Look who8217;s talking

Sharif is not the first politician whose storytelling or literary flourish has fallen flat. Inside every neta seems to be a poet,under many a starchy white kurta beats an ardent heart. Except,perhaps from long disuse,the metaphors often tend to get away from them. So former Union coal minister,Sriprakash Jaiswal,got into trouble for saying cricket victories,like new wives,lost their charm over time. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid turned unexpectedly lookist,describing Chinese incursions into Ladakh as the acne of adolescent bilateral ties. And Modi,with a vikas purushs contempt for physical weakness,railed at the diabetic governance of the Congress on Sunday.

But where is the insult in dehaati aurat? Taking exception to the word dehaati,or rustic,reflects an innate snobbery the same kind of citified disdain that buys into the stereotypes of cattle class and anpadh gawaar. Taking exception to aurat only reveals the many shades of misogyny that still colour our politics. Still,the dehaati aurat has achieved what the UPA could not she has opposition leaders leaping to defend the PM.