone of politics, you’re wrong. Many
amateur artists and writers have also taken such steps and later became
internet sensation.
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| Pic: Random |
Gone are the days when Jawaharlal Nehru who had a great
sense of humour, once told cartoonist Shankar, "Don't spare me". It was also reported that once Laura Bush
comically teased her husband George W Bush during the White House
Correspondent’s Dinner of his inability to pronounce “nuclear”, his poor
reading habits and even his bedtime activities. Can you imagine this in India?
“Ooh there you go again”, says future anonymous commenter
“bootlicking the West.” I never get this logic. What is the problem in imbibing
the good things of the West—their rationality, their work culture and their
sense of humour?
