Meeting the Ministers, Part I

                                               From our Under Cover Agent Omnipresent 

Our public representatives generally belong to the hibernating lot. They sleep all the time, amass a lot of wealth and come out in the open only when the elections are round the corner. So, I was almost swept off my feet when I saw not one but four MLAs of Barak Valley during a recent visit to my God forsaken motherland.

 Well, I have had the opportunity to see some TV celebrities and film personalities in my life, mainly out of chance or fate, but the sheer sight of so many MLAs, that too, so easily was something which completely left me overwhelmed.

 I was almost on the verge of approaching them for autographs. I mean even one such distinguished signature can hold you in good stead in your life if you are trying to settle down in Silchar or the neighbouring areas. So you can imagine what four such autographs can do to your life. Anyways, somehow, I managed to curb the desire and just looked on.

 My first encounter was with one of the heavyweights -- the greater 'G' of the 2Gs from Barak Valley. Clad in a nice formal suit, Mr. Roy looked every bit the shrewd politician that he is complete with a huge entourage of yes-men around him.

Peter Parker alias Spiderman had said, “with great power comes great responsibility”. Our politicians have over the years edited the quote and follow something like, “with great power come greater benefits”. So we had Mr. Roy, zooming into the flight at the 11th hour with his coterie of sidekicks holding his baggage, showing the way to his seat and also occasionally walking up to him for some chit-chat to keep him in good humour during the flight.

His half-bald head was shining bright and the bare minimum hair which was left in the scalp was beautifully dyed black, symbolizing youth. After all, our politicians are always young. But these didn't raise any curiosity in my mind, what did was the bald portion of his scalp. Reason?  Well, his barber had actually dyed even some portion of his scalp black and I was left wondering perhaps the barber was trying to impress him too much.

For a good 50 minutes during the flight, Mr. Roy stuck on to his seat engaged in a long discussion with his co-passenger and I was thinking, perhaps, there won't be anything new to register. But just then, I saw another MLA from Barak Valley -- a newbie young woman who looked more like a damsel in distress than a politician.

Sporting a salwar-kamiz, Ms. Nath also seemed pretty impressed by Mr Roy’s ‘aura’. She was sometimes calling him 'kaku, sometimes bowing to acknowledge her respect for the greater G. In short, it seemed as if she was not an MLA but a little girl vying for a candy.

 I wanted to hang on for some time more but then “with great power come greater benefits” started ringing in my head and I thought, it is better to slip out of the airport before their ‘protocol’ further messes up the place and causes inconvenience. The last fading visuals that I could see was that of Mr. Roy completely gheraod by his entourage, sidekicks, admirers and who not.

 Much later, when I set off for the town in a cab, for a moment I reprimanded myself for missing out on the autographs. After all, those autographs are so powerful that they well might have ended my long desired dream of returning to my motherland.

Next week, I will share with you my experience of meeting the other ‘G’ and another opposition veteran.