The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Rush for hoardings

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Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Rush for hoardings

Thanks to computer graphics it is easy for anyone fond of publicity to make vinyl hoardings of any picture. Suddenly there was a huge demand for people who had a talent for doctoring photographs. Admirers of NTR and N.Chandrababu Naidu had a field day being portrayed along with their favourite leader. There was a glut of vinyl posters, hoardings and cutouts for Ruthyu Garjana. TDP functionaries not withstanding their rank had their picture with Mr Naidu on the hoarding. One fan took the liberty of making a hoarding with NTR hugging Mr Naidu rather affectionately. Though the photograph was doctored extremely well the creator overlooked a minor detail. He selected a picture of a much older Mr. Naidu (with a gray beard) instead of one in which he was younger.

Big enough

Claims and counter claims inevitably take place after a show of any political party ends. In the beginning, some leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) claimed that nearly 10 lakh people would attend their Rythu Garjana public meeting held at VR Siddharha Engineering College grounds on Saturday. But their senior most leaders never confirmed that, though they talked about huge turnouts at their meeting. On the day, when it happened, choicest phrases like ‘sea of humanity’ were used to describe the crowd. The ruling Congress party leaders came out with different versions saying that the ground would not hold even 30,000 people. However, the TDP leaders were happy that the entire city and surrounding National Highways were flooded with crowds. Asked if the crowd was 10 lakhs, senior TDP leaders preferred to avoid a direct reply, but maintained that it was such a big hit, big enough to give a rude shock to the ruling party.

Slip of the tongue

Call it a slip of the tongue, but it leads to the Bronx cheer, more particularly if it happens in a public meeting. BJP organised a meeting at Tummalapalli Kshetrayya Kala Kshetram recently. The organisers asked BJP national secretary N. Indrasena Reddy to say a few words about the failures of the State and Centre. The audience burst into peels of laughter when Mr. Indrasena Reddy said: “Our party’s national president Rajnath Singh ji will speak about the failures of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government.” It took about a minute for him to understand why the audience were prompting “United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government’s failure”. “Great men do blunders,” commented an elderly person from the audience.

Wedding bells

An NRI couple tied the nuptial knot in the picturesque Bhawani Island perched on river Krishna, sending officials of the Vijayawada division of APTDC into raptures. Pray what is the link between the unexplained joy of the tourism corporation officials and the couple’s wedding? ‘It is sheer business which matters to us. The NRI couple has opened up new vistas of business to the corporation. We fervently hope that more couples will take a cue from them by opting for a marriage shrouded in romance in the lap of nature,” explains K.V. Venkateswara Rao, APTDC manager for Vijayawada division, which has thrown open the island resort for hosting a marriage function for the first time. A delicious offer to let loose your wild passions in the wilderness of the island resort, any takers?

A driver’s delight

The winding stretch of Ring Road is a driver’s delight. A slew of function halls, auditoriums and corporate schools dot the road, which had been one of the widely commuted roads in the city. Things, however, are different in recent times. From the heppy youth cruising on the bikes to the businessmen driving in cars, a lurking fear has set in. The reason, hawk-eyed traffic cop being ever present on the road in front of the LVR & Sons Club. No car passes without coming under the scanner of a battery of cops. But behind all these, is a game of one-upmanship between the police and club owners, with both sticking to their guns. The sight of cops facing private guards on the road reminisces one of Wagah border! For outsiders though, the cat and the mouse game is fun to watch!

(G.V. Ramana Rao, G. Ravi Kiran, G.V. Subba Rao and P. Sujatha Varma in Vijayawada and P. Samuel Jonathan in Guntur)

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