On Sheras tail

Satish Bidla,23,is the man inside the mascot. Six months ago,this Chandigarh native was employed as the personal assistant of the OC additional director-general,communications,Priya Singh Paul,keeping track of her meetings and appointments and hefting stacks of files from department to department. Then,he was singled out for his natural cheery tendency to romp about for being a funny-type,he says and found himself inside the 8-kg Shera suit.

This is held together with a strip of velcro down the back,and,since it tends to get stuffy,comes with a belt of ice attached around the waist and a mini-fan pasted inside the detachable mascot head. Despite Bidlas slight build,and the fact that a single spongy Shera foot looks twice as large as his own head,he says he got used to the suit in no time. It felt odd for about two minutes, he says. And then,it felt ek dum normal. After a spot of training in normal posing,waving,and dealing graciously with dignitaries and tourists,Shera was ready to face the crowds.

In January,he stood next to sports stars Gopichand and PT Usha on the Games Republic Day parade float,treating the crowds to genial namastes and enthusiastic waving. In June,he was alongside Games chairman Suresh Kalmadi and boxer Vijender Singh when the Queens baton relay arrived at the Wagah border. He has since met a clutch of celebrities,including Deepika Padukone,Milind Soman and Jackie Shroff,all of whom hes been instructed to treat with un-starstruck nonchalance; being a celebrity in his own right. He has also been meeting lots of children rather,been mobbed by them. They scream,Shera! Shera! and cling to me, says Bidla,with a smile. His colleagues,too,bask in the reflected glow of Shera-love. In the car,on the way to visiting a newspaper office,his colleague tells him,Dekho,Shera,the girls are all turning to look at you!,adding,with a wide grin,Youre the only one who got a media promotion,everybody else was demoted!

Lately,in the last leg of promotions,Shera has had to hit Delhis malls,schools,markets,and colleges with increasing frequency. Sometimes,this means working on days off or making two trips a day an exhausting job,with all that waving and greeting; not to mention hauling about in that unwieldy suit. But even periodic mouthfuls of glucose and an extra Rs 500 per-appearance fee cant make Bidla show up at two places at once. So,since the past week,hes finally been given an apprentice Shera to share mascot duty with 20-year-old Manu,from Delhi.

Theres a very big demand for multiple Sheras in the city, says Gaurav Thakur,director of communications. Hes our star campaigner,and hes needed at events,launches and public appearances in schools and malls. So theres a plan to hire others,depending on approval from the CM and OC. We should get that in a few days.

On Tuesday morning,the new Shera-in-training was welcomed by cheering children,who waved Shera masks and posters theyd painted at Vasant Valley School in south Delhi. She-ra! She-ra! She-ra! they roared,as the mascot lumbered genially past them. They leaped and cheered as he flashed them thumbs-ups for their drawings,clasped tiny hands in his padded paws,and mimed I-love-yous. A little three-year-old girl with big eyes and wavy hair took a look at his wide-open smile and shrank in fear. Jia,I told you! her teacher exclaimed,Theres a man inside!

As AR Rahmans anthem soared out of the PA system,the children trooped into an assembly room,where they saw promotional videos for the Games. This is your moment,Delhi, a voice-over said gravely,over uplifting footage of sportspersons and smiling schoolchildren. Further presentations informed them how to buy tickets for the Games and reeled off impressive trivia: 8,000 athletes would take part; 574 buses would be deployed; 7,00,000 meals would be served.

A little boy was called onstage and made to read out a message from Shera,telling them about his personality,his favourite song Rahmans anthem,of course and encouraging them to add him as a friend on Facebook and Twitter. Throughout,the mascot,seated on a sofa with his tail curled beside his feet,gaily shook his head from side to side and applauded silently.

See,how positive and non-cynical the youngsters are! says Priya Singh Paul,looking on with pride. Despite all the negative coverage,the aam aadmi of India is enthused about the Games.

Shera,of course,is an irresistible rallying point. He epitomises strength,vigour,valour,pure sports, says Paul,He looks sweet,cheerful,cuddly,and is easy to approach. People really connect with Shera. He has 15,000 friends on Facebook in just two weeks. And when he visits TV channels,even supposedly cynical reporters dance with him!

The OC can only hope they will do so again when Bidla,as Shera,hits the stage to perform his final top-secret routine in the opening ceremony of the Games.